Shopping for speedos in the 80s?

[frankjath]

Recently I started watching Baywatch. I've never seen it up until now... I was born in 91 and realized it ran from 1989 - 2001. I was wondering for people who grew up or were around in the 80s... was it common for surf shops or swimsuit stores to carry speedos. For example if you go to most swimsuit stores or surf shops here in Southern California you will only find boardshorts or trunks for guys. I imagine in the 80s since there was no internet you would have to walk into a store. I'd assume that stores would carry a wide selection in the 80s. Watching Baywatch... while most of the guys wore trunks it is cool to see guys training in speedos. You don't see speedos like that on tv these days.

Sharing your experiences shopping for speedos in the 80s would make for a cool thread.


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[fbanks]

I was young, had extra money and yes, Speedos were definitely available in many places. Most of the chain stores in New England (especially Hermans, Decathalon, Olympia) had a good-sized rack of Speedos, arranged by number size. It wasn't like today ... a couple basic blue and black suits on a tiny end rack. There was a huge variety of Speedos in all colors, cuts and patterns. I had soooo many suits ... I would buy two or three at a time, and never the same color or pattern. Solars ... real Solars with the 1-inch sides in bright colors (pink, teal, vibrant blue) and Speedos with 1 1/2 sides and nicely pouched in wild patterns were my favorites. Wore those to the beach whenever I could. That, and the 2 inch side racing/competition suits, thicker material and color blocked side panels ... I did a lot of swimming and wore out quite a few of those. I think I had over 60 Speedos at one time. Those were the days!

[diveguy]

I was young, had extra money and yes, Speedos were definitely available in many places. Most of the chain stores in New England (especially Hermans, Decathalon, Olympia) had a good-sized rack of Speedos, arranged by number size. It wasn't like today ... a couple basic blue and black suits on a tiny end rack. There was a huge variety of Speedos in all colors, cuts and patterns. I had soooo many suits ... I would buy two or three at a time, and never the same color or pattern. Solars ... real Solars with the 1-inch sides in bright colors (pink, teal, vibrant blue) and Speedos with 1 1/2 sides and nicely pouched in wild patterns were my favorites. Wore those to the beach whenever I could. That, and the 2 inch side racing/competition suits, thicker material and color blocked side panels ... I did a lot of swimming and wore out quite a few of those. I think I had over 60 Speedos at one time. Those were the days!

Dude, I envy your speedo devotion and commitment to actually buying, collecting and most importantly wearing them. I only secretly lusted over them in the '80s. Didn't actually get up the nerve to buy one until the very early '90s. But at least I went all in on it... black Speedo men's "bikini" brief with actual 1" sides. It wasn't labeled as a "Solar", I don't think. Bought a couple of branded Solars with actual 1" sides (more or less) some years later.

[fbanks]

That ... and you could actually try them on. Not like Internet buying today. Once I got over the initial embarrassment of being seen (and 'the process' ... counted and checking in and out and paying) I would grab three and go into the changing room to find the best fit. You were supposed to try them on over a pair of underwear ... I would be wearing a tiny micro-bikini or a thong ... technically 'underwear' so I knew exactly how well they fit. Hated buying something that didn't fit right. Paying for them was always an adventure ... depends who was at the register. Sometimes, a nice conversation would happen.

[frankjath]

I was young, had extra money and yes, Speedos were definitely available in many places. Most of the chain stores in New England (especially Hermans, Decathalon, Olympia) had a good-sized rack of Speedos, arranged by number size. It wasn't like today ... a couple basic blue and black suits on a tiny end rack. There was a huge variety of Speedos in all colors, cuts and patterns. I had soooo many suits ... I would buy two or three at a time, and never the same color or pattern. Solars ... real Solars with the 1-inch sides in bright colors (pink, teal, vibrant blue) and Speedos with 1 1/2 sides and nicely pouched in wild patterns were my favorites. Wore those to the beach whenever I could. That, and the 2 inch side racing/competition suits, thicker material and color blocked side panels ... I did a lot of swimming and wore out quite a few of those. I think I had over 60 Speedos at one time. Those were the days!

That's super awesome! I'm lucky to live in a place that has a store called Mankind... which sells mainly to a gay audience but has so many speedos and thong swimwear. However I don't go there often because it's downtown which is bit of a drive. I'm more near the coast which mainly has surf shops which of course only carry boardshorts. It must have been super cool to walk into most swim shops and have a selection of speedos.


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[Snowbrief]

I was young, had extra money and yes, Speedos were definitely available in many places. Most of the chain stores in New England (especially Hermans, Decathalon, Olympia) had a good-sized rack of Speedos, arranged by number size. It wasn't like today ... a couple basic blue and black suits on a tiny end rack. There was a huge variety of Speedos in all colors, cuts and patterns. I had soooo many suits ... I would buy two or three at a time, and never the same color or pattern. Solars ... real Solars with the 1-inch sides in bright colors (pink, teal, vibrant blue) and Speedos with 1 1/2 sides and nicely pouched in wild patterns were my favorites. Wore those to the beach whenever I could. That, and the 2 inch side racing/competition suits, thicker material and color blocked side panels ... I did a lot of swimming and wore out quite a few of those. I think I had over 60 Speedos at one time. Those were the days!

That's super awesome! I'm lucky to live in a place that has a store called Mankind... which sells mainly to a gay audience but has so many speedos and thong swimwear. However I don't go there often because it's downtown which is bit of a drive. I'm more near the coast which mainly has surf shops which of course only carry boardshorts. It must have been super cool to walk into most swim shops and have a selection of speedos.


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Frank, say it isn't so!!! NO, you can't be watching Baywatch!! The so called acting the show had, even for the 90's, was sooooo bad I couldn't bring myself to waste my time in front of the tube, especially while being intoxicated (it was my college years), even for the rare speedo shots, and particularly for Pamela Anderson....okay, I know every college guy in the 90's was supposed to salivate over her breast, but her acting, or so called acting, was so indigestible, I simply could not stomach the show! And don't get me on David Hasselhoff, which I will admit, I did like watching him in "Knight Rider", but Baywatch completely destroyed any thoughts that I may have had that he was someone to watch!

Okay, my tirade is over. Here in the Midwest, we have a store called "Scheels" which during my speedo revolution carried a good selection of briefs before jammers became a norm. They mainly carried Speedo, TRY, and where I bought my first Arena. This brought up the memory that I had completely forgotten about when I was at the store once (not the mega store it is today), that the week before open deer hunting, I picked up some ammo (6.5 mil), a black Speedo speedo, and the cashier commented on the combination. I'm sure I had a wise comeback, but don't recall, other than it got easier to purchase a speedo with each purchase.

Must add, my collection is much more worldly having the internet varieties that are available for us today, which I truly do believe will bring back the speedo as the norm.

[ChicagoDan]

I do remember shopping at a Speedo store in a mall, can't recall if it was in the late 80's or early 90's, but I was a to get a few real 1 inch solars there, even a cool yellow and black striped one. The store only lasted about 2 years before it closed, though.