Forget Brexit — the great UK/EU divide is a question of men’s briefs. As ever, our Italian, Spanish, German — you name it — counterparts are busy populating the continent’s pebbled coves and sandy beaches with their bare inner thighs, reclining in skimpy Speedos (their girlfriends not, for the record, usually far away). In France, long trunks are even banned in many pools for hygiene reasons.
When it comes to spotting a British gentleman abroad, however, it’s easy: simply look for a gentle burn, Ralph Lauren cap, and a trusty pair of Vilebrequin printed board shorts. But there appears to be rumblings of change. The whispers say Brits are getting braver.
The stats hint they might be correct. Are we really ready to start baring all on the beach? The buzz truly began in July, when The White Lotus’s everyman-hunk Theo James sent the internet into a spiral as the paparazzi caught him in barely-there white briefs modelling a new Dolce & Gabbana campaign in Capri. Then came the Olympics, a viral picture of Tom Daley and his swimming pool gang with black budgie smugglers and Alpine abs, before the French diver Jules Bouyer (who boasted huge talent in more areas than his 2 1⁄2 somersault pikes) sent Google searches for his name up 10,200 per cent.
In all, research by fashion shopping app Lyst found year-on-year searches for budgie smugglers are up 89 per cent, and those for Speedos more than doubled. But are our boys actually daring to splash out? Apparently. Abtany, t.