Naturism isn’t for everyone. But here in Europe, on our beaches, we’ve reached a point where going ‘topless’ on almost any beach won’t raise an eyebrow and, indeed, on some actually wearing your bikini top is likely to make you stand out from the crowd. A woman who would never drop her bikini briefs will readily lose the top.

It’s not just the younger generation who routinely go topless. It’s commonplace to see the generation who grew up in the first wave of topless beaches still going topless. That’s women in their 60s and 70s now.

When I started in SL it was relatively easy to find free bikinis (and lingerie!) dotted around the grid in numerous stores, but sadly that’s no longer the case, and these items are much rarer and harder to find. So we’ve been out and about, several of us, to see what free swimwear is available out there.

Starting with Mal (above), her bikini comes from Chez Kitten, in tattoo and underwear layers. That means you can opt for a total cover up (as in the top pic) without overloading your avatar, important where there’s likely to be sim lag or a limit to your avatar’s overall ‘complexity’. I will often utilise similar bikini tattoo layers for exactly this purpose. I can be seen by everyone, rather than being rendered as a jelly ‘blob’ to others. (If you don’t play SL, this may not make any sense).

Barbara was altogether more cute, as one might expect of a long-term SL user, and headed for one of the many freebie stores around the grid – Lusch Haven Freebie Market to pick up several free bikinis and a wet T shirt! Often, freebies are maybe a decade or more old, the products of the earliest days of Second Life, and as such aren’t of the sort of quality and design we expect so often nowadays, but some of the products are still very serviceable.

Anything for the guys? Jake also ended up at a freebie market, The Lost Dove, more by accident than design, and snagged a mesh shorts and tank top set (which also included sandals). Not quite a pair of speedos or a man-thing, but serviceable enough as swimwear.

 

After all, guys have been going topless on beaches for decades! 😉

 

As a naturist, I understand the sense of fear experienced ‘first time’, be it going topless or fully nude. (‘Hey! Everyone is staring at my boobs!!!!’ – No, they aren’t, really).

Women, however, who may be initially reluctant to strip fully do, when presented with naturist opportunities, often see the folly of their ways…

 

Bikini bottoms aren’t very practical for swimming purposes, and oft is the time when you will see a bikini brief wearing lady enter the sea but after a brief battle against wave power pulling them off, she’ll simply give up! Sometimes, this scenario is a woman’s entry to full naturism. Once discarded, she quickly realises that they’re unnecessary items of clothing, and they may not be seen again for the duration of the holiday.

Ella