Butt on display at lunch in south of France

[flipperfizz]

I am currently having lunch in a beach restaurant and a girl with a lovely toned body is wearing a tiny thong with full ass on display. This seems to be a fashion thing and there are lots of women wearing the same cheese cutter! People are staring and some women are laughing. I find it a horrible trend and I am wondering what others think.

For the thousandth time, no-one is objecting to youthful fashions - but mini-skirts, hot pants, bare midriff tops - yes, they're all youthful fashions but they do not pose the problems (in terms of feminism and public hygiene) that thongs and almost bare bottoms do.

I wish we could stop going over this old ground. We're not talking about a mini skirt or even a very low cut top. Those things pose no issues.

You have said that women only have a short window in life to wear this style.

Why is that?

No I haven’t.

Even without the hygiene concerns, people are not being prudish to object to seeing bare bottoms and other areas of naked flesh on display whilst they are dining at an eatery. We complain about men walking about with their tops off as soon as the weather gets warm, how is this any different?

Well exactly that - i have no issue with thongs and bare breasts on a beach but I would not want to see it in a restaurant or cafe. That is just good manners.

I was at a beach front ice cream parlour (the kind of place that sells fancy coffees and ice cream sundaes as well as cones to take away) in a UK seaside town last year on a very hot day. A couple of teen girls came in wearing just thong bikinis and sandals, and the waitress said they needed to cover up if they wanted to stay and eat. They flounced off in a huff.

Was that indoors though? I would expect that to be different to a restaurant outside that is essentially an extension of the beach.

Also culturally the south of france is very different to the UK in terms attitudes to swimwear.

I apologise unreservedly, gotitssoflaunit. I've had a weird morning and got confused.

That comment was actually from Emerald.

@sweetpickle2 That is true in the beach (albeit increasingly less so as younger generations seem to be more wary of topless sunbathing) but in my experience France is much more conservative than the UK when it comes to dressing in town and beach side venues.

Wandering along the corniche or to a beach front cafe or restaurant just a thong bikini or swim shorts would earn you a disapproving look and probably outright refusal in a smarter place.

Stop quoting me if it's all so very tiresome?!

I agree about men going topless in restaurants. I find that off-putting in the same way.

I won't go into the details because pps on here are squeamish about biological details but huge areas of exposed flesh when eating with other people are not appropriate. If you want to be semi-naked at a meal, fine - but not in public. I've been put off my food by topless men having a damn good scratch at their tables! I think it's good manners to cover up in some way when going to eat with other people.

Call me over-fastidious - I admit it!

It's a discussion. You make your points. I don't agree with many of them. It's quicker than typing a screed of reported speech. In fact, I think you'll find there's a quote button for us to use for this exact purpose.

Why shouldn't I quote you if I want to argue a point? You do it to me!

Clearly not in the place the OP is posting about though, or the offending butt would have been asked to be covered up.

In fact I'd say if the sign of a bikini-clad bum bothers the OP so much, she should go and find one of these smarter places where she won't be forced to lay eyes on one.

In my experience the short window is usually between 18 to 23, before dressing with more modestly realising that having your ass out brought negative attention.

My mother wore a mini in the 60’s shocked the adults.
I had my midriff on display rocking the Britney era. My DD who never wears skimpy clothing, t shirts and joggers wore two pieces of material going to comic-con as an anime character, she won’t be doing that as a fully mature adult women.

Most 30/40/50 years olds don’t wear mini skirts, or the belly on display or in this era the g-string bikini.

Stop policing what women talk about!

I was not particularly bothered by seeing a woman’s bottom, nor was I suggesting anyone should be “forced” to cover up. I simply expressed an opinion about what I consider appropriate dress for a restaurant. My husband and I were a bit surprised that she should be so blatant and people were laughing and looking. I felt really uncomfortable and if it was my daughter I would feel sad that she thought this was ok and question it. This has nothing to do with wearing what you want at the beach. It’s about being appropriate and respectful to other diners.

I get what you mean if you’re saying they wear some things out of youthful lack of judgement. Totally agree!

I would not agree that it’s only OK to wear things at a certain age. If that’s the case it’s certainly not a feminist choice. And I’m not suggesting every woman has to be a feminist, just that we can’t have it both ways.

So (assuming a lack of negative attention) should more women over the age of 40 wear thong bikinis, in your opinion?

Is laughing and talking about it behind her back being appropriate and respectful?

I think, on the whole, the French have a more respectful and formal attitude to dining, especially public dining.

Yes, staring and laughing is a horrible trend. Also a bikini is not appropriate for dining.

I get what you mean if you’re saying they wear some things out of youthful lack of judgement. Totally agree!
Yes. They get more sensible and realise that clothes have meaning, but while they’re in that mindset, it’s part of being young.

Totally agree!

No, they’re awful. I like my full bikini briefs and underwear. Age brings wisdom.

I’m not, and wasn’t laughing! As I said others were. What are you implying here? I created a post out of curiosity, to discuss it and get others opinions.

Age also brings not caring so much what other people think.

That said, while I'm not averse to baring my bum cheeks on a public beach, I generally wouldn’t in a bar/restaurant unless it was the obviously the norm (unlikely).