Clothing or Covering / Fashion or Farce

Looking through the eyes of a naturist clothing takes on a completely different place within our world.

Corporate attire has always been a uniform. The suit and tie, even in the heat of an Australian summer, is more attuned to the prescriptive uniform than the commonsense covering of the body for practical purposes.

With the rise of equality of women in the workplace this was reinforced as woman donned suits, thus perpetuating the same corporate uniform.


Other forms of subtitle uniform can be readily seen in the clothes of our adolescents as the baggy low-slung pants predominates and practicality has no place.

This leads us to fashion, the multi-million dollar industry founded on discontent, social pressure and change for change sake.

The often-flaunted justification for clothes, that of practicality, is seen for what it is, a fabrication.


When clothes are essential for protection from the elements or within a hostile environment, this is perfectly clear. For example for heavy clothes for a European winter, the welders gloves and apron, the use of hats in summer and shoes to protect the feet one’s feet.


The rest of the time, the only explanation is “modesty”. This societal construct is based on opinions formulated by society’s “centres of influence” who fail to see that the human body is anything beyond sexual.


There is also an element of power and manipulation in keeping the population clothed as it reinforces the differences and segregation within society. How can anyone deny the commonality of the human form and see that regardless of colour, shape, age or beliefs, we are in essence all the same.


The social construct of “modesty” can be best typified by the colonial attitude, when zealous missionaries instructed the natives in tropical climates to dress like themselves.


Why again was there no differential between nudity and sex? Surely the connection is in the mind of the beholder, not the naked person.


If this were not the case then at every nude beach or social nude gathering men would all be walking around with erections? This does not happen, why? Because of context!


There is a fundamental difference between the sexual environment between lovers and being at a barbecue with a group of friends. It is also the same reason that in a clothed work setting when a man is introduced to an attractive woman, he will not spontaneously have an erection!


In reality a social occasion in a clothed setting can be more sexually stimulating than a naked one. This is because of the titillation effect for example, a low-cut dress, hinting, what lies beyond stimulates the imagination and that is what causes arousal.

Conversely in a naturist setting, once initially observing the whole person, you can then put that aside and concentrate on the meeting of the person with freedom from distraction and innuendo, allowing for a more genuine interaction to take place.

Addicted to Boob Jobs

Addicted to Boob Jobs -Lifestyle You Channel, 6 March 2010

wikipedia.org - Dr. Placik Breast Augmentation

Last night I was watching this British produced documentary through the eyes of 26-year-old Fashion Journalist Louise Roe. Addicted to Boob Jobs looks at women who are not satisfied with having just one boob job but who are choosing to return to the operating table again, again and in some cases again.

During the course of this show, it became clear that the women interviewed were considering additional surgery were doing so for “themselves”, not for their boyfriends/husbands, although their partners were supportive.


There was one woman who had one augmentation and now wished to go up an additional cup size. Divorced with two children, and no man in her life, her comments were that she wanted to feel better about herself and had identified that large breasts would be the end to this.


Kate Merrony, 20, a glamour model and Mum from Bournemouth admits that one boob job just isn’t enough for her. Even though Kate’s first boob job has made her an E cup she still isn’t satisfied with the size and wants to go even bigger. 


Anne Marie Hart, 24, had her first boob job eighteen months ago which took her from a b cup to an e cup she now wants larger breasts that she believes would help to pursue a career as a “glamour model”.  Clearly, she felt that had enhanced breasts were not good enough and larger implants would make a difference.


The interviewer, in her side comments. rightly pointed out that it reminded her of pinning your happiness on the acquisition of a new car, then after a few months, one then realised that the feelings associated with the acquisition of the car had passed, they then started to plan for a “better” new car, to achieve this elusive happiness.


The show goes on to document the ordeal, that is involved with not only traditional augmentation surgery, but also a less invasive process called a boob jab, where a substance is injected into the breast tissue, under local anaesthetic, and then moulded into shape, like plasticine. This then last about 18 months until the product is obviously absorbed into the body ?

Diagrams of cross sections of breast implants, subglandular (left) and submuscular (right)

British and Australian television networks are to be applauded in the presentation of shows such as these as unlike the American networks there is no issue showing a nipple during these informative procedures. The viewer observes the true graphic details of the augmentation procedure, where the incision is made, the old implant removed, and then more breast tissue removed to accommodate a larger implant  The interviewer, who was allowed to watch the procedure had to leave the room at one point, and understandably so.

Chest X-ray showing bilateral breast implants

What was abundantly clear was that the perceived issue that these women are trying to address is more psychological than physical.


Now from a naturist perspective, the whole aspect of body acceptance is confronted within the first experience of social nudity. The great freedom experienced, when one sheds your clothes in a totally accepting social setting, allows one to be comfortable in one's own skin.


Now I realise that this is a “chicken and egg” situation as one must have a certain degree of body acceptance to take the plunge and remove your clothing in the first place. However, having done so, one realises the infinite diversity and infinite combinations that makes up a human form and we can then celebrate the variations rather than compare to some conceptual "perfect image" that is, in fact, an illusion.


On our local beach, we see all sizes and shapes of bodies, and yes, breasts in all their variations, including enhanced and reconstructed. There are also scars, birthmarks and stretchmarks, all on show, and all totally unimportant.


In the naturist setting, we have the rare opportunity to see people for who they are, rather than what they look like. It also gives us the opportunity to appreciate all body shapes, sizes and ages. Plus, putting a spotlight on the truth of who we are, that we are much more than our body.


Over the course of this month the same Lifestyle Channel, will run a number of programs that will show the folly of perfect body image, particularly in the eyes of the young. They were supposed to be airbrushed magazine industry are unhealthy body shapes of the runway models and other false images that are put forward as aspirational “real” men and women.


What a pity that this society is so gymnophobic (anxiety from nudity) for a greater acceptance of public nudity, and therefore exposure to it would create a new body acceptance of the whole population.

Spenser Tunick in Sydney

A crowd in excess of 5000 people gathered at the Sydney Opera House just after dawn today, defying cool temperatures to put together an installation titled Mardi Gras: The Base.

Tunick is known worldwide for his large-scale installations comprising of nude people posed and photographed in varying formations and patterns. In addition to the temperature which hovered around 20 degrees Celsius, the models also had to contend with a crisp breeze coming from Sydney Harbour, heralding the first day of autumn.


Read more here...

Great to see such a display of non-sexual nudity!

From Clothesfree.com

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

News Item - 27 Feb 2010

From an article in the Sydney Morning Herald  "Another Sydney Cover up" --  Click here for link

Professor Doug Booth, author of Australian Beach Cultures: the history of sun, sand, and surf, said the utopian ideas surrounding public nudity, and particularly nude bathing, held by young baby boomers have been thoroughly rejected by their offspring. Even Speedos are now considered indecent.

In the past 10 years he had noticed ''a remarkable conservatism which reveals itself in attitudes towards bathing costumes''. ''I think it's a combination of social hysteria around paedophilia and a fear of technology and what technology can do now,'' he said.

Even a statue of a naked child on the beach can cause angst and have to be covered, as happened with an entry in last year's Sculpture by the Sea exhibition.

Mr [Bob] Reed conceded in this climate, the movement was having trouble attracting new recruits.

'''Most naturists are the naturists who were nude in the 1970s and 1980s. This is who [the police are] harassing now - people in their 50s, 60s and 70s.''

Is this true?

On many different naturist forums there are postings asking "Where are all the young people?"

One of the most sensible responses that I have heard comes from Stéphane Deschênes* owner of Bare Oaks Family Naturist Park  in Canada, who reminds us that the young 20 somethings make up but a small part of the population so they may well be represented in appropriate numbers based simply on this point alone. Second it is normally when people are in their 30's with some stability that the naturist lifestyle becomes more attractive and affordable. *see link to Naturist Living Show

So don't close the lid on the coffin just yet!

From my experience at Cobblers Beach, our "clothes optional beach", I have observed a good mix of ages. On any given weekend you will see a good cross section of the population from 20 somethings to 80 year olds.

Yes the majority of people are in their 40's and 50's just like in the general population. The really great thing about our local beach is that we do have families come down regularly and the whole beach has a real family friendly atmosphere.

Are all these people naturists or are they "skinny dippers"? To me it does not matter yesterdays skinny dipper can be tomorrows naturist.

If the popular press is to be believed the younger generations are environmentally aware what better entrée to the naturist movement if only they can break the bonds of the body-image demons.

As they say in the classics time will tell.

News Item - 23 Feb 2010

VIDEO: Naughty nudes

Click above link for the video report of this article.

At Little Congwong Beach at La Perouse nudists who frequent the picturesque beach on the northern edge of Botany Bay have become the subject of a National Parks and Wildlife crackdown.

Little Congwong has been an unofficial haven for naturists for 50 years. However, complaints from some locals saw police raid the beach on Sunday and threaten nude bathers with fines. On 22 February, the sun lovers were defiant, returning to the beach despite warning signs and the police raid according to Chelsea White of The Daily Telegraph.

It really makes me wonder about our current society and what makes the sight of the naked body so threatening!

The beach in question is isolated and has a traditional use by naturists, granted it does not have legal status as a nude beach but with the small number of legal nude beaches within the Sydney area (3) you would think that the government and local council would create another one.

If there is overt sexual activity undertaken by members of the public then bring the full force of the law onto them and allow the genuine naturists enjoy the environment in a natural state. 

Why this Blog?

Our local legal clothes optional beach.

This blog will capture the irregular posts of Sunkissed an Australian Naturist couple as we continue to explore the naturist lifestyle and the questions and experiences that arise.

Although I may speak in the singular at times in this blog the recorded comments will be reflective of our shared views, questions and observations.

We have been attracted to this lifestyle by the freedom found in removing the clothes and with them the self imposed and society imposed repression and stress that we have carried around with us for so long. We also wish to explore and gain an understanding of the philosophy and history of naturism. To this end there are a great many sources of information on the Web and as we explore these we will endeavour to note our discoveries here in our blog.


This blog has also been brought about by the excellent blogs that I have read and this has encouraged me to try my hand and to add in some small way to the body of knowledge available on this highly beneficial life style.


I therefore have provided links to those blogs that I have found particularly interesting and helpful in the panel to the right.