Long ago (very long ago) when this blog was new, I posted a close-up view of a woman wearing an extremely minimal bikini. I mean, the bikini bottom had three tiny strings and one of them was flossing her stuff, but nothing was covering anything!

Because I was much younger and more foolish then, I hadn’t quite settled into the groove of sex-positive appreciation that has come to be the ErosBlog vibe. I made the sex-blogger rookie mistake of referring to that spectacular micro-bikini as “ludicrous” and “ridiculous”, which is a weirdly prudish take that I do not recognize in myself today. 2020 Bacchus does not endorse the judgmental stance of 2003 Bacchus. We grow, we learn.

Before I was born, back when the bikini itself was young, Brian Hyland had a comedy pop hit called “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini”, about a young lady whose swimsuit was more daring than she was. It’s my impression that the bikinis they thought were “itsy bitsy” in 1957 really weren’t, but it’s still a fun song:

There does however come a minimum size for a bikini below which, one might reasonably wonder, what is the purpose of the thing? Why not go full-on nudist?

It’s a fair question, but it has fair answers, too. Naturism and nudism have creepy historical links to racialized Aryan notions of strength, health, and body-perfection; as such, those lifestyles may not work for everyone. Nudist communities can vary a lot in their extent of body-positivity and acceptance of all body types. There are also class issues; the space and privacy to practice everything-off nudism doesn’t come cheap! Nor can we neglect the historical problem of fully-nude camps and and resorts that were set up to be male-gaze patriarchal fantasy-fulfilment centers, not necessarily as safe for female members as advertised in the glossy brochures.

A lot of these problems are solved by keeping the swimsuit, but paring it down — not just to the essentials, but to some less-than-the-essentials celebration of tiny strings and sheer fabrics. Micro bikinis open new vistas for confident self-expression of women’s body joy. There are plenty of beaches, hot tubs, and public or private pool situations where daring suits, worn with glee by women of all shapes, sizes, and colors, are perfectly acceptable. Full nudity, perhaps not so much.

Thus it turns out that for many people, the micro bikini has become an entire lifestyle, at least where their fresh air, sunshine, and summer leisure is concerned. They frequent friendly hedonistic spaces worldwide, and even have web communities like Bikini Fanatics, where women share their teeny bikini photos for everyone to appreciate. And of course, as this post demonstrates comprehensively, Rule 34 guarantees us an endless parade of barely-there bikini art. It’s a good world, isn’t it?

I know we’re all coming up hard on the darkest part of the winter, but I hope this post sparks dreams of sun and sand and extravagantly-flaunted skin. May they keep you warm until summer comes around again!