European women – when you go to the beach do you wear a bikini top or do you go topless?

21 comments

1. It’s mostly because of technology, camera are now small and everyone has a smartphone, while some peoples still go topless it’s way fewer than before, having social media + easy to take photos is not really fun.

   Also skin cancer is known a lot more now so exposing your body to the sun is a bit less popular.

   There is still nudist beaches in France where you can go full nude within the community tho

2. I think its a smartphone thing. In an age where everybody has cameras on them all the time and could easily share your pics with the whole world, women are much less inclined to go topless.

   And if they do, they are very rarely attractive and/or young. Being european, i think i have seen like one good looking topless woman in public in my entire life.

3. Everyone and their giddy aunt has an 8000 megapixel camera in their hands now. Sorry, but these tatas aren’t for some perv’s private documentation. The last time I went topless at a beach a couple years ago, some dude stared so hard for so long that I put the top back on.

   Same thing with small children. It used to be super normal to let little kids run around naked or just with a nappie at the beach; nowadays that’s unthinkable.

4. It depends on people. I am mostly topless on the beach, currently I am in Cyprus on vacation and I have not spent even one day wearing a bikini top.

   Sometimes I don’t go topless when density of people on the beach is just too huge. I’m not insecure about my body but I am afraid of any confrontation from some Karen so when there’s so much people I am literally 1meter from everyone from every side, then I’ll probably wear a bikini top.

   But first I’ll just look at them and decide if one of them can be a Karen lol

   I’ve seen some American tourists being offended by topless women and I do not wish to talk to any of them

5. It’s definitely a smartphone thing as others have said, because it was still very common up until 10 years ago.

   I was still a teenager when smartphones became a thing, so I’ve never gone topless or felt comfortable enough to do that.

6. I agree that smartphones are a factor here, but I also think that it is a culture thing, at least to some extent.

   When you travel to Spain, you can expect a lot of topless women on the beach while in Poland it was never a thing.

7. In the past it was a lot harder for some perv to share pictures of you with the whole world, you had to take you camera with you, you then had to get your photo’s developped and then you had to find a way to share them with the world. Now it’s done with the press of a few buttons.

8. Even when I was a kid in the early 00s it was very rare to see a woman topless on the beach. I don’t know what it was like before that but it’s at least not a recent development.

   I’d never go topless, but I also don’t wear bikinis but stuff with much more coverage.

9. I was topless almost all through 80’s, I had more bikini bottoms than tops. Only wore tops if I was with relatives or similar. This was in Italy, France, Spain, Sweden, Finland. In Malta they were more prudish so there I wore top as well or one-piece. Then got married and kids, beach was a distant dream for some years. Time & gravity means that I prefer real swimsuits nowadays, as I am actually swimming a lot.

   Also you are correct that there are tops all around now, just realized that.

10. I always wear a bikini top – as do the huge majority of women. I have big boobs and when I was younger, it simply never occurred to me not to wear one – especially that I can’t tan and lying on a beach is not my idea of fun, so it was a non-issue. But I do recall that I saw some women topless on crowded beaches (with the high numbers probability increases that there’d be one) – very very rarely though.

11. I wish I could go topless for the tan but people are too creepy. I might consider it if I’m at the beach with a man and have done so before but never alone, last time this old guy just wouldn’t leave me alone and it wasn’t very nice.

12. Can’t say there’s many women who go topless in Ireland, but probs cuz our summer weather is like 16 degrees and rain most of the time lol, no one’s getting their legs out never mind their boobs when it’s cold and windy on an Irish beach lol

13. I’m newly moved to Germany from Canada, so I don’t have a ton of experience with this, but do have some.

    There definitely are topless women at beaches here but it’s not the norm. It also seems to be more common at smaller beaches, and beaches with a nudist area where women will either go into the nudist area to be topless, or just be topless near the nudist area.

14. I’m Spanish, I always go topless to the beach in Spain, when abroad I adapt to what they do there.
    It is true that the younger girls don’t go topless, although I don’t get it, since they go with G-string or brasileñas bottoms, so most of their ass is out.

15. Not anymore with smartphones everywhere. Some more super private, hard to reach beaches in the south of Europe exist where I’d feel comfortable to do so (Italy!) but those spots are being found my tourists and just make me feel less safe now

16. It used to be quite common im Turkey to see topless women on beaches (especially around Antalya). I haven’t seen it in a while, but then again, I haven’t been to Antalya in a while. If I were there, I wouldn’t do it.

    Nowadays when I go to the beach it’s around our vacation home where a lot of people know me personally, so I am not going topless. If I am somewhere else, I adapt – if I see other topless women around, I also do it. If not, then not.

17. I wear a top. I only go swimming, not sunbathing. It’s just a habit, I do not feel strongly about it one way or the other. Topless was super common in the 80ies and 90ies then disappeared nearly completely and has made a tiny comeback recently. Nobody ever made a fuss about changing though. Just take the wet one off and put a dry one on without complicated towel gymnastics.

18. Mt mom would always go topless on the beach in the 80’s and 90’s. I also remember going to nude beaches when I was a child and it was totally normal.

    Even though I grew up like this and don’t take issue with it, I would not go topless, smartphone or not. Neither does my sister.

    I don’t think it’s an east/west issue, just a general development. It might have to do with Smartphones or with a kind of oversaturation, as nude bodies are just everywhere now (movies, advertisements, Internet…)

19. As other have said, right now you see lots of micro bikini bottoms that are worn with structured (as in foam + coverage) tops.

    I don’t get it. I prefer my ass mostly covered, and tits getting that sweet sun

20. I might remove my top temporarily if no men I know are around, and if I’m just lying on my towel (not walking around or bathing).

    Topless is common in Spain, but it’s true that it has decreased significantly in recent years, especially among younger women. Most people blame smartphones.

    In my experience, there’s also a regional factor: I’ve been to both Galicia and Catalonia this summer, and saw a lot more topless in Galicia. Maybe because it’s less touristy?

21. It ended thanks to every other pervert having to take pics and videos with their camera phones.

    I’m old and fat and would happily go topless to take the piss. But I’m on medication that makes me extra sun-sensitive, so going topless is a no-go.