I wasn't brought up in a naturist home, but my family were fairly liberal about nudity - I knew, for example, that my dad always slept nude and would not worry about getting dressed to go to the bathroom. My mum was not quite so free, though, and always covered up in front of me and my older brother.
Being brought up in the 70s and 80s meant that men tended to wear briefer swimear, and my dad wore some pretty skimpy stuff at the beach and in the garden. When I was just a teenager I was given the money to go out and buy my own holiday clothes - and surprised my parents by buying swimear even skimpier than my dads.
When we got back it was natural to carry on wearing them in the garden to sunbathe or mow the lawn, and so there would be me and dad dressed like that, and my mum and older brother wearing more clothing (I don't think I've ever seen him in less than a pair of shorts).
I was only a simple step from there to wear nothing when sunbathing, although I tended to only do that when my mum wasn't in - never joined by my dad or brother at home though.
Growing up, leaving home, getting married, joining the Police, getting divorced all followed - and through them all I managed to wear either a bikini or nothing at the beach and in the garden, and nothing around the house whenever the weather permitted - and no, that's not the reason my wife left me!
Sorry for rambling on for so long - quite liberating to think about those happy days in the 80s (both my parents are dead now). Think I might give my brother a call later.
Thanks,
J
I too probably had a steady progression towards naturism.I do recall when I was 13 or 14,1970ish, noticing, in school changing room after gym, a class mate always had skimpy underwear, this encouraged me to break away from what mum had always bought to began buying my own, she never commented, and quickly dispenced with my old fashioned y-fronts. A few years later when I could drive, I started going into the countryside on my half day off to sunbathe in my skimpy undies, enjoying the sense of freedom and if I'm honest, naughtiness.
As Johnny said, in the 70s, underwear and swimwear could be quite brief, and briefer still if you looked hard enough, so it wasn't long before I progressed to looking for briefer swimwear, which i took great delight in building a good collection of, and still do today, which thanks to the internet is so easy.I always enjoyed being the bold one as regards wearing as little as poss on the beach or at swimming pools and still do today even though I'm now 53, but i couldn't possibly wear todays media sanctioned regulation board shorts and ending up with a two foot deep white stripe.
first nude beach was Slapton sands, devon in1980 with my new wife and ever since when possible, but if not its on with the skimpies. I do look hard for nude opportunities though first. Ray
If being naked just isn't an option then its skimpy swimwear for me everytime, normal day to day underwear tends to be small too, i like the feeling of the support without all the material.