When you go down to the continent this summer, you’re in for a big surprise. The tanned bodies that line our European beaches, lithe, leathery or otherwise, are all covered up.
Well, not all covered up, but certainly more than they used to be. Once upon a time, seeing a pair of boobs cooking in the sun like fried eggs was a tell-tale sign that you were on holiday. But now, according to Europeans, it’s an increasingly rare occurrence.
Across internet messaging boards like Reddit and Mumsnet, prospective tourists trying to gauge the toplessness temperature in Europe - “Is it normal to sunbathe topless in Italy?”, “Can I sunbathe topless while on holiday in Portugal?” - are warned of the changing times.
“I have just come off the beach at Albufeira. Unscientifically I would say that 99 per cent of women had their tops on,” replies one netizen. “I have not seen anyone over the age of 8 without a swimsuit top on [in Italy],” replies another.
And according to the most recent research into topless sunbathing, it’s even on the way out in France. France! Where boobs and beaches go together like Pinot Gris and Gruyere.
According to the 2021 survey of over 1,500 women by IFOP (Institut Français D'opinion Publique) while 43 per cent of women said they regularly went topless on the beach in 1984, only 19 per cent did so in 2019. Meanwhile, us Brits remained as buttoned up as ever, with only half of Brits finding it acceptable for both men and women to sunbathe topless. Moreover, 11 per cent of Brits find it unacceptable for anyone to sunbathe with their top off, regardless of gender. What a sweaty existence that must be!
This change in attitudes is something that Lisa Oxenham, who is in her 40s and has been sunbathing her whole life, discovered the hard way. “I went to Italy this year and a young woman asked me to put my top back on because it was offended her father,” she says, “I said no to start with as it felt very rude, but then I put my top back on.” Oxenham understands part of this might have been due to Italy being a Catholic country, but says she’d sunbathed topless in Italy before and never had a problem until now.
Oxenham’s commitment to topless sunbathing may also be linked to her age. According to the IFOP survey, younger women are far less likely to go topless on the beach, with only 16 per cent of women under 50 admitting to going topless “occasionally”. But Oxenham’s in good company: just yesterday, 51-year-old supermodel Heidi Klum was pictured without her bikini top while on the beach in St. Barts with her husband, albeit to much feather-ruffling.
Meanwhile, in Spain, 26-year-old recent expat Jazmine Sleman says that the Spaniards are still firmly set on freeing the nipple. But tourists are no longer using a holiday to Spain as an excuse to get the girls out. “I’m at my swimming pool now and [local] women do lengths in the pool topless, it’s iconic, not frowned upon at all,” she says. “I can tell that lots of the tourists don’t though, like tourists for sure have their boobs covered.”
But why? The results of the IFOP survey discovered multiple reasons, with the foremost explanation for older women being skin preservation. The skin around the chest is very thin, so high quality, frequently applied SPF is essential, unless you want your collarbones looking like the handles of a particularly supple leather bag.
For younger women, though, it’s about safety and comfort, with 50 per cent citing a fear of being physically or sexually assaulted and 48 per cent citing a fear of being subjected to the lustful gaze of men.
Unfortunately, wandering eyes are not new, and nor are these concerns. What might explain the more recent downturn, other than increased awareness around SPF for all ages, is the third most cited reason: that a photo will be taken and published on social media (46 per cent).
Reddit and Mumsnet users mulling over the lack of breasts ashore in Europe have also noted this factor, with one commenter on the popular subreddit r/AskEurope speculating: “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.”
Another added: “Since smartphones became a thing I started covering up. I remember back in 2011 when they started to become more common and my husband had this huge argument with these teenage boys because they were recording me. I wouldn’t want to risk it anymore.”
So, until we have phoneless beaches, expect braless beaches to become a thing of the past. And if you’re due on the continent any time soon, remember to pack your bikini top. That or a little extra courage.
