Wetlook World Forum

I really liked the combination between casual (such as the women in plane skirts and tops), and casual but pre-planned (the ones in costumes.) I especially liked the costumes, it made it seem like the participants were really having fun. Much as I like your fountain pics, there is always an aura of it being a bunch of drunk people after the bars close acting goofy.

I found it very interesting that most of the particpants at last weeks party seem to be women. At most of the "traditional" pool parties I've seen, it seemed more guys than girls were willing to take the plunge, but at Leon's shindig, the girls outnumbered the guys. I have a couple of theories:

1. Because it was a dress up, and moreover dressup in costume, event, it was more interesting than just going to a party where there happened to be a pool. One thing that I noticed is that, in the vidcaps, most of the girls in costume (the nurses, the soldiers, the S&M cops) were in groups of two or three, so there is more case to reinforce behavior. (I also noticed that there was a bit of mock, or possibly not mock, flirting among the girls. I've seen that in wet t-shirt contest video/pictures, but always assumed that it was to pander to the audience.) Other than the two "life guards", I didn't see (in the vidcaps) any guys in costume, or a guy and a girl in matching costume. I know that costuming in general is more popular among girls than guys. BTW, what's up with the other casual tape with the people in school clothes (and, in some cases, somewhat risque school clothes). They looked a bit older than actual highschool (or the British equivelent) students. Are there parties where 20 somethings can dress up and pretend that they are high school students and then get to do all the irresponsible/fun things that they never managed to do in high-school?

2. Generally, women are more concerned than men about damaging their clothes. I think there is something about the Y chromosome that hinders understanding of washing instructions. It took me until I was married to realize that one didn't wash everything all at once at a warm temperature. At a party that just happens to have a pool, there is a very good chance that any given person (particularly a girl) will have at least one article of clothing that will be damaged (particularly because of the clorine) by the water. (Which is why half the girls who do get in seem to be wearing only their underwear.) In addition to the water at Leon's party being un, or less, chlorinated, the fact that the girls are wearing things that they deliberately know might get wet means that they will wear garments that are cheap, old, or hard to damage. I noticed that there was very little (if any) silk, and lots of cotton.

3. It helped that the pool was not too deep, and had plenty of room. Both of these led to more opportunaty to "play" and splash about, and less fear of actually managing to stay afloat. The room meant that things weren't as intimate as in, say a hot tub, and the fact that the pool had a flat bottom, and that even when a person was sitting their head was above water, probably also increased the play aspect. I also suspect that the water was probably reasonably warm.

So maybe that's the trick to good pool party wetlook? Announce it as a costume pool party, and explain that it means that volunteers may be pushed in etc, there is a prize for most unusual swimming costume, best set of costumes, that there may be chicken fights etc. If it were summer, I knew people I thought would be into it, could get my wife to go along, and was twenty years younger, I might try it myself. Being an ex-academic, I'll just leave it as an exercise for the reader.