a) as most of the people featured in the photos are women & one of the Instagrammers is a man, this is sexist women-shaming (as usual)
b) you should get someone's consent before posting a pic of them (even if in a public space)
c) who cares what people wear anywhere
d) it's fair game - poseurs, DFLs etc.
A dressing gown ?What's a Dryrobe?
All are correct.
What is was designed for is excellent. If I was a regular swimmer I'd want one. As a pending SUPer, I wouldn't mind having one waiting for me as I'd not expect to avoid a ducking. The freedom of getting dry and into clothes again offers so much variety.
There are plenty of coats for outside activities where you don't go underwater. I imagine walking anywhere in one in a strong wind would be a nightmare. Luckily someone has invented the snug streamlining softshell for that. Pissing with rain? Other coats are available.
Is it that much different from mods wearing bowling shoes? Not what they were meant for, but broadly meeting description.
I suppose they are brilliant at concealing sawn-offs and other useful accessories. I might have to get one.
What's a Dryrobe?
c) who cares what people wear anywhere
On another tack…we go for a walk on the prom from millionaire row to the Palace Pier and back most weekends and amazed by the amount of people, mostly women, who go swimming in the sea even in freezing conditions.
By king Alfred the brighton and hove sea swimming club all pile in and although everyone thinks they are bonkers, we are all secretly in awe of them.
Zoe Lyon’s did a brilliant set on them all being menopausal women who were going in to cool down and causing the sea temperatures to rise , not climate change. It was a very funny sketch.
Anyway, one thing we have noticed is the amount of men who take photographs of people, mostly women getting before and after swimming. Now I am not saying they are perverts getting their kicks, but a few weeks ago by the flats just before the lawns, two ladies were getting changed and unabashed stripped off whilst putting their dryrobes on and this guy had his powerful camera snapping away at them. Mrs DTG challenged him ( very aggressively) and he muttered something and sloped off..no doubt to find some other ladies to photograph! What is it with these people!
If you're the sort to get wound up about what other people wear, I'd suggest the problem lies within.
As with all things that are trendy, the group that started using the 'thing' before it became fashionable will want to claim it as their own and be offended that others are using it.
I had never wanted a dryrobe (until yesterday), but I don't hold anything against those that do. Yesterday, I was stood in the freezing rain and hail, watching my son play rugby when I saw a couple of parents in dryrobes; they looked by far the warmest people there (apart from the kids that were running around). I found myself thinking 'that is a good idea...'.
The Dryrobe can join a long list of sport specific apparel that becomes a fashion item for those with no interest in the sporting activities they were made for.
For an historic comparison the Hove dryrobe is the modern equivalent of the Scouse shell suit.
I've spoken to several female sea-swimmers and surfers of all genders who hold strong anti-Dryrobe views.
Mum made us towelling tops with elasticated necks back in the 70s if she had the foresight we could have been millionaires. Not bothered