Time seemed to stand still at the Oak Street Beach when two young women bounded across the boiling sand in their brand-new thong bathing suits.
A volleyball game halted in mid-serve.
Pedestrians executed well-timed U-turns.
Three men emitted guttural chanting noises.
The women smiled at the remarkable effect of the thong, which has been outraging some beachgoers while enticing others as the buttocks-barring swimsuit gradually gains popularity in the Midwest.
Of course, some say the thong is barely here at all.
”It really grabs attention,” said Debbie Konecny, 18, a college freshman from Downers Grove. Her black thong, edged with little dangling fringes, is so distracting that a bicyclist once rode right into a utility pole at the Oak Street Beach, she said.
”Guys are like, `I can`t believe you`re wearing it,”` Konecny said.
”We`re young; we`ll try anything.”
Those are fighting words to Dee Hodgins, 31, who has launched a petition drive in Round Lake Beach to outlaw the thong. The minimalist suit made its debut along the beaches of the Lake County town this summer on one or two females, who seem to have gone into hiding since Hodgins` campaign began.
She and several other residents took their concerns about the super-revealing swimwear to village trustees, who suggested they gather at least 1,500 signatures on the issue while they ponder what, if anything, to do about it.
”I don`t call it a bathing suit,” Hodgins said. ”It`s a G-string. You used to see them only in strip joints. It`s indecent pornography.”
As recounted in the Bible, the skin debate began the day Adam and Eve realized they were naked and began looking for something to wear.
In the 1800s, for example, bathers went to the beach in heavy black or navy wool outfits that resembled longjohns for men and sailor dresses with bloomers for women.
When wet, the suits could weigh up to 10 pounds.
In modern times, the unveiling of what previous ages kept covered has evolved into a spectator sport for some, and an appaling spectacle to others. Changing morals and attitudes about the beach began the great unwrapping in the 20th Century, scandalizing society each step of the way.
Ankles in the 1910s. Arms and legs in the 1920s. Backs in the 1930s. Belly buttons in the 1960s.
”The history of the swimsuit really is the history of shifting erogenous zones,” said historian Gideon Bosker of Portland, Ore., co-author of ”Making Waves: Swimsuits and the Undressing of America.”
Now the debate has bottomed out.
Like the bikini, which took 15 years to reach America from Europe, the thong took more than a decade to catch on after its birth in Rio de Janeiro.
The thong began to appear increasingly on the U.S. coasts during the 1980s, but it was banned from Palm Springs, Calif., and state-run beaches in Florida last year. Some have speculated that its ban made the suits even more popular.
Beachgoers say this summer is the first that the thong has been spotted in appreciable numbers at Chicago-area beaches, though the numbers, like the suit, remain small.
Only a half-dozen were counted on the Oak Street Beach one hot afternoon. A few have been seen at other city beaches and pools as well.
”No one pays attention to them,” said Joe Pecoraro, superintendent of Beaches and Pools for the Chicago Park District. ”We kind of accept anything in Chicago, as long as they`re not topless or bottomless.”
The last time a bathing suit created a real stir in Chicago was in the 1960s, when a Rush Street stripper tried to test lake waters with a newfangled topless contraption held up by two strings around the neck.
Authorities were warned in advance, and the woman was arrested the moment she appeared, according to Pecoraro.
Strictly speaking, the thong violates Chicago`s indecent exposure codes, which bar bare buttocks. But no one has ever objected, according to police spokeswoman Tina Vicini.
Too much openess has not been a problem at most suburban pools and beaches, where sun worshipers say they are just a bit shy, restrained by children, age and public attitudes.
”The women around here wouldn`t have the guts,” said Carolyn Hipp, manager of the Lockport Townships`s Chaney Pool in the south suburbs.
”I don`t know how many moms can wear anything too exotic,” said Diane DeCamp, 41, who wore a one-piece suit with a short skirt and white beach cover-up at the Schaumburg Park District Recreation Center pool.
With nary a thong in sight at the Carol Stream Water Park, Paul Loth, 39, feigned puzzlement when asked about the skimpy suit. ”Are those like the ones I saw in the Bahamas?” he wondered, turning slyly to his wife, Carol, who responded with a knowing ”yes.”
”It`ll go out of style by next year,” she said, so ”what`s the point” of banning it?
But according to some Chicago-area swimsuit retailers, the thong is jumping off the hanger this summer.
”We cannot keep them in stock. They`re just blowing right out the store,” said Greg Hightower, president of Liquid Assets, which has stores in Oak Brook and Schaumburg. ”I see the next year selling even more-the style hasn`t come into its own yet.”
Many male and female beachgoers say that`s a scary thought.
”If you have a good backside for it, go ahead,” said Kimberly Davis, 33, at the Crystal Lake pool. ”If not, yes, ban it.”
