many beach-goers who use sungas also walk the streets of the beach areas in them, however it is not permitted to enter shops or bars just wearing a sunga - even hotels and residential buildings require a shirt to enter the hallways and the elevators. of course for those who cannot quite take the leap just yet, it's equally acceptable to use board-shorts, a popular choice among surfers and foreign tourists.

for women, there are lots of choices, all dependent on the level of comfort. in rio de janeiro, bikinis (biquínis) became a symbol of innovation and freedom when fist introduced, and to this day are an important part of the local beach culture - created in france in the 1940's by Louis Réard, bikinis became popular in brazil in the 1960's, when french actress brigitte bardot introduced it in the resort town of búzios and Tom Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes included in the bossa nova hit song 'garota de ipanema'.