PHAT-DIPPING AND THE WETLOOK FETISH OR SWIM

or SwPHAT-DIPPING – IS IT JUST WETLOOK?

There’s a new revival of an old established trend going on, and it was started mainly through Youtube. ‘Phat-dipping.’ is the name given to what is best defined as the opposite of skinny-dipping, namely, going for a swim or deliberately getting wet while still fully clothed.

The fad seems to arise from a video made to accompany a rap-song, Phat Dipping Rap, by Rhett & Link.  Though the song is quite tongue in cheek, (including input from a President Barack Obama look-a-like) it seems to tie in to a misleading puritanical notion that more flesh being covered is somehow les promiscuous than being naked or semi-naked while in or near to open water. (swimming pools, oceans, lakes, rivers, etc). .

The spread of phat-dipping activity was a carefully created and clever marketing exercise. In making the video, the singers called in several friends (chosen carefully for having a strong influence through their blogs and Youtube pages). They are all seen jumping and splashing around in a swimming pool fully dressed. On Youtube, where the video is very popular, the performers invited people to make their own phat-dipping videos, and offered a cash prize for the best examples. Oddly, there are many people online talking about the experience of phatting without actually being seen getting wet while talking about it– The availability of good water-proof cameras may be a deterrent and many public pools will not let bathers go in without conventional swim suits (the half-way house between phat and skinny dipping).  In Britain, the climate may also be off-putting.

Skinny-dippers, (nude swimmers) are obviously being provocative and alluring. Even a swim suit, one piece, or bikini (or trunks in the case of male swimmers) are often designed to show off as much body as possible. Some phat-dippers may be shocked to find their idea of non-sexual wholesome fun gets their pictures, blogs and videos flashed around and exchanged by wet fetish enthusiasts. The Rap video seems to suggest that Phat-dipping is somehow non-sexual. It implies that a bather in jeans or a jacket isn’t trying to look sexy. In fact, wetlook is a well known and popular fetish, with many websites celebrating the way wet clothes can enhance flesh, through sheen, transparency, clinginess, billowing and floatation. Wet tee-shirt contests are perhaps the best-known manifestation of wetlook activity. There are many people online who like to see people (of all genders) in wet clothes, and who like to get their own apparel wet, privately and / or in public. It’s a phenomenon I exploit in some of my own erotica writings. It comes under a general heading of Wet and Messy (WAM), but wetlook has never really had a specific label before. I just wish  someone had come up with a better one than phat-dipping. It sounds like a fascination for lard, or liposuction.

It should be noted that Phat dipping is not the only wetlook innovation of late – there is also a ‘trash the dress’ phenomena, in which wedding dresses and other specially designed, expensive, but rarely worn formal wear is destroyed by its owner going swimming or mud wallowing while wearing the outfit.

Phat-dippers are a welcome, harmless bunch on the WAM circuit, and even the song offers advice, like making sure valuables, money, electronic goods, etc are kept dry and safe. Many joining in a phat-dipping party may, like iJustine, below,  later regret not having dry clothes to change into for going home in. Such lessons are well known to wetlook fans throughout the world.

LINKS

Ijustine, a lady talks about her filming role in the Phat-dipping Rap, and includes the original Youtube video in her blog. http://tastyblogsnack.com/2009/03/25/phat-dippin/

Phat-dipping defined in the Urban Dictionary http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=phat%20dipping

Wetlook on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetlook 

Wetlook image gallery - http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=wetlook&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=jDPfSb6jOYGy-QalpO37CA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title

 

Wetlook Discussion Forum http://forum.minxmovies.com/indexmain.cgi?

 

Trash The Dress http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trash_the_dress

Arthur Chappell

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