Donna Price - is one of our favorite naturists on social media. We encountered the British naturist several years ago online when she started sharing her everyday naturist experiences. From naturist walks to clothes free meal prep buff baking and other engaging expression of normalizing naturism we were engaged.
Donna's natural, unpretentious and authentic expression of naturism invites connection. That ongoing connection led to our editor and founder Earl designing a logo to support her Buff Baking initiative. It well past time we introduced the naturism advocate and her natural expression of naturist living to our readers. Read on to discover Donna Price and her efforts at normalizing naturism.
CFL - How do you describe yourself as someone engaged in a clothes-free living? Do you see yourself as a naturist, nudist or use some other description?
DP - Neither John (my husband) nor myself are very keen on ‘labels’ for anything, as they can sometimes stereotype people, unnecessarily. However, we use the term ‘naturist’ when explaining our lifestyle to others, particularly because it is the more accepted term in the UK and Europe. ‘Nudist’ for us is a very dated term – often used in the 1950s and 1960s in Britain and with reference to private or member-owned clubs, known then as ‘colonies’. Here in the UK, the term ‘naturist’ is one that is known and understood by our Police, as being a legitimate reason for simple public nudity.
Referring to our lifestyle as clothes-free is a very encompassing way of expressing it. It is a ‘freeing’ sense and we see it as just being comfortable. In winter, we are very much clothed a large proportion of the time, due to the climate and having to spend time outside. Indoors is a different matter, we can be warm and comfortable clothes-free. The more time we spend naked, the less we enjoy wearing clothes, finding them very uncomfortable and restricting.
CFL - How long have you participated in the naturist way of life?
DP - Unlike a lot of the people we interact with in the naturist community, we are relative newcomers to naturism. We only really became seriously involved in 2016, when we started visiting naturist beaches in the UK, joined a local club and the national organisation. It has been rather a fast-track into the lifestyle, particularly from the point of view of actively promoting it to others.
CFL - Tell us about your love of food, do you enjoy a specific type of cuisine? Are you a nudie foodie? Do you enjoy cooking as much as you enjoy eating?
DP - John and I have long had a passion for food. We both enjoy cooking and experimenting. We like various types of cuisine, including Asian, Mediterranean and European. I would definitely say we are ‘foodies’! We like trying different foods and if we find something we particularly like, then we are always keen to try to replicate it at home.
We work on a wonderful ‘Garfield’ philosophy that “All mistakes are guaranteed edible”! Neither of us are particularly keen on sweet dishes, so our focus is mainly on the savoury varieties. We enjoy meat, fish, vegetables, salads, dairy and also baked produce, so we cover pretty much everything in our diet.
We love cooking curries influenced by various parts of the world, in particular Thai, Indian, Korean and Vietnamese. Branching out over the last year or so, into making our own Biltong – that wonderful South African preserved meat snack. This has been hugely successful and one of my true addictions. We have been brewing our own beers and wines for about 18 months which is also very rewarding to do.
CFL - Is it fair to imply you have a clothes-free kitchen? Buff Baking – how did that get started? How did the Red Shoe Buff Baker come about?
DP - We certainly do have a clothes-free kitchen, much like the rest of our house! We always say that clothing is optional, so visitors don’t feel pressured to join in. Our kitchen is a large space combined with a sitting room and a log burner, so it is very much the hub or heart of our house. It’s where we spend a lot of our time and it definitely a comfortable, clothes-free environment for us.
Buff Baking? I have been making all our bread products for at least 16 years, I also now make bread for one of our elderly neighbours in return for fresh fruit and vegetables from her garden – in rural communities it is great to see traditions of ‘bartering’ or ‘swapping’ still thriving. I started chatting to other naturists on social media a few years ago as I saw others
also making their own bread. We began sharing tips, recipes, advice etc. I then started posting images and details of my latest bake on Twitter and followers were commenting and joining in sharing their bakes too. So suddenly we had a group of naturist bakers – I just felt that the term ‘Buff Baker’ really worked.
As for the red shoes….. I have always been a fan of red shoes and I do wear heels a fair bit being ‘vertically challenged’! John is my ‘official’ photographer and he was often taking pictures of me for our collection. Some of these images featured my shoes, which I was sharing on Twitter. John suggested that as some followers had commented on them, I should include them in my baking pictures and it obviously struck a chord as people started commenting when the shoes were not present…..so it became a theme and a kind of trademark!
CFL - Is swimming your favourite athletic activity? Do you participate in nude swims, skinny dips or wild swimming? Are there other ways you maintain physical fitness?
DP - Swimming is definitely my passion and my favourite form of exercise. I have been swimming regularly now for 13 years. I am completely self-taught so I’m probably not the most accomplished swimmer, but I do feel ‘at home’ in the water. I always have a desire to get into water when I see the sea, a lake, river, or pool. I’m not competitive, I have no interest in entering competitions for swimming. I’m not particularly fast but I like to test my endurance by covering long distances. The most I have swum in one session is 6 kilometres. Swimming naked is one of the best feelings I know. I do skinny dip where I can, mostly the sea and some rivers. I only wish I could swim naked more often but my local leisure centre would not appreciate it!!
I also enjoy cycling, although I’m rather a fair-weather cyclist! I don’t go in for rainy or windy conditions and I do prefer the terrain to be fairly flat. Both John and I like walking, so we try to get out in the better weather and do some walking through the countryside and woods. If we can, we will combine this with being naked – some of the best naturist activities include walking through beautiful landscapes.
CFL - Does social naturism figure in your enjoyment of socialising? What kinds of social naturist activities do you engage in?
DP - We are very much into social naturism. We really enjoy spending time with friends and if they are naturist friends, then spending time being comfortable with others is very relaxing. We often have friends over to visit where we can enjoy some naked walks in the summer months, enjoy food and drink and great company.
The last few years have been difficult for socialising in general, however, we have been to naturist events in the past, some small gatherings and others have been on a larger scale at organised venues. We have also organized naked dining events at our village pub and been to similar events organized by others. We are just as comfortable socialising with non-naturists. If they are OK with us being naked – then there is a mutual respect of attitudes to clothing requirements. They’re happy being dressed and we’re happy being naked.
CFL - You say in your online bio that you are engaged in promoting naturism, specifically normalizing naturism, why is that important to you? How do you personally do that? Have you been a part of any national campaigns or public efforts promoting naturism?
DP - I do enjoy promoting naturism, however I am keen to point out that I’m not out to ‘convert’ anyone. All I want to do is demonstrate that being comfortable in your own skin can be a lovely feeling and to encourage people who are curious about it to give it a try. Clothing was originally needed for warmth, so to show people that being naked if you are warm enough is really quite normal. Our skin does need to breathe and taking in vitamin D by being outside naked is quite important for physical and mental well-being.
Naturism can mean lots of different things to different people. Some are only naturists when on holiday, on a naturist beach or at a club. It doesn’t feature in their day-to-day lives at all. It’s often a part of their life which doesn’t overlap into the other parts of their lives, they may not even tell friends or relatives that they do these activities on holiday. We are all different!
I have always tried to advocate that doing normal, everyday activities - housework, cooking, cleaning, gardening – can all be done naked. This to me epitomises ‘Normalising Naturism’. I truly believe by demonstrating we are not part of a strange cult could really make the lifestyle more acceptable or at least, less secretive or odd. We are just average folk, going about our lives, without the encumbrance of clothes.
Over the last few years, John and I have both been actively involved in generally promoting naturism to the wider audience via various media interviews, both regionally and nationally. I have been heavily involved in promoting naturism for women, because it is still a lifestyle that has a gender imbalance. Women have many reasons for being reluctant to try being clothes-free and most of them I fully understand – I am a woman after all! As part of some work I did with the national organisation, I was invited to give some presentations to well-known women’s groups here in the UK, which was particularly rewarding. We have also been featured on the BBC (radio) and also on their news websites around the world, promoting naturism to countries one would be inclined to consider having very rigid viewpoints on social and public nudity.
CFL - Tell our readers about Women Naturally. What is the intent and purpose behind it?
DP - Women Naturally is my name for a movement to continue encouraging women to gain the confidence to try being themselves - naturally. Still very much a work in progress at the moment, I am always keen to hear of ideas or suggestions.
Connect with Donna online follow #buffbaking #normalizingnaturism #normalisingnaturism on Twitter
https://clothesfreelife.com/2023/02/donna-price-red-shoe-buff-baker-normalizing-naturism/?_unique_id=63eff506d5969
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