Scusi, Your Libido Is Showing

Good taste may be wilting Italy's old enthusiasm for fleshly displays, but this summer's cover-up is nothing short of confusing. In some parts of the country, nudity is still winked at -- literally -- or actively encouraged; in others, flaunting the flesh seems to enrage beholders. Rome's subway is definitely not for the shirtless. Irate passengers last week ganged up on bare-chested Belgian Tourist Daniel Serge Meuree, 23, when he ignored a conductor's suggestion to put on more clothing. Fists flew, and Meuree was hauled to a police station. After a lecture on proper attire, he was permitted to resume his journey -- wearing a blue shirt.

Chic Capri meantime invoked a 1970s ruling against excessive nudity to bar people from sauntering through its streets topless or wearing only a swimsuit. Other resorts welcome those who grin and bare it. Rimini, on the Adriatic, annually crowns Miss Golden Bottom, while Loano, on the Italian Riviera, chooses Miss Fantastic Breasts. In Agropoli, 60 miles south of Naples, a determined tourism director aims to convert his town of 15,000 into the "new capital of transgression." Promotional schemes include variety shows with bare-breasted show girls.