We had fun spending the day in Miami Beach on New Year’s Eve, and the single hour that we spent on the actual beach was eye opening for me. As you may know from my past swimsuit reviews, I am not a bikini person. That’s because I don’t have this woman’s body.
Friends have told me that one-pieces make them feel old, but I couldn’t understand what they were talking about until I saw these women.
That’s when I looked around and realized that almost every woman on the beach was wearing a bikini–and very few of them had the perfect body of the woman in my first photograph.
Seeing these women made me reconsider–maybe I can wear a bikini. Interestingly, the figure “flaw” that I notice in most of these photos has nothing to do with breast size. It’s the womanly tummies. If these women can wear bikinis despite not having perfectly flat abdomens, so can I.
We would have stayed on the beach longer, but we hadn’t brought sunscreen and were dying to find a bathroom. We found one in a CVS, right next to their magazine rack. After seeing the freedom of the women on the beach, I felt offended for them when I saw these magazine covers.
I couldn’t quite articulate what I thought and felt, but then I found this photo and quote on Linda the Bra Lady’s Facebook page that she found on the Healthy is the New Skinny blog that they found in November’s O Magazine. The quotes are excerpted from a “Dear Every Woman†letter from novelist Amy Bloom.
You cannot be a healthy person, let alone hope for healthy children, if you sigh and moan every time you encounter your own image, eat a cookie, or see an airbrushed model on a billboard. Even if it amounts to wholesale pretending, go pretend. Walk around pretending to be a woman who likes her body… Because every step toward self-love you take, and every inch of confidence you give someone’s daughter, makes the world a better place….
You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful.
I’ve been walking around like a woman who likes her body ever since reading this. I hope you will, too.
I didn’t wear a bikini until I hit 30, because there was just nothing available in my size. I felt slightly self-conscious when I first wore one at the beach. Now I even wear one at the pool! That being said, I don’t think one-piece suits have to be dowdy and tankinis are another great option. On a side note, the candid camera leaves me a bit uneasy. I for one would feel mortified if I was one of the women featured and found my picture on the Internet as an example of a “not so perfect body”.
I started wearing bikini’s earlier this year and I definitely did not have a perfect body. I’ve found, though, that with a bikini I can get a MUCH better fit because one pieces don’t work well on my torso and are impossible to get out of when you have to pee. After realizing this I felt so much more confident in the water despite not having the perfect body. Oh, and I love that with bikinis you can mix and match to find the exact style/sizes that you like.
It’s great hearing from other late bikini adopters.
Astrid, I take your point about the candid photos. I was hoping that removing the faces would remove the mortification factor, but I think you’re right. I’m going to keep them up because I like the point I’m making with them, but I won’t do this again.
I need to talk to you about that fabulous bag 🙂
Hi! Thanks for sharing my photo and quote from my Facebook page 🙂 The best way to look your best is by wearing something comfortable. To me, that means a top that fits REALLY well (cup sized). A lifted bust will always help you look great! Or a one piece with a little style to it. I LOVE the Karla Colletto one pieces because they are NOT old looking – so fab! XO
I have come to love bikinis! I’m far from a “hardbody” myself–I’m about 5’3″ and around 140-145 pounds at the moment, with some SERIOUS thighs. I got my first bikini when I was about 29, though it took me until this past summer to get one that REALLY fits me properly. It’s a gorgeous suit from Freya in cute aqua blue and white polkadots, with a retro look to it. When I wear it, I may not look like a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, but I FEEL glamorous, well-supported, and happy! The top fits me as well as the best bras I’ve owned, and at 32FF, that’s important to me!
It’s so reassuring to hear stories like yours.. I’m afraid now that I’ve written about this, I might actually have to follow through this summer.
Inspired by this, I too do not have a perfect body and I will be rocking a bikini for the first time this summer