Bathing Suit Season
It’s summertime, which means many of us are getting in pools and worrying about looking fat in our bathing suits when really we should be swimming and diving and doing cannonballs and swimming with dolphins and drinking drinks out of coconuts and being awesome! Hopefully most of us are doing that, and not stressing out, like this poor girl:
I was wondering if there were styles of bathing suits that looked good on fat people. Also, if any of them have sleeves or anything like that. I want to be able to cover my upper arms, tummy, hips, back, and thighs. Does anyone know any specialty stores or websites?
Sleeves! Oh honey, no. Here are some of the answers:
I know its tempting to cover up when you’re larger and not confident about your body, but only cover up in moderation. If you cover EVERYthing on your body it will only draw more attention to those areas. Instead you need a suit that doesn’t cover up but that diverts the eye to your body parts that you like.
http://www.wholesomewear.com has very modest styles of suits. They have sleeves and some have culottes or longer skirts. It sounds like you want something very modest, but not very tight… these may work for you! Still, when I go to the beach, I see lots of big gals in bikinis, and I wish I had a fraction of their self-confidence!!!
Seriously, check out the “slimming swimwear” from that Wholesome Wear site! Oh my god. I’m sorry, but even Nicki from Big Love wouldn’t wear this stuff into their backyard polygamy pool.
More answers:
sweetie its okay to show your arms just wear a one piece bathing suit with a skirt cover up. It’ll be cute…. show some confidence gurl you’ll look HOT! Have fun where ever your going.
sounds like you want a wet suit.
Not being a believer in the “bathing suit with a skirt” thing, I tend to go for boy-cut shorts and halters. But I recently got this suit by Land’s End and think it looks very cute. But it is also very spendy! I bought it back in those halcyon days when I had something called “a job.”
What about you? Are you pro- or anti- the bathing suit skirt concept? Are you headed to to the beach, a pool, or a hot tub this summer? Where did you buy your suit? And what style of bathing garment “suits” you!? (HAHAHA! A PUN! And while I’m at it, please note that I put this in the category of “Fat Suits.” I can’t help myself.)
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Filed under: Fashion, Fat Suits, International, TV
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I used to be on a swim team when I was a kid, and even though I was fat I don’t recall being self consious about it until I became an adult. However, we went on a vacation a few weeks ago with another couple (who are both thin – my hubby and I are decidedly NOT) and I decided I didn’t care. I flaunted myself the whole time. And guess what? The other wife was more selfconscious than I was!
I splurged a couple of years ago and bought a really nice tank suit with straps that stay in place, shirring (sp?) on the sides and excellent support for the girls from Miraclesuit. I take good care of it…and now after 3 years, it is beginning to show some wear. But it has retained all of it’s shape. I also bought a halter tankini from LB, it’s ok, I echo the opinion that halters suck and make my neck hurt, and it doesn’t have the support I’d like. However, it looks nice and it stays in place better than the cheaper ones I’ve owned. The ones from Target and Old Navy are cute but no support…I’d rather spend my money on one expensive good suit than four cheapes that fall apart or don’t support me. I bought a nice tank suit from Always for Me but it was too shor for my body and I have to return it. I’ll try another style from them, very cute.
Also on my vacation, I saw a big girl wearing a string bikini…I was so jealous of her cuz I don’t have the guts.
Oh one more thing, there’s at least one etsy shop selling plus size bikinis…byrodesigns is one, I’m seriously considering getting one (but I’d probably be too scared to wear it in public…but our backyard is another story)
I do a lot of lap swimming, aqua aerobics and even the odd water slide, and prefer a fairly sensible one-piece that can stand the chlorine and support a seriously large bust. I hate skirts or extra-long legs – I’m so short that they come down too far and then flap around or ride back up again. My only criteria is to avoid plain black and minimizing designs whenever possible. My last couple of pairs (I rotate them) have come from Bravissimo, on sale – I’ve had excellent luck with the Bondi one-piece in the “sports” section and the Grace in the “swimsuits” section. I wanted Sorrento in red, but it sold out in my size before I’d saved up the money.
As for swimming in the great outdoors, I sunburn in about five minutes flat, through multiple layers of sunscreen (I grew up in Oz, but still get chargrilled in what passes for the UK summer), so wear one of my regular cossies under a rash vest and board shorts. Current pair is incredibly loud and colourful from Billabong. The rash vest is burgundy and elbow length, and means I can spend hours at the beach or local pool without having to worry about sunburn – or asking passers-by to reapply sunscreen to the middle of my back!
When do people actually wear bikinis, by the way? I don’t find them practical for laps, I only ever soak in a spa after more vigorous swimming and would never be bothered to change, and I can’t wear them outdoors becaue of the sunburn issue. Confidence is not the problem, but the opportunity is lacking!
HELP! Does anyone know where to find a suit (one-piece skirted or tankini) with a real underwire bra inside? These suits existed when I was a teenager, then they suddenly disappeared. For anyone who wears larger than a B-cup, especially once gravity has begun to do its thing, an underwire (just like the ones we wear with regular clothes) would seem to be a necessity, BUT I CANNOT FIND ONE IN A BATHING SUIT ANYWHERE!
Does anyone have a source for a swimsuit with an underwired bra?
I can deal with my huge upper arms. I can cope with the belly. I have a waist and boobs so I look pretty decent on top. But oh my gosh, the legs. The legs!! Seriously, they horrify me. I have the biggest legs, hips, knees and they do not look right attached to the rest of me IMO. No amount of swim skirt can cover it up. So I just said, “I gotta love myself, and I like to swim, so Im just gonna swim.” No goofy attempts to try and hide the tree trunks. They just *are.* So I wear my one-piece and enjoy my siwm and say to heck with what anyone thinks.
Carol, Bravissimo (bravissimo.com) do one-pieces (no skirts) and tankinis with real bras, but they only go up to back sizes 38 or 40, which may or may not work for you.
There’s also a brand called Shock Absorber which is meant to be quite good, plus I’ve seen both Speedos and Zoggs with good bust support in department stores (and the shops attached to local swimming pools), but I can’t remember if they are underwire or not.
Figleaves.com stock a fair few options, including some of the brands carried by Bravissimo (Fantasie and Panache for example.)
Good luck.
I LOVE swim skirts–I think they’re so cute! Also, I tend to get wedgies a lot, so wearing skirts means I don’t have to worry about my ass-cheeks greeting everyone. I like one-pieces with skirts or wearing skirts over bikini bottoms. For some reason I don’t like tankinis—they always look cute on the rack, but don’t look good on me. For tops I like belly-shirts with puffy sleeves.
I have always dressed pretty modestly at the beach/pool (T-shirt and shorts), and since I decided to become more observant a few years ago (I’m Muslim), have been wearing athletic leggings and a t-shirt. I’ve never noticed anyone do a double-take, even on beaches where I am the only woman NOT in a bikini, let alone covered so much, and the way I see it, I’m a grown-up, and that means I get to dress myself as I see fit.
I prefer modest clothing for a variety of reasons (none of which have to do with body shame, as so many are quick to assume), and my assumption that grown-ups get to dress themselves extends to other women. If you want to wear a bikini, wear one, but don’t assume that women who are more covered are ashamed of their bodies, repressed, or uncomfortable, and I won’t assume annoying stereotypes of women in bikinis (promiscuous, anti-feminist, immodest).
My advice to the original questioner? Wear whatever makes you comfortable enough to go swimming (lots of good, practical advice from the other commenters here), and after a while, see how you feel. You may decide you want more covering, or you may choose less covering. One choice does not make you better, smarter or more liberated than anyone else.
Hm. On another read, that last line is ambiguous. I mean that “one choice or the other” does not make you better, smarter or more liberated…
It’s so easy to look at yourself and say, “I hate my legs, my stomach, my arms” etc.
God knows that I’ve had those thoughts almost every day of my life.
But we have to stop and think…I’m so grateful that I have all my limbs, I can walk and run, I can swim, I can be normal.
And there are so many people out there who can’t do half those things….so no matter how you’re feeling this summer, just remember that you’re blessed because you have the opportunity to get out there and have fun.
I always think of the less fortunate when I feel ‘fat’ and it really makes me feel like such a fool. I have my health and that makes me so lucky.
Have a great summer everyone!
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