On bathing suits

I bought a bathing suit this week.  It's been quite the ordeal (FWP, I know).

I don't think I was asking much out of a bathing suit--modest, cute, flattering, two pieces--I spent enough years trying to pee in a one piece that I'm done with those.  In February, I found a super cute one from Lime Ricki, but because I have a problem with buying stuff and like to really think about every purchase, I waited too long.   It was sold out three weeks later when I went back to buy it.

I checked every other modest swim suit site I knew--Shade, Downeast, even Anthropology (modesty is worth the price) and this priceless gem (seriously though, check out this site).  Nothing.  I threw a fit on Facebook and was led to Target online.  Target actually had quite a few long tankini's but were next to impossible to find--it's like Target didn't want to sell me a bathing suit.  In March I picked out a bathing suit, but, again, decided to let it sit for a while.

Two weeks ago, I was at Target getting whatever it is people buy at Target and happened to see the online-only bathing suit I'd picked out.  I decided to try it on since I had the chance--with two children in tow.

Now's the part where we talk about my body.  I made the conscious decision to own my body and be super critical of it in high school.  It is what it is and I will never be a movie star.  I'm (or was) over it.  But trying that swim suit on in Target was well...when you have the chest of a 12-year-old boy (notice I didn't say girl, I used to say girl but now that I work with the Young Women, I realize I more closely resemble a boy than a girl) and the butt of a 40-year-old woman, it hurt.  I needed an x-small top, which they don't sell, with and x-large bottom, also not available.  Part of the problem could be that I was in the juniors section, but still.  Add the fact the bathing suits are supposed to be tried on OVER underwear, sexy sexy Mormon ladies.  And I had Rex making lots of his oh-so-astute observations...

I didn't buy it.  I was sad for a while.  I would never swim again.  I started doing some more toning exercises to perk up some sagging places and came to this decision: I'm going to buy it anyway.  I had too many requirements for bathing suit--modest, cute AND flattering.  I went with two out of three.  The suit is modest, and cute on the rack.  Flattering...no bathing suit is flattering on a boy-woman body.  But I did re-purpose a few of Greg's old shirts to make myself this cover up, inspired by (including the pose) by several tutorials by Merrick at Merricks Art.  And covering up is always good.

Merrick almost always poses like this when she does a tutorial.

As a side note, I came across this video on Facebook the other day.   Well done Jessica Rey, well done.