Here comes the sun, and with it, beach season, pool season and last minute trip to your local sun trap season. Odds are you have screenshotted a fair few summer pieces over the past couple of weeks, but if you are anything like me, this year it’s all about the swimsuit, or even the fear of getting into one! The two piece has done us well, but maybe you are just looking for something more modest than your standard triangle bikini. Or maybe you are prepared to give tanning a back seat and get creative with some cute cut outs. Or maybe, just maybe, you’ve just seen too many Kylie Jenner snapchats flaunting the wonders of the high rise leg and are almost pissed at the fact she’s the one spearheading summer’s most flattering cut. I may not be her biggest fan, but my journey back to the swimsuit has been the latter. This is how I met my swimwear match.
Like most women out there, I’ve had my fair share of body issues and that first time stripping off for summer can be tough on the old self-esteem. I’m no gym bunny, I don’t restrict my eating so when it came to trying on swimsuits I had a few palpitations in thinking why I didn’t prepare myself. But as it turns out, if you are a reasonably slim according to the internet your feelings towards your own body are now no longer valid. As we all know, I am a no holes barred kind of girl and like to play it straight when it comes to my thoughts and feels online. Just before I left on holiday, I posted a pic trying to giggle at the fact that I wasn’t exactly feeling summer ready and to be honest, I was taken aback by some of the reactions and not just in the comments, sliding into my DM’s too. Was I in fact too “thin” to have body insecurities? Apparently so.
Are all bodies summer bodies? 100%. Is every body beach ready? Absofrickinlutely. Don’t get me wrong, I know that all bodies are beautiful. I see beauty in every shape and size and have friends (and generally admired) people who are bigger, smaller and even the exact same bloody measurements as me and I STILL think they look hotter in a swimsuit! Basically, we all have our own relationships with our bodies and no one could – or should – be able to tell us otherwise. It’s one thing giving your pal a compliment and telling her she looks damn foine (with an OI) but making her feel bad for opening up about an insecurity? Not so much. Body positivity is an extremely important movement, yes. But putting people down for something they feel about something that’s theirs? Well, that’s just as bad as body shaming. What I also found interesting was that I wasn’t in any way fishing or flaunting, I chose an image to inject humor into what is a relatable situation which is how I deal with things I am insecure about (and tbf a lot of people got). But I couldn’t really understand why a slight apprehension of being almost naked in public, therefore, meant that I was body shaming myself. I mean, what?! Body shamed by body positivity. That’s a new one.
I have always found the internet a great place to voice insecurity. It’s a place you can be yourself and less alone in the times you need a friend or an ear. So seeing the other side of the coin, where people put you down for your own insecurity kind of shocked me and made the subject even worse. Like, do I not have the right to have my own views about my own body? Is my opinion not valid because I’m not fat or thin enough? Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure the messages weren’t made to come across the way I took them, but it really got me thinking; when it comes to body image, can we not do right for doing wrong? I’m calling bullshit and just want to say “HO! YOU THERE! Your body. Your feelings.” Capish?
Like I said, I’ve had a bit of a love-hate relationship with my body for most of my life (who hasn’t right?). I’ve never really stuck to one size; love makes me fat, stress makes me thin, anxiety makes me work for my food. It’s a process but from my biggest to my thinnest there’s one area I’ve always hated on the most, and that’s my legs. From never finding boots that fit my calves (still a problem, yey for ankle boots) to finding shorts that don’t dig in or expose half my ass to the world, embracing my body in the summer heat has been a process, to say the least. It wasn’t really since I saw all these hot curvacious girls making the most of their pear shapes in high rise swimsuits that I had a halleluh moment, and thought fuck it, let’s give it a go, shall we? And I did. And bloody hell they are all right. Curvy girls answer to feeling sexy on the beach? Lift those leg hems bitches.
One-piece swimsuits are the bikini’s more flattering counterpart that somehow manages to look eternally chic and that high rise? Turns out the most flattering cut that ever graced a meaty thigh. Yea, it takes a bit of getting used to, but dammit I’ve never felt sexier. I think a huge factor was when I first slipped into this orange ASOS number, it actually fitted. I wasn’t pulling at it, analyzing my body from all angles. I put it on and said, “yeah, I feel pretty alright” which let me tell you, is one giant leap for body acceptance for me. I’m not saying “buy this and feel body positive”, but more just try everything. You don’t know what may actually work for you, and even though the girl boils your potatoes 90% of the time, I probably would have never have tried a good high rise if it wasn’t for Ms. Jenner. Who’da thought, right? I hardly had this cossie off my body the entire holiday and with it’s thick straps and ruched waist, it’ll look bangin’ on most body shapes. The one style that suits all? I dunno but I’m putting my bets on yes.
So if you’re not on board already, shop around and keep your mind open. The right cut of suit is out there for you somewhere and when you find it, it may even change your body views for the better. Who said two pieces are better than one, am I right?! Let me know your thoughts over on instagram or twitter @foreveryoursbetty.
I tell you, not being allowed to have insecurities about your own body drives me INSANE! I’m never allowed to have fat days, or days where I just want to loose a goddamn pound or two because I’m perceived as being thin. Carrying extra weight makes me feel crap because I know it’s because I’m eating badly. But yeah, if I want to moan about my old lady arms, cellulite of expanding waistline I bloody well will! x
PREACH IT SISTER!!!!! Couldn’t agree more. I’m all for body positivity and also healthy lifestyle, but it’s never healthy to let other people blur or make you feel bad for your own opinion. Glad I’m not alone on this!
Feeling this like 1000%. I’m naturally thin but also an “apple body type” and lazy so I’m quite soft especially in the belly area lol so I always dread swimsuit season for so many reasons, but I’d never write a blog post about being insecure about it b/c I feel like I would get massacred in the comments! I feel like I’m not allowed to talk about how I feel uncomfortable b/c I do have thin privilege or whatever you want to call it. I’m really glad for the body positivity movement and I want everyone to feel great in their body no matter what, but yeah I’m not super confident in a swimsuit either and it’s weird how that’s not ok.