The Hunt

[bluejeans07]

I've managed to avoid the Great Swimsuit Hunt for many years, mostly because my racing swimsuit from high school has lasted for ages. Sadly though, I finally had to admit that it's pretty much dead and it was time to begin the Hunt.

I hate the Hunt. For one thing, I have to Hunt alone because I don't need a running commentary while struggling to pull up skinny pieces of spandex. While having a pack to hunt is fun most of the time, I know how my body looks like, there are plenty of mirrors in the dressing room, and to hear things like "That suit's giving you an extra belly roll" isn't entirely helpful.

At the same time, looking in the mirror tells me that the suit's giving me an extra belly roll.

What I also hate about having to Hunt now is that I don't like the style of suits being sold right now. I hate: skinny bikini tops and bottoms, things dangling from parts of the suit, random 'belts' on the bottom (which I will never understand, who on earth looks at a skin tight spandex suit bottom and go, "hmm, that thing needs a belt to hold it up?"), halter ties, and non-racer backs.



Side note: Isn't this ad HILARIOUS?! XD


Yeah, I'm picky. And born out of my time. I LOVE vintage suits honestly, even the halter top ones, not because they make me think of Bettie Page and other sexy retro pin-up girls (okay, maybe that's a small reason), but because they cover everything! <3 Apparently, they're also considered 'rockabily' or some random word, but I like 'em because they're cute. But they're also ridiculously hard to find for a good price and it feels a little weird to be so 'dressed up' for a quick dip in the pool. I'd feel like I need to be walk out in spiked heels with bright red lipstick and a flower in my perfectly curled hair and Bettie Page bangs.

Anyway, with all these nit-picky issues, it took me forever to find something I like. Delias is having a big clearance sale and I saw that they had a cute starry racer back tankini top~ <3 They're also the only people who seem to be selling boy short bottoms at the moment so I bought a pair of those too. Hopefully they'll fit and I can go swimming again! @_@

Comments

[pink-blanket.livejournal.com]

did you see this one?

http://store.delias.com/item.do?categoryID=1750&itemID=48861&sizeFilter=&colorFilter=&brandFilter=

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

I did! And the plaid one too! I thought long and hard about it, but the racer was on sale for $10 and those one pieces were halters. XD Picky Jean strikes again!

[thebluelady.livejournal.com]

I hate hate hate swimsuit shopping. I'm uncomfortable with suits that are not boy short bottoms because everything else hikes up. I need a suit like you posted haha

[phavorianne.livejournal.com]

Huh, I always have particular problems with boyshorts riding up. Maybe it's the brands I'm trying? But they just end up looking like diapers instead of shorts, and the elastic is never tight enough around the leg.

[lynxgriffin.livejournal.com]

Ohhh man, I feel your pain. :P I have to engage in that hunt sometime in the very near future. Although I'm thinking of ordering something from Land's End or one of those other types of stores and just avoiding the whole "shopping" thing altogether.

[never-ender.livejournal.com]

the reason you are having this problem with selection is that you are shopping in almost July.

Chain stores have seasonal stock based on the whole country, not southern California, so swimsuit season is summer, which means you buy a suit in spring, which means stores are mostly on their last dregs of swimwear at this point.

I know for a fact that target has/had boy shorts, and lots of non-skimpy, non-dangly thing suits. They also have vintage-y inspired "swim dresses."
http://www.target.com/Merona-1-pc-Halter-Swimdress-Black/dp/B0017YR998/qid=1214351684/ref=br_1_3/601-5368344-9047356?ie=UTF8&node=13706071&frombrowse=1&rh=&page=1
http://www.target.com/Merona-1-pc-Bandeau-Swimdress-Black/dp/B0017YR98E/qid=1214351733/ref=br_1_9/601-5368344-9047356?ie=UTF8&node=13706071&frombrowse=1&pricerange=&index=tgt-mf-mv&field-browse=13706071&rank=-product%5Fsite%5Flaunch%5Fdate&rh=&page=1

[phavorianne.livejournal.com]

Arg, I hate swimsuit styles, too. And they're almost ALL the same. You go to most shops, and it's a billion different kinds of string bikinis and one ugly full suit. That, and I have the huge problem of being too flat to wear swimsuits, and not very many suits come with padded tops.

And also... dangly, tied on with strings, light (see-through) colors...?? OMG peoples. >.< That reminds me of the one time in PE, a girl in my class wore a white tie-on bikini, which came undone while she was swimming. Lucky for her, I, as the stupid asthmatic who wasn't actually swimming laps, was available to help her tie her suit back on. :P

[babysnowleopard.livejournal.com]

I just happened to stop by the mall for a peek at swimsuits today and OH MY. All kinds of hideousness is in style. Lots of rainbows. Lots of weird... suits with random cutouts? like this kinda crap:
http://shop.guess.com/GroupDetails.aspx?category|81=&gid=494&root_category|46=WOMEN
http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=286547&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results
Lots of metallic and generally gaudy stuff too....

You can find plenty of conservative stuff at Macy's but I bet they're all expensive! Unfortunately that's how it is these days...
I do hate full suits that don't have straps across the upper back though... it doesn't have to be racerback exactly but PLEASE, at least something that will keep the top ON and not falling off my shoulders!!

.... and I was hideously tempted to buy a Guess bikini with holographic gold leopard print today.... O_o

[ilaniguana.livejournal.com]

Ah, when sexy didn't mean showing as much skin as possible. What happened to the mystery? Siiigh. I would almost mourn the loss of modesty if I didn't like talking about sex so much.

[jedilora.livejournal.com]

Have you pondered sewing one? Kwiksew has an excellent set of patterns that I used last year to modify a store-bought suit to have a more flattering line. And a skirt that didn't look too old-lady, but covered my fatass.