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Sunday, May 22, 2011

The Agony of Buying a Swimsuit!

Kathy mentioned (in her previous comment) that I might want to bring a swim suit on our trip to Yellowstone.

There's this tiny problem. I don't have the same figure I did when I was 18 and the one swim suit I've had for a couple of decades shows it. So NO swimsuit!

My figure now is a bit more like the one I had a few months before my daughter was born.

I have skinny wrists and ankles. People assume the rest of me is proportional. That's because I cover up what I prefer to be kept hidden.

Tiffany just e-mailed me to say her husband was treating us to a hotel during our trip that would be right next to a water park because KC loves playing in water. "Don't forget to pack a swim suit," she says.

Siiiiigh....

Tiffany mentioned a while ago that a tankini might be what I'm looking for. It's like a bikini but there's a skirt dropping from the bra top to hide that part of me that ummmm... gets to places ahead of me.

So today Art and I shopped at the Navy Exchange to look for a suit. There was one...only one possibility there. It cost $29.00 so I figured it was worth a try. That's the suit on the left.

We also stopped at Target. Nope! Nothing there I could even consider.

I was feeling like Cathy in that cartoon strip who always struggled with buying a swim suit every spring. Those mirrors in the dressing rooms are very unforgiving and way too honest.

A couple of hours later, we happened to be at Ross and actually found another tankini. It was a Jantzen with an $89.00 price tag reduced to $19.00.

When we got home, I modeled them for Art and he said as tactfully as he could that the Ross suit on the right seemed to fit better. The bottom had a skirt that was rather modest and the bodice skirt was fuller unlike the one on the left. You can't tell from the photo, I suppose, but there was NO WAY I was going to have Art take a photo of me in them to illustrate the proof of it for this post.

If you get right down to it, I suppose I was trying to find a bathing suit like this. Unfortunately, neither Walmart nor Macy's carries this anymore.

Ah well... I'm ready for that water park with KC now.

I hope the hotel provides big towels.

30 comments:

  1. If only I had such a nice figure as you do Kay!! YOu are being too modest. I love the bathing suit you chose. Hopefully you will get a lot of use out of it.

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  2. Well Kay --

    Since you are still very trim and slender, (and I am not,)you won't garner much sympathy from me. Enjoy your time in the water!

    DrumMajor

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  3. I found a two piece suit similar to the one you did at Target, also another at Ross. I think manufacturers are wising up to modern woman. I enjoy water aerobics classes during the summer and that overrides my pride that I'm a plus size now and not size 12. Enjoy the pool with KC! I like your new bathing suit.

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  4. Sorry but you are not getting much sympathy here either. You are much to slim for that.
    When you are reduced to tee shirts and cut offs as swimming attire, I'll listen:))

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  5. Perspective is everything. You will look terrific, especially with your smile stealing the focus!

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  6. You are slim compared with most of us over sixty or, in my case, over seventy. I like the right set best! I have to find a swim suit for me!!

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  7. I recently bought a swimsuit on line from Lands' End. It fits quite well and I use it for swimming laps at the Y. I figure I'm in the water for most of the time and when I compare myself to most of the ladies around there, I'm not so bad, even if I'm not as slim as you are, Kay!

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  8. You have a very fit body ,me thinks :).I wish you posted pictures of you wearing the new ones.

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  9. lol Kay, I like both swimsuits you chose. What a dilemma.

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  10. Oh why does nobody design swimsuits for real women these days, they all seem to be for stick thin models, or people who don't mind showing lots of flesh. I keep thinking that swimming would be good exercise, but then get put off by the thought of getting into my ancient swimsuit and walking from the changing room to the pool. It's not that I'm that overweight, but there's a little more of these days than I'd care to see in a swimsuit!

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  11. I cringed a little when I saw your title, Kay. Buying and wearing a swimsuit is just plain hard these days. Like you, it is my middle that needs to stay hidden, plus being appropriately modest at my advanced age.
    Your efforts will be well worth it when you get to go to the water park with KC.

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  12. I've been wearing skirted swim suits for years. I call them "granny suits" but they really do work for covering the worst bits. LOL
    By the way, you look barely pregnant in that picture taken before Tif was born!
    How long now before your trip to the wild and woolly west?
    — K

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  13. Sorry, but this problem is one I don't have, because I don't EVER intend to wear a swim suit again! But then, even after losing 30 pounds, I have so much more to lose, and as I do, the sags and bags get worse. For the sake of the rest of humanity, I will stay covered up.
    But you, you petite little one, you go have fun!

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  14. What a coincidence! I was planning to buy a swimsuit at Target today, but will definitely shop at Ross, too. Both tankinis are very nice, Kay. I like both!

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  15. You're so petite, Kay I doubt you have any major concerns. Then again, we're women and our own worst critics. I'm a fan of Land's Ends' 'tugless' tanks (they're designed so they don't ride up) but your tankinis look like they'd fill the bill nicely.

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  16. I like both suits and you'll look terrific in either one of them! Besides KC doesn't care what you wear as long as you're there to play with her. Kay Dennison is right, we women are indeed our worst critics! Enjoy your trip and give KC a hug for me!

    Sylvia

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  17. I feel your pain. I do have a couple of suits because I like to do water aerobics, but I hate to shop for them. I've kept one suit that I wore in my 40's that is a size 2. I think I want to prove I once was that size. Now, I just get in the water and hope I am well hidden.

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  18. I like the one on the right. the color coordinates much better than the one on the left.

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  19. ah, the eternal problem!







    Aloha from Waikiki

    Comfort Spiral

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  20. Yes, I vote for the one on the right. Every other grandma there will look just like you do. Just rinse that new suit out well, and it will last a long time. You will look loads better than me and my grotesque bulges in a speedo. LOL

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  21. I think swimsuit shopping is at the top of my list for the worst shopping trips I take-LOL!!!

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  22. A couple of people mentioned Land's End. They have a huge variety of swimsuit styles and colors. I like the fact that I can try their things on at Sears, then order it from the catalog if they don't have the right size or color in the store

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  23. Kay, I bought a tankini and skort for $60 (including tax) at Target this afternoon. I'll post a photo in my blog tomorrow. Also, another photo of me in a bikini in 1968. lol.

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  24. I bet you look better in a swim suit than I do, and I put mine on 3 days a week! Besides, everybody is going to be playing and having fun and won't have time to look at you anyway. Really.

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  25. Well, we could always try the burkini (as in burka):
    http://www.ahiida.com/

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  26. Dina: Holey Moley! But look at those prices! $180.00 for a suit. Sheesh!

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  27. Me? I'm wrapping myself in a shower curtain!!

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  28. Oh you are brave...LOL...

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  29. Tankinis are great! I notice that many people with nice figures wear them, because they would rather not be stared at on the beach. And I like them because they are OK for street wear too (at least in Hilo and especially in Puna!)

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