The Horror of Swimsuit Season

I hate swimsuits. I hate trying them on. I hate wearing them. I've never found the perfect suit. A long pant, long sleeve, tight corset, with a built in push up bra swimsuit. If I could find 'that' suit maybe I'd be a little less self conscious and enjoy swimming in public. But alas, they don't make one like that and if they did I'm sure I would attract a lot of attention if I waltzed into the pool area wearing one.

My beach vacation sounded great but it would involve swimsuits and me being in one...a lot. Yikes! I was in desperate need to retire my 5 year old Esther Williams that I got on eBay. I just didn't have it in me to go to a store and try on dozens of suits and see myself in a 3-way mirror. I did know that I wanted a vintage style suit. For something like this that I'm going keep and wear for years, I'll pay a little more than normal. After searching and searching I finally broke down and bought the Marilyn suit in pink from PUG. This is the most I've ever spent on a swimsuit. I was very apprehensive about buying a suit online. Like I mentioned, I have lots of areas that I would love to hide. But it was so beautiful on the model, that I had to give it a chance. I was under no illusion that I would look like the model (I wish I had her perfect hourglass figure!).

I got my new suit in the mail and was so excited to finally see it in person. I pulled it out of the package and put it on. I was instantly in love. I have never been happy in a swimsuit, I have never loved a swimsuit and looked forward to wearing it. The first thing I thought was that I wish I had ordered it a size smaller. PUG runs really small. I wear a Medium misses size 8-10 everywhere but here. At PUG, I'm an XL Plus Size...YIKES! I about died when I measured myself and found this out. But good thing I measured, a medium in the regular clothes I've ordered from them definitely would not have gone on half of me. But this suit is very stretchy and a large or maybe even a medium would have been great. But I didn't have time for an exchange. Plus, this thing is so gorgeous, I'll make it work.

I couldn't wait to wear it to the beach. I actually looked forward to wearing a swimsuit (this is very out of character for my very self conscious and shy self). I put it on and headed to the beach. I did not plan on being afraid to go into the water or sit in the sand though. It's just too pretty for that. I sat on a beach towel and walked in the surf. No sandcastles or getting buried in the sand by the kids. The rest of the beach vacation I wore my old ratty Esther Williams, so I could enjoy the beach. This is definitely a pool kind of suit or a laying around the deck kind of suit. I was so worried to mess it up, sand probably would have been fine, but I didn't want to take the chance.

I am home now and the suit is not stuffed in a drawer like every other suit in the past. It is hanging up in my closet. I have never hung up a swimsuit and I think that hanging a swimsuit up in a closet among pretty dresses sounds funny, but this really is the most beautiful piece of clothing that I own. I hate I didn't buy it sooner, at the beginning of summer instead of the end of it. But while the weather is still hot, bring on the water parks and public pools...I have found the perfect suit!