Quote:
Originally Posted by luciddepths
astrope i agree with you too... If its flattering? go for it, but majority of the time it ISNT.
So if someone really wants to "flaunt", "show off" or they just "Dont care"...get something that flatters your body type no matter you're size. Big or Small.
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Wouldn't it be great if it were that simple - except no matter what you choose, some people will think it flatters you, and someone will think it doesn't - who's opininion do you follow?
And what if you believe nothing flatters your body? At nearly 400 lbs, I can tell you that nothing flattered my body. Particularly disturbing to me (and probably everyone else who looked at me) wasn't my sagging overhanging belly - that could (at least in theory) be covered by a princess or A-line swimdress (assuming I could find one, because they aren't always in fashion enough to be available).
It was my overhanging thighs (overhanging so much that even the longest available swimdress didn't cover my Michelin Man rolls).
For too long, we've told fat women, either explicitly or through not-so-subtle shunning that if they're too fat to find flattering clothing, they're obligated to hide themselves away until they have a body that is presentable.
Plus-size clothing has come a long way, but it's still not easy to find a flattering swimsuit if you have an unusual shape or are at the highest end of the spectrum.
Since I was seven, I (or when I was too young, my mother) often have been in the position of having to choose the least unflattering suit (or the one I could afford, ugly or not).
I remember my mom's swimsuit when I was a kid. It was not only an ugly brown, it was made out of the coarse "fat-lady" polyester (the scratchy, bullet-proof polyester). It covered more than most suits (the skirt came nearly to her knees), but even as a kid it made me want to cry, it was so ugly.
Some modern suits aren't much better, especially if you have special needs.as I do with my arthritis and fibromyalgia.
I need a two piece suit, because I can't wriggle into and out of a one-piece. Most of the skirted suits (the only ones that remotely aren't disgusting on my body) are either one piece, or so bleeping expensive that I have to take a loan out to buy one piece.
I'm on disability and a rather tight income. If I spend even $60.00 on a swimsuit, that means something else gets sacrificed. It could be presentable street clothes, or it could be necessary trip to the dentist.
I can find day clothing at the thrift shops if I shop carefully (if I start shopping three months before I need the clothing item - or I visit every shop in town, twice a week for a month).
I haven't ever yet found a swimsuit in my size in one of the thrift stores (yes, it's gross to buy a second-hand swimsuit - but I'm willing to swallow my pride and squeamishness and boil a second hand swimsuit to save $100 - though it's not really saving if you don't have it to begin with).
My current suit (the butt-ugly monstrosity I hate) was $20, on discount at BCOutlet.com (great website by the way for us poor fatties). At the time, I barely had the $20 to pay for the super-ugly suit. And despite hating the sight of it even on the thin model it was featured on (and of course, knowing I owuld hate it even more on my flabby body) I ordered it, because I really didn't have much choice. It was the ugly suit, or stay home.
No doubt tons of people seeing me in it think "God why didn't she choose something more flattering," I've seen "the look" and I want to shout (even though they didn't speak out loud, "because I can't afford a better looking suit, that's why!"
Of course that would be really weird, considering they don't actually SAY anything.
Sadly there are a lot of women (and some of them not even fat) who stay home because they can't find a flattering suit they can afford (and some can't even afford an ugly suit in their size).
And most pools won't let you in the pool with street clothes on (even if you bring a clean set to show them you're not planning on wearing what you came in) which means their definition of a swim suit is a commercially-available swim suit. Most pools say it's a hygeine issue, but that makes no sense as a swim suit can be just as raunchy-filthy as other types of clothing.
I know I'm ranting, I just wish there were more options for very large women in terms of swim suits in the cheap to affordable range (a woman shouldn't have to pay more for a swimsuit than she does on her monthly grocery bill).
Even just looser standards for what is considered acceptable for fat women at the pool would be helpful. At the beach and in local lake swimming areas you have more choice, but for me that's no choice, because with my immune issues it's only safe to swim in chlorinated water - which means private and public pools.
I swim any way. Even knowing I look stupid, ridiculous, or down right butt-ugly, because I don't have much hope of becoming less butt-ugly if I don't (and more importantly becoming more mobile).
But I still hate my ugly suit, and find it really hard to believe that I'd look any worse in a bikini (I'm not sure I could look worse completely naked).
Did I mention, I really hate this suit.