TheClick

Let your fingers go swimming, part 2

There's always pareos that are sheer and lovely and can be tied around your suit to hide whatever flaws you think you have.  And another one of my tricks - "tubes" - or bathing suit skirts, usually in black or brown, that are stretchy and made from bathing suit neoprene fabric that extend over the thighs and look very nineteen fifties Esther Williams chic.  Good for after a night of craving pizza and giving in.   Your thighs might not look any different - but you will keep staring at them unless they are covered.

Read all the info on the bathing suit you click on -  it's important to know that YOU CAN RETURN IT IF IT DOESN'T FIT.  It's true, buying a bathing suit online is a bit of a guessing game - but it is better than dealing with crowded dressing rooms and saleswomen - and our own mirrors are always the most forgiving.  Particulary at night.  Be prepared to return and re-order - give yourself some time before going on a swim trip - and you'll never want to buy bathing suits any other way.

Try:
- The Slimasize fuschia slimming bathing suit at ClothesandThings - $39.99.  Who can't use a slimming suit?  Even Giselle would buy it.  It's dark pink and purple, a nice shaped one piece with a patterened bust area - very flattering for all coloring and shapes of bods.

- The Speedo women's solid red bathing suit - $47.00 on Amazon.com.  And surprisingly, a lipstick red one piece can be very flattering for almost anyone - young or grown-up.

- The black light vintage bathing suit, in a deep indigo, and a longer torso than any modern suit - very retro chic.  $175.00 on Blacklightvintageclothing.  I have one girlfriend, Janet, who's very Samantha from Sex and the City - a mature woman who always looks amazing because she has her own style. She ONLY wears vintage bathing suits and vintage bathing caps - and it's so disarming and charming, nobody looks at her thighs.  Even her.  And she's so chic and fun, even the thinner-thighed are envious. Her cat eye vintage sunglasses are also glorious.

- Karla Coletto  - Okay, it's $300 - but it will last several summers no doubt.  Saks.com.

- Juicy Couture halter ruffle sundress - this is a sweet, vintage very girly-looking suit that's probably a little more Carrie or Charlotte than Samantha - but still very sweetly seductive.  $164 at Saks.com.

Let your fingers go swimming

Okay, ladies, listen up:  there is NOTHING FUN about shopping for a bathing suit.  It is hardly an activity we might do with our girlfriends - let alone, boyfriends.  Even Giselle could look at herself in those flourescent dressing room mirrors and find fault.

Well - maybe not.  That's a nice dream.

But we've all seen those celebrity vacation-bathing suit shots of young, gorgeous actresses with cellulite circles drawn around certain areas in between their bikinis and their knees.  Could these photos be doctored by media outlets wanting to sell more mags?  Of course.  But could Jennifer Love Hewitt actually run down the beach and look natural and real and quite healthy?  It's all possible.

Which is why shopping for a bathing suit on TheFind.com is a very comfortable and comforting option.  You click around, you order a suit, and you're prepped because you thought about your bathing suit needs beforehand; you know the parts you want to camoflauge.  I have several styles that I know work for me: for one, I MUST have a bra built into the suit, and so, I think, should every woman over 34B (otherwise, bouncing will occur, and won't be as cute as Bo Derek's bounce in "Ten")

I don't like a tan stomach, so I wear one pieces or "tankinis", which are two pieces where the top piece comes down and meets the bottom and you see about half an inch of skin.  But then, it all depends on how much I've been in the gym, how tan my legs are, how many cookies I've eaten, etc - as with all of us.