Spring's Nightmare - Swim Suit Shopping

Is there anything quite as painful as going shopping for the new swim suit every spring? I've had abscessed teeth pulled; chipped out piece by piece that were less painful than putting on that swim suit and looking in the mirror.

The girls and I went shopping the last couple of spring breaks in Los Angeles at the beach shops. The biggest challenge for them is finding out they've gotten bigger in the bosom each year. With what people are paying these days for that luxury, I don't consider that necessarily a negative for them.

For me, however, its a totally different story. First there is the fact that my top is traditionally a minimum of 3 sizes larger than my bottom. Second is that the length between my bosom and the bottom is far shorter than anyone that wears either of those sizes is meant to be. Third, of course is that the mid section is far wider than any of the swim suits were intended to fit.

Don't get me wrong, they do make suits that wide. Take the one piece ones for starters, I can fold over 4-8 inches of excess fabric in the mid section length wise. The 2 piece sets with the longer tops, the top covers the bottom and reaches at least mid thigh. If I wear a short top then the bottoms reach up to the bosom which makes me look even shorter.

Oh and all those 'slimming' suits; still are designed for someone a minimum of 6 inches taller than I am. This part I don't fully understand since my height is considered 'average'.

This season was worse than most because I've been ill and very sedentary for seven months. I'm out of shape and unusually overweight. Shopping for any kind of clothing is downright discouraging at this point.

However, I bravely took the girls to look for some less expensive suits before our spring break in L.A. because finances just didn't allow for our usual shopping spree in Manhattan Beach. We went through the usual routine. The twins were surprised to learn how much they had grown all over. The 17 yo was surprised to learn how much bigger her bosom is. One twin is the only one that isn't overly critical of her adorable, cute figure. The other two need encouragement to enjoy what they have while they have it because some day they will regret that they didn't appreciate it. There is absolutely no reason for them to be critical whatsoever. They have virtually perfect shapes.

As for me, I found a suit I thought was sort of cute and adequately covered. I did NOT try it on. I'll do that tomorrow while everyone is gone to school and I can exclaim in horror in private. I also made a point of the suit having the same color in it as my best cover-up so that I have no issues with hiding the scary truth when necessary. I wouldn't have even bought a new suit if it wasn't for the fact that I've gained so much winter hibernation weight that none of what I have will fit. Hopefully, tomorrow this one will.

Crossing my fingers and dropping off to sleep without touching the Girl Scout cookies tonight.