I realized a couple of years ago that I had arrived at the point in life one's life when one starts buying stuff a year in advance. It was January, and I was in a drugstore buying wrapping paper because it was, like, 70% off. It just made sense! I knew I'd be using it again in no time. I'm over 40 now, and I suppose this is about the age when a person starts to feel like 12 months pass "in no time." I feel the same way now about bathing suits. Buying one at the end of summer just makes sense to me now, because I'll be wearing it again before I know it, and the prices are amazing. I recently bought three new swimsuits. Three! They were 60% off at the department store in my area, so I didn't feel so guilty buying more than one. And another thing about being my age is the idea of owning more than one bathing suit starts to feel practical instead of extravagant. (I think? Maybe I'm totally alone in that. Let me know in the comments.) It's funny; style principles that are perfectly logical to me in the abstract still surprise and delight me when I see them applied to myself. I know, logically, that low, gently rounded necklines and asymmetrical necklines are good for my style type, Ethereal Natural, but it still felt delightful to see how lovely those necklines are on me. Same for delicate straps, tie accents, crisscross details, hipster bottoms, solid-color suits, and a shimmery finish: I would recommend all of that to a real-life Ethereal Natural, but there's still a sense of wonder in the realization, , after trying on 12 suits, that those are the features of my best suits. :-))) Like most of you, I find it very difficult to be objective about myself! (I am so grateful for my brutally honest sister, who sees what I often can't see.) I want to emphasize that these features of my most flattering suits derive completely from my Style ID, which in turn derives almost completely from my face. My body shape has nothing to do with it. For example, I have a teeny bust (like, pre-adolescent teeny), yet ruffles on my bustline are awful for me, and many tops that flatten my bust are actually amazing for me. Swimsuit recommendations that tell flat-chested women like me to put ruffles on their bustline are proceeding on the assumption that every woman looks better when she appears to have a fuller bust. But that's just not true. When you think about it, you might come to the conclusion, as I have, that such recommendations only make sense if we reduce women to what's below the neck. But in fact, all of us -- including men! -- are mostly looking at women's faces, not at their bodies. A woman's humanity is expressed in her face. The idea that a woman's beauty comes primarily from somewhere other than her face is a false idea that we mostly accept, I believe, because of sexism. Patriarchy encourages us women to obsess about everything below the neck, and, until we become conscious, we unfortunately just go along with that idea. Anyway, getting back to my original point: it's a good time of year to buy a swimsuit or three for next year, because prices are crazy low right now. :-))) If you're not convinced that your best suit matches your face, not your body, I encourage you to simply test the idea. Swimwear Guides are 12.99. That's about three Starbucks coffees, right? Spend the money, just as an experiment. Try digitally superimposing your face on the pictures of suits that you find in the guide. I think you'll be amazed by how right those suits are for you. Then go pick out some suits to try on, based on the guide's recommendations. (And if you don't yet know your Style ID, of course try the Style Identity Calculator.) * * * * * * * * * * An interesting P.S.: I'm actually finding that using a Swimwear Guide is a useful way to determine someone's Style ID quickly. Maybe it's because swimwear is basically a condensed or distilled manifestation of style elements? When I'm doing a virtual analysis and I get stuck, trying out different swimsuits often gets me unstuck. Do you struggle to find a suit that works? Have you tried the Swimwear Guide for your type? Were there any surprises? Please share in the comments.
14 Comments
Miranda
8/6/2018 04:20:35 pm
Years ago in a religion class, I read that in the Talmud, a woman's humanity was expressed in her face and her hands. Even though that's not my religious background, that concept was a rock when I was first confronting the full force of misogyny as an adult.
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Janet
8/7/2018 12:07:54 am
"A woman's humanity is expressed in her face"--I love this! I've been thinking lately of my mother's advice that a woman's clothing should draw attention to her face. As I work on developing my sense of which clothes do and do not harmonize with my appearance, I've started photographing myself in different outfits. When I look at the pictures, I notice where my eyes want to drift. If my eyes naturally go to my face, I know that the outfit has a lot of elements that work for me. If my eyes naturally land somewhere else, then I know that something is really wrong for me.
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Miranda
8/7/2018 12:38:47 am
I've also been treating body type as a secondary consideration. I've found that while some of the recommendations for my style ID are unflattering for my body, enough are really, really good that I can put together outfits easily without them all looking the same. When something doesn't work, I've been able to figure out why from my body proportions. For example, my ID is REG and belting should be good for me, but I have a short mid-body, so belting is not great - however, an Ethereal waist treatment is perfect. So basically, I'm taking the recs for my style ID and filtering them through the recs for my body proportions, and building outfits from there.
Lea
8/12/2018 02:22:06 pm
Miranda, I am a REG too! Maybe you'd like to see my inspirational board, here: https://www.pinterest.fr/leafresson/rge-inspiration/ (it is my personnal interpretation of this style, and is of course influenced by what I like, my body shape, and the fact that I'm a bright spring)
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Miranda
8/12/2018 08:10:13 pm
Lea, thank you so much! I'm just starting to figure out what works for me and this is very helpful.
Anonymous Anonymous
8/6/2018 04:44:23 pm
Absolutely can relate to your frustration of how so many fashion magazines recommend ruffles for women with smaller busts. I have some Ingenue in my face, but just enough for a tiny bit of detail, not full on ruffles or ribbons. I'm short, have a smaller bust, no waist at all, and no hips, along with slightly disproportionately lanky limbs--basically, I'm shaped like a noodle. Ruffled swimsuits actually make me look very broad and make my bustline look oddly heavy and disproportionate to the rest of my body.
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KC
8/6/2018 07:15:01 pm
Hi Rachel—I keep seeing twilight/dusk/dawn colors being referenced in relation to Ethereal color schemes on this blog, but I don’t remember the term being in my style guides. Could you elaborate on what qualifies as twilight colors?
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AM
8/6/2018 07:58:21 pm
What style ID would have this suit? https://www.jcrew.com/us/p/womens_category/swim/french-bikini-top/B5807?color_name=black&noPopUp=true&srccode=PL_WPROD_SWIMWEAR_ACQ_XXX_EVG_COUSA_EN_EN_P_CREW_AW_CPC_PLA,Womens_Bikini_x_XXX,PRODUCT%20GROUP,71700000032244757,58700003939805898,p33071094493&NoPopUp=True&lsft=srccode:PL_WPROD_SWIMWEAR_ACQ_XXX_EVG_COUSA_EN_EN_P_CREW_AW_CPC_PLA,Womens_Bikini_x_XXX,PRODUCT%20GROUP,71700000032244757,58700003939805898,p33071094493&NoPopUp=True&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIj7PEqNDZ3AIVAVYMCh3nWAddEAQYASABEgJRnPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
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Alex
8/7/2018 08:46:37 am
I would guess N+G+C. It sounds like you and are pretty similar with bathing suits. I need a classic style bikini bottom and a simple bandeau top. I’m not sure what my style ID is, but I think it’s N+G. I have to show skin as well, but cutouts are terrible on me! I have to be very careful with one peice suits because they tend to make me look disproportionate. A bikini is actually more flattering. I also find that wearing a different colored top and bottom is more flattering as well.
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AM
8/7/2018 09:51:47 am
Hmm, I never considered NGC but the board has more than a few images that are fairly reflective of my personal style day-to-day.
Anonymous Anonymous
8/7/2018 04:12:09 pm
Hm, this makes me think that plain suits are more Classic. I think one pieces can be quite gamine as well. Imo, Gillian Jacobs is Classic and Gamine (She has a very Classic facial structure but she can pull off very playful, gamine prints and patterns) among others--in the show, "Love," she wears a plain halter swimsuit as a regular bodysuit and I think she would be one of the few people to make it work:
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Ella
8/8/2018 03:32:15 am
I think she's an ethereal classic gamine.
KC
8/8/2018 04:51:20 pm
Hmm, the top's thin material, delicate straps, and low-but-not-sexy neckline bikini makes me think there might be some Ethereal there. Then again, it might look more Romantic on a bustier model. High-cut legs also read as feminine in swimsuits.
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JN
8/11/2018 06:03:19 pm
Does presence of a limbal ring always means that someone is one hundred percent sure that he is a Gamine or Ingenue?
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