It's a Great Time of Year to Buy A Swimsuit

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. 

Fashion magazines tell women with small busts to wear ruffles, to create the impression of a larger bust. These tops would be great for a Romantic Ingenue of *any* bust size, assuming she's comfortable in them... but they are awful for me and my flat bust, and that's 100% because of my face.

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. 

My thighs are large and muscular relative to the rest of my skinny frame. But this skirted bottom would be so, so wrong for me, and that's 100% because it does not suit my Ethereal Natural face. (Romantic-Classic-Gamines and Romantic-Classic-Ingenues with any body shape could look greta in this, though.

This could be adorable on an Ethereal-Classic-Ingenue, but it's a no-go for me, despite my relatively full hips and thighs. That's 100% because it's waaaay too childlike and feminine for my Ethereal Natural face.

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. 

Here's what the Swimwear Guides look like. They are 5 to 7 pages long.

(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. ​​