Update 4/10: Photos are available on the Glamour website now.
I was flipping through the May issue of Glamour last night and I came across a page with a gorgeous, curvy model wearing a bikini.
She looks AMAZING!!!
“Oh my gosh!” I thought, “They are actually showing a realistic looking model that has a body that looks like mine!”
I was excited. Then, I realized the entire photo shoot was that one, gorgeous, curvy model. And then I was ecstatic. Giddy. Excited. All by a swimsuit photo shoot!
I love this suit. I could see myself wearing it.
The article is called “Now That’s A Sexy Swimsuit!” and features model Crystal Renn in 5 different swimsuits. I tried to find it on the Glamour website to share with you, but couldn’t (so I scanned these two photos to share).
Props to Glamour for actually showing a realistic looking model in some attractive swimsuits. I am going to have to write them a letter telling them how inspiring it was to see someone I can actually relate to… and that it actually made me look forward to buying a swimsuit this year!
This photo shoot, and a few other blogs I’ve been reading have got me thinking about swimsuits. I have a pretty good swimsuit story, that I actually feel represents a good era of my life, when I wasn’t preoccupied with my body image or food all the time.
My father and I visited Spain in the summer of 2002 with my classmates and Spanish teacher (one of those trips). My mom helped me shop for the trip. I picked out a couple of swimsuits, one being a bikini that she ABSOLUTELY was opposed to me wearing. She called it my “Eye Patch and Dental Floss Swimsuit.” If you look at the photo below, you’ll see why.
Of course, I had to wear it while I was there, just to spite her! Muah ha ha.
I talked to her last night on the phone, telling her I was going to post about it. “You know,” she said, “it was not that I thought you looked bad in the bikini, it was just that I thought you were showing too much skin.”
She’s probably being sincere. But now I realize I DID LOOK BAD, but am happy to report at that time in my life I DID NOT CARE. Without going into too much detail, let’s just say… I became very indifferent to what others thought of me in high school. That’s not to say I had a 100% healthy self esteem, but that I had a very healthy outlook on my appearance. I didn’t worry about how I looked, what others thought of me, or what I ate. As you can see in the photo, maybe I didn’t look that great – but I didn’t care.
Ignorance was bliss, in that case.
It’s not until I got to college that I started to think about food, weight, exercise and apperance. So every once in awhile, especially around swimsuit season, I think of this silly photo, and the time in my life it represents.
That is a great photo shoot, thanks for sharing!
I was the same way about weight in high school–I was completely sedentary and mostly apathetic about things like weight. I wouldn’t go back to that, especially since I enjoy running so much now, but it is sad that I am so much more preoccupied with weight now. Boo.
you know, swim suit shopping is almost as much fun as bra shopping, those two are followed with jeans . . . . there’s a lot of sarcasm going on here. I haven’t read or even seen the article but it is great to see a model who looks like she actually eats and the swim suits are pretty too 🙂
I think I read another article (or maybe it was one of your blogs) about less skin being in and I think it’s great. I have minimal body issues at best but I don’t think that you need to show everything off at all times, it’s like the art of seduction (which I feel all women need to embrace): embrace what you’ve got and engage the power of imagination. those two things can make you feel unstoppable.
btw, your bikini was not that little and you did not look bad at all. you’re Mom was just being a good Mom and that’s a beautiful thing. I seen teenagers with their parents wearing stuff that I wouldn’t put on, not for any reason other than that they leave imagination in the dust and head towards full disclosure and hopefully false advertising.
I literally JUST finished reading Glamour a few minutes ago and was thinking of posting on this too! For once it was an entire section with a “plus size” model that they didn’t qualify as being “plus size.” She looks great, as did you in you pic!
Those are great photos in Glamour! We should all write them and thank them.
Your photo, too, is just fine. I have plenty of pictures of me in a bikini where I don’t look like a stereotypical fashion model. I admit that, yes, I look back on them and cringe a little bit, but I don’t know why. I certainly didn’t look BAD, I just didn’t look like Kate Moss.
Also, before I finished reading your post, I thought we were going to be sharing embarrassing swimsuit mishaps. Like the time last May when the clasps on both my bikini tops broke (while I was wearing them) within days of each other. I didn’t think I ate THAT much on the cruise ship….
DeAnne reminded me that I need new bras. Ckuf Me. I simply adore that second suit… gorgeous. Nice to see that she has curves and looks like a woman not an Auschwitz survivor.
(I dont’ think you look bad in that bikini either, certainly look better than I did in my neon orange one. )
That model models for Lane Bryant. She’s in most of their catalogs/mailers. She’s gorgeous. 🙂
I love the model, she’s beautiful. I wish my arms were as toned as hers!
I love the red suit also. Very 40’s style. And the photo of you in a bikini? I thought you looked good! I thought Mom Julie’s comments were hilarious!! Typical mom concerns, it was her description I thought was funny. I haven’t seen my bikini body (such as it was) since 1976. Long before you were born!
I’m striving to look good in a one piece or a tankini now. 🙂
I almost didn’t recognize you in the photo though, your hair looks very light colored.
It’s nice to see a normal looking model for once. Even in the plus size clothing shops all of their catalogs have skinny women modeling their clothing. Then I see an outfit and think, “that’s cute, I’m going to get that” but when I try it on, it’s not so cute on me. 🙁
It’s aggravating. This is a great post. Especially the pic of you and the meaning behind it!
I bet you could rock the dental floss and eyepatch look this summer! 🙂
I was very shy about my body in high school–partly b/c my best friend was gorgeous and borderline anorexic. 🙁 Every summer when we went on vacation to North Carolina guys just drooled all over her and I felt like poo. I was totally normal-sized, though not involved in athletics at all (she was a dancer since we were small).
Now that I’m an adult, though, I’d rather have hips and boobs than be a skinny twig!
Mica – Exactly – I wouldn’t go back either, but I wish… my mind would go back? Or at least part of it 😉
DeAnne – You nailed it – jeans, bras and swimsuits ARE the worst/most stressful things to shop for! Ugh. I think I understand now why my mom was saying that. But at the time, it didn’t even cross my mind that the bikini might be suggestive. I was YOUNG and NAIVE!!!
amanda – Thank you! I did like that about the article – that they didn’t make a big deal about her being plus size. I just think she is gorgeous!
Erin – LOL! I think that reading this comment yesterday made me have a dream LAST NIGHT that my bikini top fell off because both of the straps came off! How strange. I also had a dream about being at a Cubs game with my mom and sister but the game was on a river. Ugh weird.
Nat – Thanks 🙂 Neon Orange? SWEET! I love that second suit too. I have a one piece now that is similar – with those “ripples” or whatever you want to call them. If you have a tummy, it kind of camouflages it. Cool!
sizzle – I was reading about her and I saw that she models for them! I need to start paying more attention to my Lane Bryant mailers.
Jen – She does have BEAUTIFUL arms! I have always wished my arms were a bit more toned too 🙂
Denise – LOL – it took me many years to get my hair back to its natural color after dying it for so long. WHAT WAS I THINKING? I bet you will be back in that bikini or tankini sooner than you think! 😀
JavaQueen – Thank you. I get really aggravated at what defines a “plus size” model now too. 8 is not a plus size. Neither is 10. What is the point of using slimmer girls to model the bigger girls clothing? It’s misleading, like you said.
diane – Thanks! I wonder if I still have it somewhere. I think my mom stole it and threw it away. Ha ha ha. I had a “friend” like that too. She was a bit smaller than me, but always talked about how skinny and beautiful she was. It was SO ANNOYING. I just dumped her. I would rather have hips and boobs too. And I do. Ha ha 😉
Wow, that model is HOT!
Even though I’m thin, I’m naturally curvy (my thighs and butt are well-padded, I assure you). I know I COULD stand to lose a little weight, but I don’t want to ever become one of those stick people. I think curves are very feminine and sexy. Who wants to be built like a teenage boy?
LOVING that red swimsuit. It looks exactly like that one Miranda wears in the SATC movie…you know? But I looked up how much that one costs, once, and it was…too expensive for a swimsuit. 🙂
Kim, you do NOT look bad in that photo. Not at all.
ah, i wish i could adopt that mindset… not really care what others thought about me, how i look, or how much i eat… i am way too self-conscious!!!! i KNOW you could rock a bikini this year and look fantastic!!!!
=^..^=
Stacey – Apparently, some actresses do! Ha ha. It’s probably frustrating to them that they can’t gain hips and a butt. I can’t imagine having THAT problem.
Mrs. Smith – I didn’t even look. Is it that bad? I thought it might be, since it was in the spread, rather than a side article.
suze – Thank you 😀 *hugs*
CourtneyInControl – I don’t know what it is, but it has never bothered me too much. I kind of have that, “Why should I care what other people think?” attitude. Believe me, it’s gotten me in trouble a few times 😉
I was very excited to see this story as well. The red swim suite thats shown in the above photo is the Norma Kamali Bill (http://www.normakamalicollection.com/product343/BILL-SWIM-JERSEY.aspx?cid=61900&idx=1). Norma Kamali has an amazing Try Before You Buy system that allows you to try anything you order for 48 hours (in the comfort of your own home). What you don’t keep you send back. Such a simple concept that makes shopping for swim wear convenient and comfortable.
check out http://www.normakamalicollection.com
Happy shopping!
Steven is a lucky guy 😉
Good to see the photo shoots in those magazines are not all about skinny as a rail models in size -1 swimsuits.
Daniel – I will have to check that out!
martymankins – LOL! I wonder if he thinks so 😉 I was so happy to see that too. It made me actually think swimsuit shopping may be fun this year!
I never would’ve guessed that she’s a size 12…she’s gorgeous and looks healthy and REAL! Awhile back I saw something posted somewhere about Kim Kardashian’s cellulite (actually, here: http://www.hollywoodfail.com/2009/03/kim-kardashian-cellulite-before-and.html), and it made me mad. How much better would girls’ lives (and let’s be honest…womens’) be if they saw images of beautiful women with a natural, common feature instead of an ideal that can’t possibly be achieved by most? Anyway, I digress…
Awesome post!
superslawa – I was thinking about those images of Kim Kardashian too! I knew they photoshopped, but that was just really a shocker for me! I wish they would show women more naturally. I bet even this beautiful model has a bit of photoshop going on!
Great article, but I have to disagree about your current assessment of how you looked in that 2002 photo. You look fine to a male human being, anyway, if not to the editor of some “women’s” magazine. What I don’t understand is the apparently deliberate encouragement of anorexia in magazines aimed at women. (By ‘magazines’ I mean any such media.) It’s distressing to realize that many if not all of these editors are women, doing this to other women. Not to ventilate a gripe, but I’d hate to be blamed for so many women’s low assessment of their persons. Not to be smarmy, but I see absolutely nothing to criticize in any of the photos, ma’am.
What BEAUTIFUL Photos!!!! Makes me actually want to go pick up an issue of the magazine. But I’m a year too late! Arg.