Monday, June 13, 2011

Summer Bikini Body

As summer approached I saw fat acceptance bloggers begin to write about beach bodies. In short- there's no such thing. Or rather, to clarify, every body is a beach body. My own friends began talking about losing weight in those precious few pre summer weeks in order to be deemed worthy enough to show their faces in a bathing suit. Bikini bodies were even more elusive. A special super class of bodies that are only available to an elite few. If you do not posses one of these super bodies then you had better not have the audacity to show up in anything less than a tankini. And the better your body, the skimpier the bikinis get.

While searching for some more posts about fat acceptance and swimsuits I came across several sites that had tips on how to not look fat in a bikini (yeah, I don't think I'm avoiding that one- nor should I want to) which dictated everything from style of swimsuit to what colors you can wear based on your skin color (apparently I can't wear anything other than brown until I get a tan that's dark enough to allow me to wear colors). Now, I bought black because it's all I could find on short notice, but if I want to wear jewel tones I damn well will.

Personally I've always liked bikinis. I found one piece suits or full coverage two piece suits to be uncomfortable. Even during my days of  disordered eating full of diets and dreams of being a thinner me I never imagined I'd be able to wear a bikini. Until last summer I wouldn't even wear a bathing suit. I wore long pants in the summer and just didn't go swimming even though I love the water. Last year's swim suit was one of necessity and was an ill fitting and awful looking tankini that was slightly too big. This year my bathing suit fits much better and the freedom that I felt when I took my new bikini to the beach was amazing.

I'll admit- it's a struggle. I still find myself comparing my own bikini body to other fat bikini bodies (in that I often feel that it looks great on them but not my body). We all have a few periods of relapse though right? And despite that, I still managed to stay out long enough to get a sunburn (despite putting sun block on three times!). So enjoy these photos by Digitime Photography who was wonderful to work with. (Bottoms were from target and top was from herroom.com)











27 comments:

  1. Very sexy and very attractive. I personally think stick figure woman are unattractive for the most part, there are the rare exception.

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    1. thanks for your support, but this is not about what men find attractive, or about a woman desiring validation of her body by men. women need to love their own bodies and validate their own sexuality and body confidence. hearing compliments or men claim that they prefer this over that doesn't really do anything to encourage self-acceptance and appreciation in an individual, she need can only find that within herself. (or he! obviously.)

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    2. Loving your comment, wispydivvy. You're exactly right.

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    3. She's still a beautiful woman! Just my 2 cents...

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  2. @eaglehawk Why not be accepting of all body types, including thin ones?
    We are mostly the shape our genes determined.

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  3. Ohmigosh! So lovely! You should submit this to: https://fatkiniriot.wordpress.com/ Julie (the owner) would love it! I love it! You rock!

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  4. @eelt I am accepting of them, I just for some reason am not attracted to them. I guess it's strange for a guy to not be attracted to thin women.

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  5. Lovely! I wish I had the guts to wear a bikini. For now, I have found a HOT one-piece number from Torrid in pink and black that I absolutely love. Maybe someday I'll rock a two-piece. :-)

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  6. It's always good to feel good about the skin you're in. Nice pics, thanks for sharing.

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  7. Great pics and I love the colour of your hair at the moment.

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  8. thank you everyone!

    @eaglehawk- i agree that everyone's allowed to have a preference but let's stay away from calling thinner women "sticks" okay? It's hurtful to them.

    @notblueatall- thanks! I've never seen that blog before but it looks awesome!

    @flowerprose- I hope so too ^__^ there's nothing more fun than throwing your body in someone's sizist face.. lol and torrid suits are cute! rock it!

    @Molly- thank you! ^_^

    @Sleepydumpling- thanks! although it's supposed to be purple. lol. I used special effects wildflower and had so many problems.. my hair wouldn't bleach light enough and then the underside ended up looking brown instead of purple and these photos it looks pinkish.. oy! it purpled up after this shoot and I'll have some new photos soon with that color. overall purple is really hard to pull off though as it seems to already be fading- unusual for special effects!

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  9. Well, in a way your description of your issues with the hair dye are comforting... in that I now know I'm not a complete failure at purple hair dye... it seems it's notoriously difficult for many people.

    I just couldn't get it to work for me!

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  10. I'll have a new post up Saturday in which my hair is purple.. like a real purple. I think the trick is just that I'll have to keep touching it up.. often.. lol.

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  11. I'm honestly jealous that you are so comfortable with yourself. You're so beautiful.

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  12. Looks like you've been hit by the douchebag army.

    The best they can offer are insults on your appearance, when they are nothing short of childish jerks.

    There's something about your general internet troll that says "I live a sad, pathetic life where I have no friends or nothing to live for but insulting complete strangers on the internet."

    Hands off your tiny willies lads, we know you came here to play with yourself over photos of this gorgeous woman, but now you feel guilty about it and have to resort to schoolboy taunts.

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  13. thank you doll... honestly i managed to muster a bit of anger because I feel obligated to but whale jokes? really? that's just so pathetic I kind of chuckled a bit. It may turn into a giggle. I feel like I've been invaded by third graders.

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  14. Nice picutre!.
    -fatboy-

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  15. you are stunning! love you blog and your photos!

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  16. Holy crap, it's freaking me out how much you and I look alike, I even have had several of your hair colors too and it's currently purple. Very inspiring photos :)

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  17. Heather, I so admire you for what you do. I enjoy photographing plus and bbw women myself and I think it would be so wonderful to do a bikini shoot with you.
    But moreover I have long felt that you are one of the best role models for bbw and fat issues as anyone I know. I look forward to seeing more of your wonderful work. I like everything you do from full nudes to fully clothed.

    Charlie

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  18. Beautiful, as always! I really admire how comfortable you are in your own skin.

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  19. "I still find myself comparing my own bikini body to other fat bikini bodies"

    This is exactly the same thing I do. The plus-size female body shape I see most often in the media (at least where sexiness is the goal), and seems to be the most expected and acceptable to others, is one I do not have. You know the type I mean: high, full breasts that make their own cleavage. Nipped-in waist. Smooth belly with no breaks, folds, or creases until (maybe) somewhere below the navel, where it's only a gentle swell. Low, broad hips. Rounded thighs. A backside like an inverted heart. The result is that I've sometimes felt marginalized and like I don't measure up, even among other plus-size women.

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    1. are you me? I feel exactly the same way. You're so right about the "type" that seems acceptable to wear a bikini. that's why I feel that what I do is so important (at least i hope it is)- i want to show people that there's more than one type of fat body. thanks so much for your comment.

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    2. Maybe! :P We seem to be similarly built, though I think I may be bustier (44DD). Our bellies are a lot alike, though, with the whole hidden belly button/lower waist in the front thing (makes pants-shopping difficult), so it's pretty neat to see you being all confidently bikini-clad.

      I'm not yet brave enough to go full-on bikini, though I've considered it and may still buy a top to go with the cute bottom I got recently. We'll see. I did get a more body-conscious non-black suit this year with more skin showing than usual, so that's a start.

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    3. I hope some day you can gain the confidence to rock whatever kind of swimsuit you want! and you're right, it's definitely a start :)

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