Bikini Body

It's that time of year again! The warm weather (or hot weather here in NC)  is here and so is swim suit season! Already I've seen  slew of magazines advertising how to get the perfect beach ready body. How do you get a beach ready body? Put on a bathing suit and go to the beach- that easy! You don't need to drop ten pounds (or fifty or a hundred or whatever). Good news! You can go to the beach or pool or sunbathing right now, today! The multibillion dollar beauty industry wants you to believe that you're not young enough, thin though, smooth enough, good enough. But the secret that no one's willing to tell you is that you are perfect just the way you are. Thin, fat, with stretch marks, whatever. You have the right to enjoy yourself and wear whatever the hell you want.

Me? I want to wear a comfortable bikini and I found a great one this year at Lane Bryant. I've been wearing a bikini for the past three summers and it's so freeing. It's my big giant middle finger to The Man. I'm not saying everyone has to wear one- wear whatever you're most comfortable in! As long as you're not feeling restricted to wear something or not wear something just because of your body.

I attended a wonderful beach shoot with EVE (edgy vivacious entertainment) and multiple wonderful photographers. My experience was a little mixed with some photographers obviously not wanting to shoot with me and others who were more than willing. A very very special thanks to Kristen Shadrick who organized the event and made sure that I got the photos I needed and worked with every model to ensure a smooth and fun event. Photos are by Danbwr photos and Ron Scholl Photography. So, without further ado, this year's bikini photos.

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)