Are you modest on the beach or will you wear a bikini?

[PrettySquareGal]

Will you wear a bikini to the beach or poolside this year? (Or to mow your lawn? I had a neighbor that used to do that!) Or do you prefer a more modest and vintage approach to swimsuits? Do you think that women over a certain age should start to cover up more and if so, what age is that?

For me, I am unsure if I will wear a bikini this year. I have to see how I look in one after I've gotten rid of, shall I say, winter's touch. I'm in my 40's. As for age, of course it's a free country and women can and should wear what they please, but as far as what would be considered good taste, I don't think age is a factor as long as one is still fit.

You?

 

[Amy Jeanne]

My theory on everything -- wear whatever you want and if someone doesn't like it they can screw off!

Personally, I never go near water and never wear swimwear. Haven't owned a bathing suit since the 90s. Large bodies of water freak me out, yet I love living near the coast.

 

[crwritt]

"My theory on everything -- wear whatever you want and if someone doesn't like it they can screw off!"-Amy Jeanne
In Maine, we could go topless if we desired. there is no law stopping us, on the beach or on the street. Not many do, though,
and I certainly don't, but I find the option amusing.
At the beach,I wear a modern tank suit or polka dot tankini. I'm not much for showing off my midsection.I wear a sundress over that.

 

[rue]

Personally, in the shape I'm in right now, I wish those bathing costumes from the early 1900s would come back into fashion lol

I think it's a matter how comfortable you are with your body. When I feel skinny-ish I wear a bikini and when I don't, you won't see me in a situation where I would have to wear one.

 

[Missy Hellfire]

I am about as modest on the beach as one can get without wearing a burkha! Rue, I am with you on the bathing suits, I have been looking for one for a while now! As it is, I have a bathing suit that covers as much as I can get it to cover and it has a skirt that comes to just above my knee. I don't think I have worn a bikini since I was about 3!

 

[LizzieMaine]

I live right on the ocean, but I can't swim and too much sun gives me migraines, so I don't go to beaches very often. My bathing suit has a skirt that comes to the middle of my thighs -- and I feel half-naked wearing it.

 

[Tifa]

I have a great swimsuit by Esther Williams

Love this swimsuit!
This picture is 2 years old and I'm actually smaller now, so I think I'll try a bikini (50's style, like the girl in the background)this summer, haven't worn one since.. I was 18 or something.

 

[Miss Golightly]

Tifa - I love the Esther Williams range - if I was a beach lover I would definitely get one of her swimsuits - fab picture of you by the way!

As I said I don't really care for the beach and although I can swim I don't. This year for our holidays in France I have a lovely 1940's two piece playsuit - I wouldn't mind wearing a bikini though once it had shorts for bottoms - you know the type.

I think you should wear whatever you feel comfortable in - that's the most important thing.

 

[Juliet]

I prefer to swim in lakes, rather than the public beaches, but even then I'm more comfortable in a one-piece swimsuit (yes, the Esther Williams ones look mighty fine). Which is something that my friends are usually very surprised at - but really, I don't think that age and the size (or rather anti-size) of your swimwear must coincide.

 

[Amy]

Ooh, a one piece these days, usually, as my tummy doesn't warrant bearing! But in all honestly, I don't think it has anything to do with age, more to do with body shape. I mean, I'm only twenty-six, and I've been alot thinner than I am now although still a very curvy hourglass!), but I never looked right in a bikini, it just seems to shorten me and make me wider somehow, like the two pieces make two stripes across the widest parts of me. The freya Lunar swimsuit is my current fave: http://www.victoriaslingerie.co.uk/freya-swimwear.php

 

[Amy]

I have a great swimsuit by Esther Williams

Love this swimsuit!
This picture is 2 years old and I'm actually smaller now, so I think I'll try a bikini (50's style, like the girl in the background)this summer, haven't worn one since.. I was 18 or something.

Wow, I NEED this!

 

[Miss Golightly]

I have always found the cut of 1950's one pieces and bikinis the most universally flattering style - for ladies of all sizes and shapes - the cut is so elegant. I really don't like a lot of the modern styles - some are little more than dental floss with some scraps of fabric attached.

 

[LolitaHaze]

If I was thinner I would rock the bikini! However, style-wise I prefer the 40's 2 piece... modesty wise I'd run around nekked.

 

[wahine]

I totally second Miss G, I also love the fifties style and if I had a swimsuit like that, I'd definitely wear it. I also don't like those "dental floss" bikinis, no matter what shape or age you are, it's just not...um... classy? Not sure what's the right word.
I'm in my mid thirties, not too slim, and wear both bathing suit or bikini, depending on my mood. The bikini has quite some fabric, though. When I go to the beach where I lie around most of the time, I prefer a bikini.
When I go to the indoor swimming pool with slide and all, I'll wear the swimsuit. A bikini isn't the best outfit for a water slide, that's a lesson I learned as a teenager.

 

[vintage_jayhawk]

Being, well, larger than I was in my early 20's, I prefer the one piece. And living in the Caribbean means being in a swimsuit FAR more often than should be allowed.
fftopic: But someone needs to tell the tourists that wearing that speedo around downtown is NOT appropriate! Keep it on the beach fella!

 

[rue]

^ wow.... talk about an article of clothing men should never wear :eeek:

If I was thinner I would rock the bikini! However, style-wise I prefer the 40's 2 piece... modesty wise I'd run around nekked.

If I had your body I'd run around nekked too lol


The 40s/50s style two pieces are what I'm looking for. I've spied a few, but nothing that grabs me yet. I don't think I'll ever break out a string bikini again.

 

[cherry lips]

modesty wise I'd run around nekked.

Hahaha!

 

[Juliet]

Yes, it seems, as though modern swimsuits (whether a one-piece or bikini) have little to no stylish thought put into them. Basically DIY - three handkerchiefs and rope lol
I'll disagree with Amy, though - I don't think it's always about the shape (although it's not far from consideration).

 

[bunnyb.gal]

I do feel more comfortable in a one-piece, but I will do a bikini if it is an Esther Williams-style model. The modern-day bum floss models you can keep them. They're both unstylish and put waaay too much on public display for my taste.

And Speedos on the fellas (or as the Aussies say, budgie smugglers ) are just, ewwwwww!

 

[RodeoRose]

I just converted to the cult of the one-piece last summer, when I found a blue polka-dotted Esther Williams-esque suit at the thrift store. It's actually from the 60s or 70s, but it has that hourglass silhouette, built-in bullet bra and straight, low-cut leg opening just like a 50s suit.

Whenever I'd wear my cheap bikinis in high school I used to feel sooo insecure; I'm not skinny, but I have oddly prominent bones, and I always felt too scandalous with my hip bones and my waistline sticking out above the low-rise bottoms lol.