With the warmer weather here, many women are shopping for new bathing suits – or avoiding store changing rooms like the plague. Many women feel the pressure to be slim – usually because of media images of skinny women being paraded everywhere – and that pressure intensifies during the summer swimsuit season. That’s why I wanted to highlight how the Sexy at Every Curve calendar from women-focused company Swimsuits For All is flying in the face of the super-slim image. Yes, curvy women are sexy.
What is ‘Swimsuits For All’?
In case you’re not familiar with Swimsuits For All, it offers plus-size swimwear for women that are chic and fashionable – rather than being the typical outdated styles curvy women usually expect in stores. At the head of the designer swimwear company is Moshe Laniado, who explained in a recent interview that he drew inspiration for launching the company from his mother Jeanette, who was also a swimwear entrepreneur. How great to see the positive influence of a strong mom!
The company caters to women – beautiful, plus-size women, in a way, that would have been unheard of 50 years ago. It celebrates them.
And rightly so, I say, as we are more than our body size. There are bikinis and one-piece suits, and they range from classic to contemporary style in many different colors. The sizes? They’re not a size 0.
Instead, women can shop for sizes 8-16 and 18-34. Yes, believe it or not, women of all body shapes like swimming ((sarcasm!)) so it makes sense to have swimwear to fit everyone.
New Calendar from Swimsuits For All
The newest venture for the swimsuit company? A plus-size digital calendar that is giving Sports Illustrated a run for its money! Titled Sexy at Every Curve, the calendar features curvy models in bikinis, highlighting the beauty of women of all body sizes. Hello, sexy!
Included in the Swimsuits for All calendar is the amazing curvy supermodel Robyn Lawley, who became famous as the plus-size icon for Ralph Lauren. And, joining her are British model plus-size model Jada Sezer, fashion writer Gabi Gregg and more. Talk about star power. They look confident and beautiful in the color calendar, truly showcasing women are beautiful in any body size. One photo in the calendar of three models looks strikingly similar to the 50th Anniversary Sports Illustrated cover released earlier this year – which tells us curvy women can really bring it!
To see the digital Swimsuits for All calendar, the Sexy at Every Curve calendar is available FREE at the company website. Very cool! After all, being ashamed of one’s own body is never something I would encourage. Besides, we’ve got more positive things to do with our time!
So now, I’m curious: Do you dislike swimsuit shopping? If so, what is it about the experience that you dislike? Feel free to comment below.
Great post!
I’m really liking your new blog.
Women’s contemporary beauty is like a hurdles race.
As the size/shape hurdle is cleared (which it is not completely), I’d like to see the maturing/age hurdle next in line. What am supposed to wear at the beach, an ankle length turtle neck?
I’ve already got the sunglasses! (“lol”)
Just saying, it’s going to be a long race, and I like the open minded, non-accusatory, let’s have an honest discussion tone I feel has been set on this blog.
Resa,
I appreciate your comment on so many levels. The aging issue is absolutely a hurdle – and why is it that men are often told they look better with age, while women are admired for their youthful looks? Cultural issues – yes!
I hear you about the turtleneck too – but your comment made me laugh before I thought too much about it. I say we’ll take little steps toward overcoming the issues, and I’m really glad to be able to have open discussions here. Thanks for coming here to take part!
Thanks Christy!
Cheers to the future!!!
Cheers – for sure!! Have a great day, Resa.
Hi Christy, I’m answering your comment. The book, “The Secret Life of Violet Grant,” came out on May 27th. It’s amazingly good! Thanks for stopping by!
Sounds great, Kate!
Great discussion! Isn’t it interesting that we have set up measurement systems that are unrealistic or irrelevant. We compare ourselves to others rather than share and enjoy diversity. Oh how much we miss, simply because we set our standards to the current trend, which usually fades in a few short years. (BTW, really enjoyed Aquileana’s historical perspective.)
“Is fat really the worst thing a human being can be? Is fat worse than vindictive, jealous, shallow, vain, boring, evil, or cruel? Not to me” JK Rowling
Rebecca, Oh yes, North American culture is absolutely puts value on “fitting in” – you point that out well in your comment! I’m all for diversity as that adds layers to the world and heck I think it’s wonderful to find a way to stand out from others. Thanks for adding to the discussion here!
Also, the JK Rowling quote is one to ponder. MInd you, there’s something about the word “fat” that just makes me cringe (ah, semantics and language, ah, writers!) xo
It made me cringe too! Wordsmith is a nuanced task. Yet, in our minds “fat” is what we associate with someone who doesn’t fit in our personal ideal. When I was young, I understood this all too well when they chanted “fatty fatty two by four, can’t get through the kitchen door” as I walked by Those were defining moments for me because it gave me great insight into how we are unique, special, outstanding. That is when I chose to be the person I was meant to be – and that has made all of the difference in my life. :)
I love how you have taken the ridicule and turned it into something positive – aha, now I understand more why we get along so well! So glad to know you :)
Beauty comes all shape and sizes. I don’t own a swimsuit but if I did it would be a one piece.
Beauty takes all forms, quite true! Thanks, Susan!
I think that beauty as a bodily concept regarding to shapes has changed along the years. And that’s because it is no more than a social stereotype.
During the 50’s women tend to be curvy and Marilyn Monroe was a good example. During the 90’s with that idea that Francis Fukuyama called “The End of History” which took place the decade after the fragmentation of The URSS…
Later on, the neoliberalism paradigm subtly imposed a skinny female body, which was the counterpart of the splurges of consume and waste.
I think that nowadays, the model is more healthy, a slim woman is the ideal, nor fat nor skinny, with a nice,proportional body.
And by that we can conclude that society tends to be more open and less judgemental with regard to overweight.
Even though surgeries to oversize some parts of the body are usual.
So at the end I am not not sure if Less is more or More is more.
Thanks for sharing such an enlightening post, Christy,
Best wishes, Aquileana :)
Hi Aqui,
Thank-you for the intelligent comment and for truly reading through the post here. I so appreciate that. You are certainly correct that the ideal of North American women (not necessarily other cultures) is far different today than in the 50s.
But, unfortunately there are many super-skinny women on the runways still. We are not quite at the point of “healthy” body types of average sizes being the typical model size on the runways. It’s still pointed out that plus size is unusual and it’s a shame that I really even had to write such a post. I hope one day plus size won’t even be a term but instead it’ll be shades of beauty :)
Wonderful to discuss this all with you – and best wishes to you too xo
Such a difficult task for so many of us. Thanks for the post and the resource!
Happy to provide the info here, Jane. Yes, swimsuits aren’t a favorite with many women and so I wanted to highlight a positive view of it all! Thank-you.