Swim Like a Kid Again
In this insights article, our founder and principal personal stylist, Natalie Tincher, discusses the constructs that have taken us from carefree, swimsuit-clad kids to cautious and critical swimsuit-dreading adults. Why does this shift happen? What can we start to do to change our relationship with “swimsuit season”?
Image courtesy of Natalie Tincher. Logansport, Indiana. Circa 1987.
Do you remember when you were a kid, and you were told to put your swimsuit on? What emotion did you feel? For me, it was pure excitement. Why? Because it meant fun, adventure, and carefree summer days: splashing around in the pool, running through a sprinkler, sliding down the slip-n-slide with my neighborhood friends.
Five-year-old Natalie never once thought about how my body compared to my friends; I never once thought, “Oh man, I hope my swimsuit is flattering.” Instead, I was just impatient for my mom to finish lathering on my sunscreen, so I could have fun in the sun.
But somewhere along the line, that pure joy changed. Somehow my swimsuit emotions went from excitement to over-analyzing. I started to worry about how I looked in a swimsuit compared to others. Can anyone else relate to this mind shift?
What prompted this change? Was it comments from other kids? A parent or adult? Did you start to notice magazine covers with “swimsuit body” fitness tips? Or TV ads with swimsuit before and after pictures? It was probably a combination of a lot of these and more. Societal pressures started to seep into our psyche, and we may have started to become self-critical and self-conscious.
Changing Our Swimsuit Shopping Mindset
I also recall picking out my swimsuits when I was little. My mom would take me to the store, and I got to pick out my one (or two if I was lucky) swimsuit for that summer. I remember gravitating toward fun, bright swimsuits (cue the young Magnetic in me). There was never the thought of strategic ruching, whether or not I was showing too much skin, or anything other body-conscious consideration. That’s not what a swimsuit was about. It was about an expression of my most free, excited self. It was the self that knew picking my swimsuit for that summer was equal to the amount of fun I was going to have.
So what would happen if we started to take our minds back to THAT moment—the moment we got to look at a swimsuit solely as a wardrobe object that signified something positive? What would that childhood anticipation look like in adult form? For me, it would be a suit I could play paddleball in easily and something that I am equally as inspired by the design as I am to lay out on a lounger and read a new book.
Taking external influence out of it, would our swimsuit choices differ from those dictated by societal influences and our internal anxiety, which may read something like, “Is this flattering?” “I’m not swimsuit ready,” “I need to cover [insert body part] up,” “People may stare at me.”
Choose Like Your Childhood Self
So our challenge now is to go back to a time that we chose our swimwear for the fun of it, the joy of it, and the positive association of it. Let’s go back to a time we didn’t care about camouflaging our midsection or enhancing our bust or whatever the magazines or our peers told us was an ideal “swimsuit body.” Next time you go shopping for a swimsuit, ask yourself the following questions:
What 3 adjectives describe a day of fun in the sun?
How are these 3 adjectives manifest in a swimsuit?
What practical considerations do I need for a swimsuit?
To help you get excited and inspired, I put together a catalog of inspiration based on style personality alone.
Now, grab your sunscreen, put on a suit as equally wonderful feeling as being a kid winning the cannonball splash contest—and enjoy a summer full of memories with people you love!