Compartment 14B

Swimsuit victory! 2006-08-19 - 5:48 p.m. You guys, I have found the ultimate place to find a swim suit! The cons are, unfortunately: you have to be in Toronto, and you have to be willing to drop an absolutely ridiculous amount of money on a piece of lycra-enforced fabric. However, if you DO happen to be in Toronto and rich (or simply willing to part with a lot of your hard-earned dough), you have to check out Melmira Swimsuits. As I�ve mentioned, it had been 15 years since I bought a one-piece and it was starting to disintegrate. Add to that the fact that I weigh probably 30 pounds more than I did when I was a teenager and that poor suit really didn�t stand a chance. So, here I am, a new mom with a not-quite-back-to-normal body weight and shape, and a baby that we take to the wading pool and will no doubt take swimming a number of times over the coming years. I�ll be honest, I�m a two-piece girl normally. For one thing, it�s much easier to find a two-piece that fits well; I don�t have to worry about trying to fit torso length or shape if there�s nothing but a gap between the top and bottom parts. And it�s discouraging to have to go up and down sizes, depending on the manufacturer, trying on suit after suit that makes me look blobby. Well no more. As you can see from this article, I have found a solution. At this place they have a small showroom. When you come in they assign you a one-on-one assistant who whisks you to one of the roomy changerooms, offers you water or coffee, measures you if necessary and assesses your size and body type, asks you what sort of activities you plan to engage in wearing the suit and if there�s a specific type that you�re looking for (e.g., tankini, one-piece, two-piece, etc.), disappears briefly, then breezes back with an armload of suits for you to try on. If you don�t like something, don�t re-hang it for heaven�s sake! Just toss it in the lined basket awaiting your rejects. As you try on, you give feedback like: too conservative/not conservative enough; I like the �sporty-ness� of this one; too much/not enough cleavage. She will come back armed with more suits until you find one you like. My advice? Wear thong underwear when you go, even if you never, ever normally do so. Since, of course, you have to keep your underwear on while trying on swimwear, it�s much easier to see what the suit would normally look like sans underwear. Don�t be afraid to speak up if you find any part of the suit uncomfortable. Straps digging in? Suit accentuate that weird flab that seems to bulge on your torso just to the inside of your armpits that only you seem to see but totally hate? (Just, ahem, for example.) Say something and they�ll find you a better suit. Don�t look at the price tags if you can at all avoid it. You want something that fits you and if you�re hard to fit it might be worth it to you, as it was to me, to drop some serious bling while you�ve got this level of professional service. Buy two if you find two you like. How often do you want to shop for bathing suits? As seldom as possible if you�re like most women. Do not, however, let yourself be talked into a suit you feel truly uncomfortable in in terms of the style, no matter how good everyone says you look in it. They may be right but you still won�t wear it after you get it home and don�t have the cheering squad encouraging you to put it on. Yes I did get two suits. In fact, one of them is pictured in the article linked above, just to the right of the owner; the black with the blue bit at the top. The other is more cleavage-baring. J loves both and I know I�ll wear them until they too give up the ghost and I have to go back. And go back I will. Before - After All content � Shawna 2003-2010 That means no swiping my stuff - text, images, etc. - without asking. P.S. If you're emailing me, replace the [at] with @ in the "to" line. Oh, and if you put the word "journal" in the subject line it'll have a better chance of making it past my junk mail filters. recommend me HTML and design help by Jo hosted by Diaryland