FashBlog.com

by Christina VanGinkel

My two-year-old grandson was coming home for a visit. He was driving from Arkansas all the way to Wisconsin just so he could go swimming with Grandma. He had informed us that he wanted to do three things while he was visiting. Ride the four-wheeler with his Papa, go fishing with his Uncle, and have Grandma take him to the local pool. This all sounded grand, until I realized that I had not given a thought to a swimsuit in over three years. That being the last time we went on vacation and let our two youngest children pick where they wanted to go, and they had chosen Wisconsin Dells and the Great Wolf Lodge, complete with all the water any swimmer could want in one place. The suit I wore to the lodge was still in my closet, but I had been considerably heavier when I wore it compared to my current weight.

So, the problem was, where would I get a swimming suit so early in the spring and in Wisconsin? In addition, what would I need in a suit now that my age had been rising but my figure had been falling pound wise? I temporarily considered heading to the pool in t-shirt and shorts, until my daughter reminded me of their no t-shirt rule. If you wanted to swim in the community pool, you were required to wear a suit, so, back to finding a suit.

Our area consists of your basic stores found across the country in any major rural area, Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Penney's. My first stop was Wal-Mart, simply because as the crow flies, it was closest to my house. Surprisingly, they had a few swimsuits in stock, even though the average daily temperature had not been over forty degrees. The problem with the selection I first came across though was unless I was willing to wear a very basic bikini I was out of luck. I may have been slimming down the past couple of years, but believe me when I say nobody wants to see me in a two piece swimsuit, not any as skimpy as the ones I found hanging on those racks. Before I left the store, I did check a few other racks, and had found a few hanging in the women's section on a large size rack. Nothing had tweaked my interest though, and they had all looked more along the lines of something I could envision my Grandmother wearing. The good news was that I had at least found a few swimsuits, if they were from one extreme to the next!

From there I headed to Kmart. Our Kmart is a smaller sized store with a good selection of most things you might need. No swimsuits yet though, and the clerk I asked said they would not be getting any in for at least a week or two. Problem was I needed a suit for the upcoming weekend. Next stop, and more or less my last resort unless I wanted to wear what I had hanging in my closet, was Penney's.

When I arrived, not only did they have a selection to pick from as far as sizes and styles go, they had several that had some features I had not even thought of being able consider. One suit had a nifty little panel across the stomach area, in the form of a built in girdle, yet comfortable. Several suits in my size range had built in support in the bra area. Moreover, there was a selection of two-piece suits that resembled tank tops with matching shorts if I was so inclined to go that route! Then I saw it, a perfect little black number as they say. It had this nifty little panel across the stomach with shirring that miraculously made my tummy look slimmer, tank style straps that were wide enough apart that I knew they would offer the support I needed and stay put, along with the built in bra. I knew it was the perfect suit even before I tried it on. The front, back, and leg cut were all moderate, not too much, and not too little. I had found a suit that I could both swim in and be comfortable in when I got out of the pool.

Once I had browsed the racks a bit more and tried on a few others just to make sure that this was indeed the suit for me, I headed to the checkout to pay for my purchase. That was one of the best parts of the whole deal. The suit, along with a neat little cover-up skirt, a pair of deck shoes, and two matching beach towels, one for me, and one for my grandson, cost less than one hundred dollars. Nevertheless, the very best part was seeing how excited my grandson was when we headed off to go swimming.