Bathing Suit Confidence

It seems to be a universal issue. Women across America absolutely hate bathing suit shopping and feel self-conscious when they take those first steps out onto the beach. At The Body Shop, one of our Core Values has always been Activating Self-Esteem, because we believe that beauty is more than just how well you care for your skin.

If bathing suit shopping and wearing is on your summer agenda, then take these tips to heart to combat those “gasp!” moments in the dressing room.

• Mind Your Mouth – When looking at yourself in a dressing room mirror, be careful what you choose to say out loud. Expressing negative sentiments about your own body reinforces them. What’s worse is that you can be setting a bad self-image example if there are little ears around to hear you spew negativity about you own body.

• Nix Negativity – Speaking of young ears, teen girls often have a difficult time with bathing suits if they are struggling with their evolving body awareness. One tip that BlogMommas suggests in helping them develop a positive body image is to tell her siblings and other parent that teasing, comments, and name-calling is unacceptable. Though this tactic was mentioned for teen girls, it’s a good policy for all of us. Don’t let anyone, including yourself, make negative comments about your body. Self-deprecating humor has no place in the process of building a positive body image.

• Go Retro – Vintage bathing suits are cropping up in stores across the country this season. Vintage suits boast styles that are flattering on many different body types, because they were originally designed with the “real women” curves of the 1950’s. Select a vintage style that accentuates your best features, and then tuck a flower in your hair to do your best Marilyn Monroe impression (who was a size 12, by the way).

• Get Real – Your body has been your body for your whole life, you aren’t suddenly going to morph into a swimsuit model. iVillage suggests some helpful tips in gaining perspective on your body as-is, as well as making the bathing suit shopping process a bit less painful. One recommendation she gives: self tanner! Everyone feels better about their body with a hint of a golden glow.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 9:22 am and is filed under Fashion Trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.