Is it just me who likes to cover up a bit?

So last Saturday night, I had the unfortunate task of having to find myself a new bathing suit for my trip to Florida.
Now, I'm not a svelte, love-my-figure-and-want-to-show-it-off kind of gal. In fact, since giving birth, I've never been less so. With the exception of a brief stint with thinness during my undergrad (a time when I was going to the gym 4-5 times per week and had a stomach so sculpted that I came THIS close to piercing my belly button...), I've never worn two piece bathing suits. I'm just more comfortable in one-piece suits and I look better in them too. So, as I went out searching for the perfect pool outfit, I knew I was looking for a suit with....errr....ample coverage. If there were a religious Muslim bathing suit store, I would've started the search there. Alas, there wasn't, so I started out looking at Bikini Village. Not surprisingly, the majority of their swimsuits are two piece suits, as per the name of the store. You can't really blame them, can you? They pretty much tell you that much in their name.

Still hopeful, I continued on to the mall's sports store (can't recall the exact name, but you know the kind). Again, not surprisingly, they didn't have exactly what I was looking for. The majority of bathing suits, again, were two piece suits, and the rest were really athletic looking. Nothing 'pretty'...just a lot of racer-back Speedos. Nothing wrong with that, just not what I'm interested in right now. Next year, when I enter the Ironman triathlon, I'll definitely go back to that store to get my suit.

Anyway, I continued onto the large Department store at the mall - The Bay. They had a pretty nice selection of suits - Everything from bikinis to tankinis, one-pieces to swimsuit dresses. Suits with thong bottoms, short bottoms, regular panty-style bottoms, and even ones with little skirts. Ahhh....finally, a little selection. They had plenty of one-piece suits and plenty of 'pretty' styles that definitely fit the bill of what I was looking for.

Immediately, I eliminated about 2/3 of the suits, just by looking at the colours and patterns. You see, I like my bathing suits to say "I'm here at the pool. I'd rather be fully clothed, but that's not an option right now. I've dressed in the most conservative, flattering and modest suit I could find. So if you could please avert your eyes for the rest of my visit, that would be much appreciated". Instead, many of the suits said things like "Woo Hoo!!! I'm in a bathing suit! Check me out!!! Look at my bosom and my tight little bottom! I got implants last summer and I'm loving every minute of them!! Glad to be here".

The remaining suits (there were about 8) were black, black and white stripes, black with ruffles, black with a tummy tucker, black with a cover-your-butt skirt, and black with little white diamonds and metal sequins. Perfect!

I tried them all on and decided that there was only one - a Simon Chang suit - that looked OK on me. Then I saw the price. Ugh...SO expensive. A hundred bucks for a bathing suit?! I must've picked the most expensive one! As I rummaged through the pile of rejected suits on the floor, I realized that $100 was a mid-range price! Feeling that I had no other option, I just took it to the cash, swallowed my pain and purchased the suit.

As much as I dislike the process of buying a bathing suit, I always feel a little better (and a little more excited about my trip) once the task is complete.

Anyway, so it was done. I had a bathing suit. I should've been ready to leave the mall. But, of course, I didn't. Even though my bathing suit was, of course, non-returnable, I decided to continue searching the mall to see what I missed. Yes, I'm a bit of a masochist like that. I know.

Anyway, I walked through and the say Additionelle, the plus-sized women's store that sells clothes from sizes 14 to, like, 34...and sometimes as small as 12, I've heard. Now, I wear a size 14, so I thought "hmmm...maybe I could've found something nice and modest at Additionelle. I've never really bought anything from the store, but maybe this would've been a good place to check for the swimsuit". I walked in and immediately saw the bright bathing suits at the back of the store.

And here's the surprising part. Additionelle - a store that caters to large women, a store that caters to women with weight problems, carries 20 bathing suits. Seventeen of them are bikinis/tankinis. What - Is - Wrong - With - This - Picture?!?!

I'm not saying that heavy women should be limited to one type of full coverage bathing suit. Hey, if a heavy woman wants to wear a bikini to the beach, more power to her. Go right ahead. No judgements. But c'mon! Am I wrong to think that many of the patrons of this store might want a suit with a little more coverage? a little more modesty? a little more....fabric?!?!
If you can't get a one-piece bathing suit from Additionnelle, where the heck can you get one?!