Update 4/10: Photos are available on the Glamour website now.
I was flipping through the May issue of Glamour last night and I came across a page with a gorgeous, curvy model wearing a bikini.
![image: Haverhill swimsuit](http://www.ilaxstudio.com/haverhill.jpg)
She looks AMAZING!!!
“Oh my gosh!” I thought, “They are actually showing a realistic looking model that has a body that looks like mine!”
I was excited. Then, I realized the entire photo shoot was that one, gorgeous, curvy model. And then I was ecstatic. Giddy. Excited. All by a swimsuit photo shoot!
![image: OMO Norma Kamali swimsuit](http://www.ilaxstudio.com/OMONormaKamali.jpg)
I love this suit. I could see myself wearing it.
The article is called “Now That’s A Sexy Swimsuit!” and features model Crystal Renn in 5 different swimsuits. I tried to find it on the Glamour website to share with you, but couldn’t (so I scanned these two photos to share).
Props to Glamour for actually showing a realistic looking model in some attractive swimsuits. I am going to have to write them a letter telling them how inspiring it was to see someone I can actually relate to… and that it actually made me look forward to buying a swimsuit this year!
This photo shoot, and a few other blogs I’ve been reading have got me thinking about swimsuits. I have a pretty good swimsuit story, that I actually feel represents a good era of my life, when I wasn’t preoccupied with my body image or food all the time.
My father and I visited Spain in the summer of 2002 with my classmates and Spanish teacher (one of those trips). My mom helped me shop for the trip. I picked out a couple of swimsuits, one being a bikini that she ABSOLUTELY was opposed to me wearing. She called it my “Eye Patch and Dental Floss Swimsuit.” If you look at the photo below, you’ll see why.
![image: OMO Norma Kamali swimsuit](http://www.ilaxstudio.com/eyepatchanddentalfloss.jpg)
Of course, I had to wear it while I was there, just to spite her! Muah ha ha.
I talked to her last night on the phone, telling her I was going to post about it. “You know,” she said, “it was not that I thought you looked bad in the bikini, it was just that I thought you were showing too much skin.”
She’s probably being sincere. But now I realize I DID LOOK BAD, but am happy to report at that time in my life I DID NOT CARE. Without going into too much detail, let’s just say… I became very indifferent to what others thought of me in high school. That’s not to say I had a 100% healthy self esteem, but that I had a very healthy outlook on my appearance. I didn’t worry about how I looked, what others thought of me, or what I ate. As you can see in the photo, maybe I didn’t look that great – but I didn’t care.
Ignorance was bliss, in that case.
It’s not until I got to college that I started to think about food, weight, exercise and apperance. So every once in awhile, especially around swimsuit season, I think of this silly photo, and the time in my life it represents.