It Happens in Spring

by Amy
(KY, USA)

It happens just as the spring creeps in, and only certain people take notice. For the tall and shapely, rail-thin bombshells, the appearance of girls bathing suits excites little notice.

No, they won’t ooh and ah over them until summer really begins, when they get to pull on the itsy bitsy top and bottom number and attract the attention of the most muscle-laden beach bums. It’s not these girls that notice; it’s the overweight girls.

As a long-standing member of the not-so-skinny crowd, I was always within the number who let out a collective moan as they appeared in the stores.

The high-cut bottoms that wouldn’t hide even an inch of cellulite, the separates that threatened to reveal stretch marks, and the tiny tops that wouldn’t even begin to cover our upper assets. And worse, I knew I had to have one. Therefore, I had to try it on.

This was a day-long process, every year. My cousin and I went together for moral support. In tiny dressing rooms we stared at ourselves sausaged into suits made for impossible bodies.

We weren’t too demanding; we didn’t need ten pounds instantly shaved off, but in our twenties, we were too young to go for the granny-skirt.

The problem was always evident: to get a flattering bathing suit in a size twelve, we either had to shell out fifty bucks or make due with basic black.

The options were the problem, but, of course, that was hard to see under the fluorescent dressing room lights.

Every year, we ended up depressed and mad at ourselves. We felt as if we had failed to fit not only the suits, but every idea society had of beauty.

We would go out to eat; my cousin would eat everything and I absolutely nothing. Our disappointment turned in on ourselves, and just a little bit haunted us every time we put those suits on.

I didn’t realize until much later how wrong it was. Every woman ought to embrace herself.

But stores and designers ought to realize that we need clothes that fit us, the real girls, the ones who have to sit up and take notice in early spring.

After all, if we notice something great, we’ll probably buy it.