It's the Silly Things

It's the silly things that bother me most of the time. The big things are beyond my control - the avalanche of life continues to spew down the mountain, the clock ticks as time disappears, and the end game and goals shift to meet the current changes. The end result is excellent, but the passage we walk to get there sometimes really sucks.

The climb to reach our end goal is stiff. But once
we achieve the goal, we'll be quite happy. I'm really
hating the process, though. 

My latest bother is a swimsuit. My first swimsuit got so baggy it was almost dangerous to wear when I turned at the end of each lane. I went online to Swim Outlet, found an affordable alternative in the size I thought would be good, ordered it, and it was great. I've been using that for more than six months now, and it's giving up the ghost, so I've been on a quest to find a replacement suit for the past six weeks or so.

In 1910, swimsuits like this were the rage. I'm not wearing
that much fabric, but it almost feels that bad, it's so baggy. 

Thank goodness returns are easy at Swim Outlet, because I've been back and forth with suits that looked horrible when I tried them on. I did get one that I really like, but I'm saving it. It's still slightly too small, but it's a good stand-by suit in case of emergency. I got two others in a different cut a little over two weeks ago but the cut didn't fit my body - not at all. So, back they went.

Two new suits were ordered - a bit flashy with gleam and glitter at a really great price. The new suits arrived at the end of last week, and it took one quick try-on for me to put them back into the box and print out a return label. They're getting sent back today. I went back onto the Swim Outlet website and found two more that I'm hoping with be both the right size and the right shaping for my needs.

This is a little later than the 1910 above. In the earlier photo, it was
against the law for women to have their legs naked, but we are
getting a few here. What's interesting in this are the men's
singletons. Men weren't allowed to show anything below their
armpits and they had to be skirted to cover their bits and pieces.
I'm dating this at approximately 1915. 

I'm old and I don't need to show off my body because it's old too. I need a cut that will allow me to swim my laps with comfort, I prefer to not have my thighs exposed almost to my waist, and I actually need to fit into the suit, not look like a sausage, poofing out after it's hit the frying pan. Swimsuit purchasing is frustrating. But I'm hopeful that the two I have coming to me now will be exactly what I need.

In 1922 Washington DC had an ordinance that women's suits couldn't
be higher than six inches above the knee. Here, Bill Norton, a bathing
beach policeman, measures to make sure these beauties' suits
are lawful. 

Why don't I just wander to my local store and try suits on there? Well, for one thing, I'm taking serious advantage of some end-of-season sale prices, and for another - trying suits on in the store isn't a comfortable situation for me in terms of time, space, and price. There are other reasons too, but by going through this process, I'm getting an excellent idea of what I do and don't like in a suit and what to look for. Next time I need a replacement suit I'll be a personal swimsuit expert!

Now, what other silly thing can I find to annoy me when my swimming suit issue is resolved? I'm sure there are many more peeves just waiting in the wings of my mental closet. Happy Tuesday, everyone. Enjoy your spring/fall.