A few secrets for managing swimsuit-shopping anxiety

Let’s be honest, shopping for bathing suits is enough to make most of us want to throw up (especially if you just ate a pint of Rebel ice cream like I did). Honestly, I’ve never given all that much thought to my swimwear wardrobe (with the exception of the summer we joined a beach club) since the only pool I frequent is in my backyard. And even then, I was a big fan of Target because I could never justify spending a lot of money on a piece of non-clothing that was going to get beaten and battered by sunscreen and chlorine.

Then I discovered one-size-fits-all Hunza G swimsuits, and they pretty much answered all of my swimwear prayers. (Are you noticing a trend with the one-size-fits-six Frame jeans I got a few weeks ago?) But I still couldn’t fathom spending almost $200 on a bathing suit, and I found Australia-based YouSwim when I went down a Google rabbit hole while I had extra time on my hands during lockdown. Though usually $140, I signed up for emails and somehow snagged one for $100, and I felt confident in my purchase considering virtually every other color was sold out. More recently, I found a pink Madewell one on Nordstrom Rack for $30 that appeared to be the same stretchy, crinkly material (although upon arrival it wasn’t).

YouSwim.

Oh, by the way, I haven’t worn any of them—but just having them in my possession provided enough of a buffer to purge my bathing-suit drawer of the ill-fitting one-pieces and bikinis I’ll most likely never wear again.

The upside of unnecessary bathing suit shopping: A hell of a lot less stress. Since I didn’t (and still don’t) have a pending tropical vacation on the books, it was no biggie if they didn’t work out. But now I have scars from my breast reconstruction and I’m not sure if these bathing suits will cover the incision that extends slightly beyond the crease below my breasts—and I’m definitely not in the frame of mind to try them on and find out right now. Until I am, at least I know I have new bathing suits at the ready when it’s time for a pool party—and even if they don’t completely cover my scars that’s OK because they’re a part of me now. (I’ll just be sure to apply extra sunscreen so they continue to fade away with time.)