Let's go swimming!

Let's talk about swimsuits.

hahahaha.

No really!

If you have littles and you live anywhere that it is summer, you're going to need a swimsuit. Kids need the water and you need to be there with them. I myself love going to the pool or the beach. Especially with the kids.

But, there's nothing worse than being at the pool or the beach and feeling like crap because you're hating your swimsuit. Even before I had kids, I could quickly ruin a nice time by deciding I hated my suit. (Quick aside: almost 25 years ago we had a family reunion in Mexico on an island over Christmas holidays. My Gma and I showed up with the same black bikini from Victoria's Secret. She looked better than me in it and looked better than anyone else on the beach.)

Ahem. Let's get down to business. A good suit for wearing with your kids not only looks good, but is comfortable to wear. For me, that means it can't easily slip down (no strapless!), be too high cut (butt creep) and it can't dig anywhere when I move around. In my summers of research at the pool, I can tell you with 100% confidence, that no matter what the mom's body looks like, she looks good outwardly and is having fun when she isn't concerned about how she looks.

So, this summer I got my first "mom" suit - it tightens and lifts and tucks and flatters and I'm not gonna lie, makes me look really good. And from Target! Who knew?!


$49.99 from Target.

When I got the mom suit, I also got this one. It is also very flattering, but doesn't provide as much oomphf, so I'll save it for skinny days. Har.

 $34.99 at Target

When I was skinny and spent more money on clothes, I got a lot of suits at J.Crew. There's a few styles in the current catalog that are mom-friendly too.

The one-shoulder, draped style of this one is beyond lovely.

$118 at J.Crew

The higher-waisted briefs, combined with the whimsy polka dots, it super cute and would be flattering to "mom butt" or belly issues, I think.

$50 at J.Crew

The paisley is both distracting from body issues and really unique.

$125 at J.Crew

Anthropologie also has some very pretty, but spendy, suits.

This one is very sexy-retro.

OK well that's all pixelated and crappy looking and I can't fix it. Grr.$148 at Anthro

This one is sort of bizarre looking, but I saw a picture of a woman wearing it on Instagram and she looked amazeballs sexy cool chasing her kid on the beach.

Again with the pixelation. $59.95 (bottoms only) at Anthro

Finally, can I put in a plug for Hanna Andersson suits for the little ones? They are the best, I think. The week before Memorial Day, they go on sale. Swoop in and get your little a swim suit that is 1) age appropriate (please for the love of all things innocent do not put your little toddler girl in a bikini!) 2) includes SPF coverage 3) is well made and 4) covers their fresh little skin.

Baby G wears a swimmy rash guard suit and Z wears a short-sleeved rash guard and skirt (no longer available).

There's still a few on the clearance pages, if you're still looking, or find one for next year.

What are you doing about the suit this year? Let me know what you've found!