Swimsuit reviews
Jan. 15th, 2008 08:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tiger_spotSo a little while ago, figleaves.com was having a swimwear sale. I've been looking for a swimsuit that fits for no-kidding years, so I figured I might as well give it a try and see if I got lucky. And, hey, free returns.
So the first batch got here today. That's three one-piece suits and one bikini top (another bikini top and both bottoms are expected in a later package).
The bikini top (from Triumph) actually fits, which is a surprise. It doesn't pass the beach volleyball test, but it's probably good up through frisbee[1]. The underwire is not quite the right shape, so it'd get to be a problem after a while, but I'd be willing to put up with it if it weren't so unbelievably ugly. It's turquoise, which is a problem but only a small one. It's got these stupid rings in the straps, but I knew that from looking at the picture and thought maybe it wouldn't look so bad in person (nope, worse). But mostly, it's got this HUGE vertical seam, the awfulness of which I cannot adequately describe. Back in the box it goes. (Seriously, it looks worse than the last sports bra I bought, which is a truly unattractive piece of engineering.)
The two one-pieces from Freya (who also made the bra I ordered with this set, which is a little too small but otherwise plausible, although suspiciously loose about the band; I will see what the next cup size up is like) have the same set of problems, to wit:
1. Can only fit over my hips with enormous effort and possible fabric damage.
2. Too short in the torso.
3. You call this an F cup[2]? My nipple doesn't fit in this!
4. No support at all, partly because of being too short.
I was expecting one of them to be too short and not have any support, because it looked too short and not supportive on the model, but I was ordering things anyway so it's not like I paid extra for shipping it or anything. Did I mention free returns? I was sad about the other one, though. Although it was also turquoise, so no big loss there.
The other one-piece is a halter from Triumph. I really really like it from about halfway up the ribcage down. The top fits, but the neck tie is somewhat uncomfortable. I might get used to it. It doesn't feel all that supportive, but I can jump around a fair bit without pain, which is really what counts. I think I will hang on to it, as it is at least an improvement over the existing suit.
I wasn't expecting much from the future-bikini, as it didn't look very supportive in the picture, but it is from Triumph and both the Triumph ones from today fit, even if one was bug-ugly, so I think I shall upgrade to cautiously optimistic.
[1] The activity scale goes: swimming, lying down, walking, frisbee, beach volleyball. My current swimsuit is good up through lying down.
[2] UK sizing; ought to be equivalent to a US G.
On the plus side, the other box that was waiting on the porch has four brand-new shiny CDs in it. Mmmmm, German synthpop. Nom nom nom.
(Why I don't friends-lock talking about bras and stuff: Because I felt like a total freak until I realized that it's not me, it's the fashion industry. Other people are my size. [Additional other people are a wide variety of different sizes. None of us can find clothes in department stores.] If I can do my little bit to shorten the feeling-like-a-freak of the next woman, I will have done some good in the world.)
So the first batch got here today. That's three one-piece suits and one bikini top (another bikini top and both bottoms are expected in a later package).
The bikini top (from Triumph) actually fits, which is a surprise. It doesn't pass the beach volleyball test, but it's probably good up through frisbee[1]. The underwire is not quite the right shape, so it'd get to be a problem after a while, but I'd be willing to put up with it if it weren't so unbelievably ugly. It's turquoise, which is a problem but only a small one. It's got these stupid rings in the straps, but I knew that from looking at the picture and thought maybe it wouldn't look so bad in person (nope, worse). But mostly, it's got this HUGE vertical seam, the awfulness of which I cannot adequately describe. Back in the box it goes. (Seriously, it looks worse than the last sports bra I bought, which is a truly unattractive piece of engineering.)
The two one-pieces from Freya (who also made the bra I ordered with this set, which is a little too small but otherwise plausible, although suspiciously loose about the band; I will see what the next cup size up is like) have the same set of problems, to wit:
1. Can only fit over my hips with enormous effort and possible fabric damage.
2. Too short in the torso.
3. You call this an F cup[2]? My nipple doesn't fit in this!
4. No support at all, partly because of being too short.
I was expecting one of them to be too short and not have any support, because it looked too short and not supportive on the model, but I was ordering things anyway so it's not like I paid extra for shipping it or anything. Did I mention free returns? I was sad about the other one, though. Although it was also turquoise, so no big loss there.
The other one-piece is a halter from Triumph. I really really like it from about halfway up the ribcage down. The top fits, but the neck tie is somewhat uncomfortable. I might get used to it. It doesn't feel all that supportive, but I can jump around a fair bit without pain, which is really what counts. I think I will hang on to it, as it is at least an improvement over the existing suit.
I wasn't expecting much from the future-bikini, as it didn't look very supportive in the picture, but it is from Triumph and both the Triumph ones from today fit, even if one was bug-ugly, so I think I shall upgrade to cautiously optimistic.
[1] The activity scale goes: swimming, lying down, walking, frisbee, beach volleyball. My current swimsuit is good up through lying down.
[2] UK sizing; ought to be equivalent to a US G.
On the plus side, the other box that was waiting on the porch has four brand-new shiny CDs in it. Mmmmm, German synthpop. Nom nom nom.
(Why I don't friends-lock talking about bras and stuff: Because I felt like a total freak until I realized that it's not me, it's the fashion industry. Other people are my size. [Additional other people are a wide variety of different sizes. None of us can find clothes in department stores.] If I can do my little bit to shorten the feeling-like-a-freak of the next woman, I will have done some good in the world.)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-01-16 08:50 pm (UTC)1. Direct subsidies.
2. Complex tax breaks.
3. High import tariffs on pre-made clothing.
4. Require companies selling clothing in the country to meet minimum wage and labor condition standards in all factories no matter where they are located.
5. Make self-employment and small business ownership more desirable by:
a. making the self-employment taxes less stupid.
b. not tying health care to large-company employment (there are a number of different ways to do this, all of which should be more or less equally good for this purpose, although with varying side effects).
I like 4. It would instantly make most clothing much more expensive, which would at least even out the gap between mass-produced and custom-tailored; at that point tailoring becomes more desirable (because it's less of a marginal cost increase) and the invisible hand helps fill in the supply. 3 does about the same thing locally, but doesn't have all the happy side effects (moving the jobs back here, reducing pollution -- if labor costs are the same, the motive to ship raw materials back and forth is much reduced).
5 would make me happy in general, and it'd help a lot in combination with 4 (by making that filling-in-the-supply easier -- custom tailoring does not strike me as something that would easily support a large corporation) but probably wouldn't have too much of an effect by itself.
So yeah. I'd vote for you.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-16 11:21 pm (UTC)