700 swims later...

Friday, May 10, 2019



I pulled my suit on the other morning at the pool, only to find the top band had entirely unattached from the rest of the suit. The stitching had totally disintegrated. I was so frustrated—this suit was pretty much brand new, I fumed.

Except, then I realized it wasn't. It wasn't brand-new at all. I got it right after my son was born, which makes it over 4 years old now. My pregnancy had stretched out my former suit so badly, all the seams had ripped open (ALLLL of the seams, ahem) and this bathing suit was my post-pregnancy treat to myself. Except getting it meant:
a) going to a mall
b) going to a mall with a baby
c) trying on bathing suits a few weeks post-partum (in a mall, with a baby)

So, not awesome. I remember grabbing a handful of Speedos (my suit of choice...not sponsored, though I'll take a bathing suit sponsorship any day! Holy smokes, they're pricey) in a handful of sizes because post-partum body and the sizing on my last suit had been bleached right off of the tag. It was March, or maybe early April, so the selection was terrible and I bought the first suit I managed to wriggle into. It wasn't pretty. It was blue and green in some strange zig-zaggy pattern, but it was a flattering cut that wouldn't slip off my shoulders, or ride up my butt.

And then I wore this not-so-pretty-but-very-servicable suit 3-4 times a week (at minimum!) for four years (minus the few months I wore my patched up old suit when I was pregnant the second time). That's over 700 swims. And so, I forgave the stitching that had disintegrated and thanked this workhorse of a suit for its years (!) of service.

(A friend has a 45 Wears project on Instagram, a project that promotes wearing clothes longer and celebrating clothes that last. I think I should submit this suit - it deserves a mention 15 times over!)

And so, I'm back to bathing suit shopping, which is still dreadful. Is a plain, solid colour suit so much to ask for? Yes. Yes it is, apparently. I have two issues (three if you count the awful change room lighting): 1). people swim-swim year-round. I get that fancy bikinis are more of a summer thing, but racing/swim-swimming suits aren't just a summer thing, and yet no stores carry them "out of season" and 2). WHAT IS UP WITH ALL THE SWIM-SWIMMING (as opposed to lounging) SUITS HAVING BOOB PADDING? Are people really so horrified by the potential of the outline of a nipple? The last thing I want is a pair of wet sponges dragging me down. Bah.

And so, I'm going to pull out my sewing machine and zip-zag stitch the top of my suit back together until I can find a workhorse for the next 700 swims.



You Might Also Like

5 comments

  1. I swim twice a week and take an aquatic hips and knees class one day a week.(This is from October-late May. June- September I swim almost daily in a lake but it doesn't dissolve bathing suits!) I have a Roots suit, plain style (but alas, there's a bit of boob shaping), and this is its 4th year. I bought another in exactly the same style and size (they also do a long torso, which is me)to have for when this one gives up. I think the fabric has that special treatment for chlorine. Anyway, any other suit in the pool lasts about 6 months.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Long torsos makes one pieces tricky!!! But a suit that lasts that long is gold. I've stitched this one up and though it's started to bag, I'm going to try to hold on for as long as I can...!

      Delete
  2. We always say a £1 a wear so whatever the cost you have to wear it at least that many times. Hopefully fast fashion is dying along with swim costumes made of non-recycled materials. Most of the mainstream brand either solely make off recycled materials or have a range covering this. (Not sure speedo do though!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. $1 (or $2.50, haha!) a wear is pretty amazing! A friend did a search about Speedo's ethical sourcing and they came out pretty well. You guys have such amazing suits (cossies??!!) I must plan a trip, for the lido goodness, for a hang, AND FOR A COSSIE!

      Delete

Blog Archive

Labels

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 52 lakes A Big Deep Breath A Comparison a veritable miracle A-plus west end pools accessories alex duff pool algonquin park all the pools all the swimming holes aquafit Aquatic Centre in Regent Park argentina Art Art of the Swim atlantic ocean Awenda baby shampoo backyard pools Backyard wading pool badges bancroft bancroft and the Kawarthas bathing caps bathing suits Beach bears berlin bingo blogging blowing bubbles books Buckskin Lake buenos aires bunchfamily butterfly cambridge Camp Tanamakoon canoeing carilo Catskills CBC CBC Radio cheddar ontario Chicago Chlorine christie pits christmas claire cliff jumping coach dave Coaching insight cocktails cold water swimming Collecting Colouring cottage cottageing courage COVID-19 Covidcation Craft crowd-courced crowns ctv news dave ling Dawson's Pond docktail docktails Donald Summerville Pool dreaming of swimming driveway puddle earlscourt park edmonton elora elora quarry English Channel Etobicoke etsy Europe every single fast lane Extreme Heat Alert Fall 2017 fall swimming fast lane first swim Flesherton flipturns floating fouling French 75 Gallagher Centre gary clement gatineau Gatineau River Georgian Bay germany gifts Giovanni Caboto Giovanni Caboto pool goggles Great Lake great lakes Grey County guardian swim Guest blog guest swim Habermannsee Haliburton halloween Hampstead Heath Ladies' Pond Hanlan's Point heaven High Park high park pool highlight reel highlights homebody homemade badges Homstead hotel pool iceland illustration inclusive change rooms indoor pool Indoor Pools instagram Intercontinental Yorkville interview jack jessica j. lee jon klassen Joy julia zarankin jump jumping jumping in kate greene kate pugsley kawartha dairy kawarthas Kelso kerry clare kiddos kiki and polly Killbear Provincial Park kinmount Lake lake erie lake huron Lake Kennebec lake la peche Lake Louise Lake Ontario Lake Ontario and pools lake swimming Lake Temiskaming lakes lambton kingsway pool Laura Wills leanne shapton leeches length swim leo lionni lessons Letting Go lido lidos lifeguard towers lifeguarding Lindsay Lindsay Recreation Centre lindsay sutherland Lindsay Zier-Vogel lisa congdon lisa golightly local swimming hole london long distances long hair long hair caps Long point long point provincial park loons love love lettering project Lucky Peach manhattan pools margrit talpalaru Marilyn Bell mark tewksbury martha graham martingrove bears master swim club mat leave matisse Meaford meghan markle melodrama memoir Memory Mendoza Metro Morning michael phelps Michigan lakes Middle America Miles Nadal JCC minnow bathers miracle miranda july missing MoMA my local myvatn nature baths natural pools nebraska new pool new pools new year New Year's Eve new years new york city Newfoundland night swimming nightswimming norman hardie nova scotia novel ocean ocean swimming olympic pool olympics olympics 2016 ontario Oshawa Oshawa apartment pool outdoor pools outdoor swimming pack and play paddle paddling pam mcconnell aquatic centre pandemic pandemic swims papirmass park lawn pool parklawn pool parks and rec patrice hall pattern design PEC pells pool penny olesiak perfectionist PFDs photos picton pinehurst lake pisces poetry Polar Bear Dip pond Pondering Pool pool swimming Pool: Sunnyside pools poolsitting prairies pregnancy pregnant prince edward county prince harry PSA public pools quarry Quebec Radiohead railcar cottage rain reading recipe recipes relay report cards resolutions Rhya Tamasauskas Rio de la Plata River river swimming rivers road trip road trips roadtrip rocktails rosehall run royal wedding runner running salt water saltwater pool sandbanks Saskatchewan sauble beach Saugeen Schoolhouse Riviera sculpture seaweed secret swim shade's mills Shannon Litzenberger Shebeshekong Bay Sketchbook skimmer skinny dipping skinnydipping slow lane smores smythe park pool smythe pool snacks sprinting st. john's legends swim club stedmans Stirling submission suburbs summer summer 2016 Summer 2017 summer 2018 summer 2019 summer camp summerary sundhollin Sunnyside Sunnyside beach Sunnyside Pool sunrise sunsets superhero splash suzanne moreau swim swim art swim blog swim crown swim goals swim lit Swim Mantra Swim Meme Swim retreat Swim Rituals Swim Scenes swim tether swim weekend Swim-ventures swimiracle swimlit swimming swimming attire swimming caps swimming friends swimming hole swimming holes swimming hotel swimming lessons swimming pool swimming pools swimming song swimmy swimply Swimsuits tall poppy tanamakoon tanis rideout team mermaids Team Swim technique thanksgiving the 6ix The Beach The Beaches The Deep End this is not my hat tilley hat tips TMU toddler toddlers Toronto Toronto Island Toronto Masters of the Universe toronto pools trackpants transistor radio travel ontario Travel Stories travel writing triathlon turning twelve mile lake Twitter Two Lakes UK underpants uniform University of Toronto Uruguay user guide Varsity vicki smith wading pool warming stations Wasaga Beach Water water therapy waterfalls watermarks weeds Weisser See west end west end phoenix West End Toronto westview beach villas whip kick wild swimming Wilder Lake Wills Laura winery winter picnic winter stations winter swimming worlds smallest bookstore writing xmas Yorkton zier-vogel lindsay
©2016 Lindsay, Rhya & Laura.
... Powered by Blogger.