Life's A Beach

Life certainly was a beach today.  From early morning I was playing in rock pools with my cute GS.  Then late afternoon, The Photographer and I returned to the beach for a swim.  Our sea leads straight off the Atlantic so it is, er, shall we say, "refreshing".  But once you're wet, it's uplifting, envigorating.  With temps now reaching 26-30c, spending days on the beach is the way to go.



The great beach weather started at the weekend.  I was busy gardening but I squeezed in a few moments to hunt down my bathing suits and wash and dry everything ready for life on the beach. 

So here's my OOTD.

A black tankini set.  I think the make is Panache and it's from Bravissimo.

The tankini has a bra-type arrangement at the back, so provides great support for Big Girls.

My old black tankini set, similar currently available.

My tankini top is underwired.  And an added bonus with this set is that the briefs are high-waisted and have a fold-over arrangement so they can be kept high when swimming and rolled down when sunbathing.  Pretty well designed for most beaching requirements.

Now, are you familiar with Bravissimo?  It's a UK company that does absolutely great underwear.  Especially for Big Girls.  I have amassed an embarrassing amount of their underwear over the years.

But they do great clothing and beachwear too, all constructed with the needs of curvy ladies in mind.  And some of those have popped into my shopping trolley too over the years.  Clothing and beachwear, that is - curvy ladies have not been popping into my shopping trolley. That would be kinda surreal!

Anyway, back to the matter in hand - their delivery is so speedy (Bravissimo's, not the trolley-leaping curvy ladies' delivery!) and everything arrives wrapped elegantly in branded tissue paper.

Now, allow me to show you a few other swimsuits which were pulled out yesterday.

Green, navy and white tankini set, similar currently available.

 Now this set is my fave.  I adore this fresh green, navy and white tankini, which I bought 3-4 years ago for a holiday on Cote d'Azur.  It screamed out "French beach!". The tankini top was just perfect to wear off-beach too with a white lawn skirt or crops, for those really hot days you get down there.



Brown swimsuit, similar currently available here



I've worn this brown swimsuit loads over many years.  It's a flattering cut.

All of the above have the same bra mechanism in the back, so provide great support.



This is the odd one out.  It's from M&S, bought many years ago.  It has no bra-mechanism or Big Girl support system.  But it works just fine as a really light swimsuit and the chest band in its own way provides some support.  The net panel means that it dries speedily whilst I loll around on the beach after swimming. It's black, but like the black tankini set above, it looks sort of navy in the pic.

Years ago I really struggled to find swimsuits with adequate sized cups.  These days, I'm spoilt for choice.  Curvy ladies do not need to search hard, just hit the Bravissimo website.

But please, no jumping in my shopping trolley!

I hope these tried-and-tested examples I've shown you of curvy girl swimsuits will be of help if you are a similar body shape and are tearing your hair out to find something fit for purpose.

I leave you with a shot of where I spent my day.  

On the beach.  For Life's A Beach right now.

A la perchoine.