English Version | Summer Holidays

15 Jul 2020
By Vogue Portugal

How to have a bikini body? Grab a bikini and put it on your body.

How to have a bikini body? Grab a bikini and put it on your body.

FOTOGRAFIA: BEN WATTS PARA CALZEDONIA SS20.

Googling “how to have a summer figure” is so 2019, I mean, so 2018, I mean, so 2017… truthfully, it’s so last decade, so last century, that’s out of this world. In a time when, more than ever, people talk about ending prejudice, demanding from others and from ourselves a body type that’s up to the alleged standards of a season is to underestimate what makes each woman unique. And defining summer goals based on a silhouette is an insane purpose that shouldn’t be weighed in. The only bikini body a woman needs to have is one that is confidant and exudes self esteem. How many times did you go on a liquid diet just to go and try on a bathing suit? A crazy amount of times. How many times have you avoided trying on swimwear on a fitting room? Too many it’s almost insane. How many times did you choose a one-piece over a two piece due to that pressure of being fit (whatever that could mean for each person)? Way too much. How many times did you take a girlfriend with you just to hear her validate the swimsuit you have on, hear her say it looks good on you? A lot. Maybe it’s time to rethink the modus operandi. When did we stop realizing that that piece of lycra we take a dip in and dries in minutes under a late afternoon sun looks incredible on us without needing a second opinion? 

To have a summer body is to have a body ready for the summer, and that has little to do with perfect mesures and all about protection, hydration, health. The mad things done on behalf of a flat stomach and well defined legs for a trip to the beach that is believed to be better if you can strut like in a runway (dear reader, there’s no way of “walking the runway” on hot sand, fyi, we will all continue to sprint from towel to water and back) have no place in 2020. It’s enough all we’ve had to endure this year, there’s no need to add overwhelming gymnastics or malnutrition. Which doesn’t mean that being aware of what you eat and some daily workout sessions are themes to cross off the list (personal satisfaction is just that - personal), it just doesn’t need to be the extreme measures to an impossible end result. After all, the season can be silly, but you don’t have to.  It’s true choosing a bikini has an added pressure: no one is immune to their own insecurities, and choosing a piece of fabric that reveals them ends up becoming a mission. But choosing the one you feel better in isn’t related to having a so-called ideal body and to face that as a purpose in, in technical terms, crazy. 

What matters on a summer body is to have it prepared for the dangers of the season: always wearing sunscreen, the higher the better, particularly if its the first time you’re enjoying sun exposure, and protect yourself with hats, sunglasses, finding shade whener possible and avoiding the sun in the hours it’s most intense. Water ir a priority - and not only the ocean one -, keeping your silhouette hydrated with after-sun creams and moisturizers. Before sun exposure on hot days, it’s worth exfoliating your skin and make sure your healthy and even tan lasts longer. And do we really need to remind you of reapplying your SPF regularly and whenever coming our of the water, especially if you dry yourself of with a towel? Listing these is listing the obvious - surely we’re not unveiling no hidden secrets on the precautions to have with the sun, your skin, your health. When you started reading this text, you were looking for knowing what’s the best bikini/swimsuit/beach look that suits you best. And we will tell you: know that biquinis with triangle tops are particularly flattering on blondes, brunettes, redheads and all hair colors in between, grey hair included. If you prefer a one-piece, they looks great on pale skin, dark skin, tanned and all the skin-color Pantones that exist. Cut-out bathing suits, strapless two-pieces, asymmetrical options, fit better with the easiness of sandals or sliders, but can perfectly work with espadrilles or sneakers, the look will be amazing nonetheless. The only faux-pas you can never make is wearing your fave bathing suit with any level of prejudice, self doubt or lack of confidence. There’s no space - nor time - for hesitations when it comes to a summer body.

A healthy body is the only calling card for you self esteem, reflecting your inner confidence and the beauty in the matter, no matter the shape it comes in. And by shape we meant the countless silhouettes that have little to do with the fruit salad they want to makes us believe (when was the last time you looked at you and thought you were similar to a pear or an apple shape?). After all, if bodies were all the same, there’d be very little room for different kinds of bathing suits, but the offer has shown that there’s as many options for swimwear as there are tan lines (just go inside a Calzedoniastore and you’ll realize that the true pressure of the bikinigate is chosing just one, it’s not whether your bikini body ir ready or not). Choose the one you love the most - a cut-out, high waisted, bikini, with a bow tie, a zipper, ruffles, block, patterned… - there's not just one ideal one. The bikini for your body is the one you most like. That’s your bikini body. The rest is just scenery.

*Originally published in The Madness Issue of Vogue Portugal, from July 2020.Pode ler a versão portuguesa na edição de julho/agosto 2020, da Vogue Portugal.

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