Swimsuit Shrink-travaganza: A Giveaway (Day 1)
I’m here to talk to you today about two very dirty little words.
Words that strike fear into the most confident woman. Words that cause cursing to spew from the most innocent of mouths.
SWIMSUIT SEASON. (Shudder)
Here at the Sisterhood, well, we’re right there with the swimsuit dread. But, you know what? We all need them. Why? For splashing in the ocean. Hitting up the lake with the kids (or dogs!). Lounging around the backyard on a sweltering day. Jumping into the local pool for some laps or water aerobics.
Face it, swimsuits are a necessary evil. But I’ve got some good – no GREAT – news. They don’t HAVE to be evil. They can be downright cute. And flattering.
So hold on to your hats, people, cause have we got an amazing giveaway for you!
The wonderful people over at Lands End will be sending suits to eight, YES EIGHT, lucky readers.
But first? We’re going to review some suits. Two reviews a day for four days. Then, on Friday, we’re giving away eight, YES EIGHT, suits (I had to say it again. EIGHT!)
EIGHT! (Details on how to enter this giveaway will be at the end of this post.)
Lissa and I are reviewing today. If you are wondering why we chose to post photos of ourselves in our suits, well, we’re crazy. But not just that. We want to show real women, with real bodies, who are healthy and NORMAL, rocking some bathing suits. We’ve worked hard, and we’re owning it. You should too.
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I don’t know what possessed me, but when I picked out my suit from Lands End, I was like ‘Hey, I’ll get a bikini! Why not?’
Then I freaked out. I haven’t worn a bikini since becoming pregnant. My body, as much as I have tried to beat it into submission, still has wobbly bits. And duh! All the writers at the Sisterhood had agreed we’d put photos of us, in our suits, on the Internet. ON THE INTERNET.
I waited with trepidation for the package containing my – gulp – bikini to arrive. When it did, I tore into the cardboard like it was tissue paper, anxious to see my swimsuit fate.
As soon as I held the suit in my hands, I felt a sense of relief wash over me. The quality? Amazing. Nice, heavy material. Which is always good when you’re trying to hide something draw attention to your positive attributes.
I ordered the Beach Living Ruffle Mini SwimMini bottoms in black and the Beach Living Mini Dots Loop Sweetheart bikini top in black/white. As soon as I slipped it on, I was giddy. Not cause I immediately transformed into Heidi Klum, but because I felt comfortable, in my own skin, in a bikini! I didn’t think it was possible.
Why do I love this suit so much? Well, the skirt is simply amazing. When I was choosing my suit, I used the handy dandy ‘Anxiety Zone‘ drop down on the left hand side of the Mix and Match page. The anxiety zone I chose was hips. I’m super self conscious my hips – I have this indentation that most swim bottoms accentuate. Not good. The Ruffle SwimMini camouflages that area with ruffles (so cute!) and ruching. It is technically a swim skirt, but it is so short, you can hardly tell. The only down side to the skirt is that it is slow to dry.
The top? It provides just enough coverage and support. And the cut style of the top, combined with the SwimMini, is SO old Hollywood.
And those ladies like Marilyn Monroe? They ROCKED their curves.
I can honestly I say I feel great in this suit. I can’t wait to wear it to the beach this summer!
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The week before I left for San Diego (and before I knew Land’s End was SENDING us swimsuits), I decided to place an order on Land’s End for a tankini swimsuit. I ordered the Scoop Tankini Top in Brown, as well as regular bottoms and a SwimMini. I love the style of the top, my only wish is that it was a little longer.I love that you can mix and match the colors and styles for your own personalized look! It’s good to have options, you know? The SwimMini is totally cute and helps suck the muffin top in, and the regular swim bottoms also do the same.
The suit I selected for review was the adjustable tunic swim top in turquoise, with the SwimMini in deep sea blue, because I figured the turquoise would also look good with my brown suit bottoms. Apparently, the top was sold out, because I ended up with the top in darker blue, too. I love the length of the top and the fact that it is adjustable… you can tie the side strings tighter and it will go shorter. In both tops, you have a variety of options. For those of us with big boobs, you can order bigger cup sizes, which is what I did. I think if I combined the scoop neck tankini top with the longer, adjustable length, I would have my most-favorite swimsuit top EVER.
Sizes seem to run a little bit on the large side… I ordered a 16 in all items, but I think I could have gotten a 14 in the tops. Hopefully, this time of year NEXT year, I will be looking on LandsEnd.com for a new suit in a much smaller size!
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So, I bet you’re all ready to get yourself entered in this sweet contest, no?
Entering is easy:
1) Go to the Lands End site, check out their fantastic collection of swimwear, and come back here and tell us about your favorite in the comments section.
2) Blog about this giveaway and leave a link in the comments.
3) Tweet! And leave a link in the comments section. You may tweet once a day – that’s four entries!
All entries must be received by 12:00 am PST on Friday, June 18, 2010. Eight winners will be chosen via Random.org.
Please note that all entries MUST be in the comments section on this post…good luck!
Disclosure: The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans received swim wear from Lands End for purposes of review. No monetary compensation was provided. Of course, as always, the opinions expressed are our own.
Category: Giveaways, Heather, Melissa, MIND IT, Product Reviews, Shrinking Days of Summer, The Sisterhood
