Summa Summa Summa-Time!

Perhaps last week’s “Hey! I used to be Anorexic!” posts tipped you off a bit…but I was pretty skinny before God decided to use my body as a home for another human being for 9 months. That meant that I had more bikinis than I knew what to do with. I’d usually buy a new one (or two) every year and then never toss the old ones. Which was a mistake because I’d almost always buy them from Target. And believe it or not, Mossimo and Merona don’t hold up like you may hope.

When I had Jack, I thought that my days of cute swimsuits were over. Yes, my stretch marks have pretty much faded but I still didn’t feel comfortable in my skimpy old bikinis. My new body, shockingly, doesn’t fit into the Extra Small bikinis quite like the good folks in the swimsuit shop had intended. But I didn’t want to wear ugly old swimsuits just because I was a mom. Luckily, I have a ton of LDS friends who tipped me off to a “Modest Swimsuit” company: Lime Ricki. And folks, I am in love.

I started out with the Hallie. The description said that it was good for women with larger…ahem…ladies. And I loved all the cute detail.

When I first got it, I immediately noticed how good it fit. It was tight without being too tight—just enough to make me feel like I was held in in the places I wanted to be held in. It is made REALLY well. Now, perhaps that is my “I never shop for swimsuits at any place but Target” self talking, but I really think this here is a quality suit. The other thing I noticed was that…well…the claim that this suit is better for the large chested women didn’t ring true for me. Perhaps I needed a bigger top (but it fit great everyplace but the bust) but I just wasn’t 100% comfortable that my “modest” swimsuit wasn’t going to give someone an accidental peep show. So while I waited for my “I just had a baby!” bust to shrink, I did what any logical woman would do: I bought another.

Meet Bailey: the best swimsuit ever created.

I think this one actually said that it was NOT good for women with larger cha chas. But when I saw that tie on the back, I thought it was perfect for making the bust portion of the suit as big or as small as I wanted. And I was right. This thing fits like a dream! It’s well made just like the Hallie but it fit IMMEDIATELY after I had Jack. (FYI: The Hallie fits just fine now but I find myself wearing the Bailey way more because it’s so darn nautically cute!!!).

Now I know that lots of people from John’s work are reading this blog and are thinking, “What the heck do I care whether or not Molly bought a swimsuit that covers her chest sufficiently?” I’m not writing this for you STUART! I’m writing it for all the other new moms (or moms to be) or anyone else who is looking for a swimsuit that is cute but also flattering and won’t make you embarrassed to wear in front of your dad. I do have to admit that Lime Ricki suits are a bit pricier than my dear old Target brand. But if you follow them on Twitter, they tell you when suits are on sale. In the winter, you can get awesome prices on these as they re-stock for summer. And the best news of all: they’ve just come out with three news lines…including a maternity suit. And anyone who has been knocked up knows how hard it is to find a cute maternity suit. My current suit includes a too small top (I had NO idea how big the chachas would get in pregnancy) and a bottom that doesn’t match (but it was on sale…and it’s not like I was going to be hauling my whale-like self out to many public pool parties while I was with child…so who cares if I was in a mismatched swimsuit with my bazoongas pancaked inside of a tankini top if I was just in my parents’ backyard pool?).

So yes, this may be a boring post. But it was informative to at least ONE person out there, I hope. And who knows, maybe there’s someone out there looking for a review of Lime Ricki swimsuits….here’s my review: buy one!

Ten points for anyone who can tell me why they are called Lime Ricki WITHOUT looking it up. I will be floored if someone outside of Utah knows this answer.