Swimsuit death from chlorine

     There are so many things to consider when taking care of your swim wear.  Chlorine is definitely towards the top of the list.  Most people are aware of the harshness of this pool/spa chemical because of the extreme damage it does to our skin and hair.  As far as the suits goes, your sweat and body oils do more damage than the chlorine but that is an entirely different post for the future.
     When I came across this article from  All About Water on the effects of chlorine I decided that I needed to post it just like it is written.  I love it.  Love the approach and the writing.
     Hope you enjoy and get some helpful hints also.
 

Chlorine, Swimsuits, and the Five Stages of Grief

     Every person has experienced it, that feeling of rapturous joy as you open a new summer season with the absolute perfect swimming suit. After months and months of shopping, far too many dressing room visits to count, and hours of strenuous gym training, you are finally ready to hit the pool in that perfectly form-fitting, wonderfully flattering swimsuit. Unfortunately, the euphoria of owning the perfect, new swimsuit (as you bask in the admiring gazes of handsome onlookers) lasts approximately one month into the summer. It is then that you notice that the swimsuit that had been so bright and beautiful just four weeks ago is now starting to look fairly dull, and the elastic just does not seem to hug your body like it used to. That perfect swimming suit is already starting to sag, and there are still two sun-soaked months of summer left to enjoy.

     So, what do you do? Chalk up the loss to another inevitable case of chlorine damage and hit the stores to search for the not quite so perfect replacement? Simply admit to the fact that all things (including swimsuits) eventually fade and lose their luster? Sadly enough, you will most likely be forced to accept these facts and move on with your life and your summer. However, to help you through the journey of swimsuit grief, from the initial shock to the eventual acceptance, we have provided a few tips to prolonging the life of your swimsuit and to accepting its eventual demise.

     In this day and age, chlorinated swimming pool water is a necessary evil. Germs and other pathogens can quickly travel from body to body in a swimming pool, and chlorine, dangerous as it is in other aspects, helps to protect our bodies from these pathogens. Still, as chlorine kills and/or damages bacteria and viruses that occur in swimming pool water, it also kills and/or damages cells in the body. More important to the focus of this article, chlorine damages swimsuits to an almost irreparable extent. Swimming in a chlorinated swimming pool is effectively equivalent to soaking your swimsuit in bleach for a couple of hours. Needless to say, this is hardly a practice that encourages the durability and color-fastness of your swimsuit.

      Interestingly, the eventual acceptance of the inevitable decline of your swimsuit closely follows the well-known five stages of grief. First, there is the initial denial that your perfect, beautiful swimsuit could actually be fading. Perhaps it is just a trick of the light? Then, there is the anger at having something so beautiful and flattering taken away from you so soon. Why did I spend so much money on such a piece of junk? Then, the inevitable bargaining…I promise I’ll do 50 crunches every day for the rest of my life if you (the swimsuit) will only last throughout the summer. Bargaining is followed by depression. Why should I have expected to make a splash at the pool this summer in my new swimsuit? It really doesn’t matter anyway. Finally, acceptance, the most helpful and constructive step, comes along. I know that chlorine is an inevitable factor in the life of my swimsuit. Now, what can I do about it?

     Despite the fact that an eventual trip for your swimsuit or bikini to that big swimming pool in the sky (or the big landfill south of town) is inevitable, there are a few steps you can take to prolong the life of your swimsuit. Chlorine will always be the eventual victor; it is too powerful of a poison to vanquish entirely. Still, attentive care to the washing of your swimsuit can help to ensure that it maintains its life and vitality throughout the summer.

     If you have accepted the ultimate demise of your beautiful swimsuit but are not yet willing to give up the fight, here is what you can do to prolong the life of your swimsuit, despite constant dippings in chlorinated water. First of all, you must truly accept the fact that your swimsuit is not meant to last forever. While there are fabrics that are treated for chlorine resistance, no fabric can entirely resist chlorine’s damaging effects. Second, you should make a consistent effort to take care of your swimsuit. After swimming, rinse your swimsuit as soon as possible in cold water. This act will remove much of the chlorine before it has too much of an impact. Also, when washing your swimsuit, be sure to hand wash or run it through the gentle cycle of your washing machine in cold water. In addition, you should never put your swimsuit in the dryer; the dryer will tend to exacerbate any fading that may occur.

     With careful attention to the care of your swimsuit and a general acceptance of the inevitable decline of that swimsuit, you should be able to safely travel through the five stages of swimsuit grief and enjoy one, glorious summer with the swimsuit of your dreams.

      After reading all of this you may want to consider the option of a chlorine resistant swim suit.  I didn't find any sites that offered cute little bikinis from that fabric but for the woman who is looking for a fuller coverage suit, there are a ton of great choices.  Check out the Swim and Sweat site for company links.

     I am thinking that Exposure Swimwear may have to check into getting into the 'chlorine resistant' fabrics also.  Think teens and 20's  type clients will worry about their bikinis lasting more that a season?  

Baby Bikinis: Cute Or Completely Inappropriate?

Baby Bikinis Controversy

     Last summer there was a tid bit on the morning news about baby girls wearing bikinis. The tone of the story was very negative.  My first thought was that this was so silly to even make mention of.  After all, we see babies wearing only a diaper while at a pool or on the beach and think nothing of it.  They are babies and their bodies are really not made to fit in much of any clothing well, but beach wear is beyond difficult.  I found a little bit on Huffington Post and a few comments by moms but that was about it. 

     The story got my curiosity going and I did a little looking into what the scoop was.  I am shocked to find that there are bikini’s sold for infants in the price range close to $100.  I found bikinis that were custom made in matching mother/daughter sets.  Again for a small fortune.  Another amazing fact found -  bikinis starting in a size 3 months.  These all looked cute in print, laying on a white sheet or plain background, but put them on a baby and things take a bit different perspective. 

     I found a few pictures that were a little shocking, even to me.  That says a lot.  I had to redefine, in my mind, the difference between a bikini and a two piece swimsuit. Some of these pics will help you with what you think of this subject.  

On the site momdot you can see what moms had to say.

     What is sort of disturbing to me is that some of the parents actually try to pose their kids in seductive poses.  No matter what you opinion of baby bikinis is, you will probably agree that there should have been a line drawn there.

                                     So - what do you think ?

In the beginning . . . .

     So here is a brief list of the history of the bikini as found on a quick little Google search.

     1946: A two-piece swimsuit, named after the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, is invented by Paris engineer Louis Reard.

     1951: The bikini is banned from the Miss World pageant.

     1963: Annette Funicello wears a bikini in "Beach Party," which fuels the popularity of the swimsuit in America.

     1964: The bikini first graces the cover of Sports Illustrated 

     1993: The bikini is named the official uniform for women's Olympic beach volleyball, which spawns the popularity of the halter top sports bikini.

     Lets cover this a little better.  With a bit more research some interesting facts are found. No disrespect toward Annette Funicello, but she was not the first to make this style popular. An archaeological excavation of the ancient Roman villa near Piazza Armerina in Sicily, found a now famous mosaic of women exercising and running in an athletic type competition wearing skimpy 2 piece outfits similar to what we call bikini's.  This mosaic is now titled "bikini girls".  

By the early 1940's, stars such as Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner were frequenting the beaches in two piece swimsuits that insulted much of the conservative population while men's jaws dropped and young women were thumbing the catalogs to place orders for their own.  Even the average house wife, just like this lady to the right, my friend Patricia Pestalozzi, with a bold attitude, confidence in herself and an understanding husband, found themselves enjoying the skin revealing beach wear.

In 1947, My Favorite Brunette, staring Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour it the big screen and perhaps spun a new light on the revealing fashion. The rib cage was revealed and there was no turning back.

      

      The bikini was in print, on screen and in 1960, Brian Hyland released "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polkadot Bikini" to the airwaves.  By August the song hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100.  This song has survived generations of air play and can be heard in connection with many product commercials.

     The bikini's popularity rose as the waist line dropped.  In 1962, Ursula Andress emerged from the sea in the famous white bikini, in James Bond's Dr. No.  1965 brought America's beach sweetheart, Annette Funicello to the screen in a new style, low cut bikini in How To Stuff a Wild Bikini. And in 1966 Raquel Welch's posters were plastered to young men's walls all around the world wearing her tattered skin bikini in One Million Years B.C..  Truth be know, many of those posters are still hanging on garage and 'man cave' wall everywhere.
   
     Miss America allowed contestants to wear two piece swimsuits in 1997.  This was the first time in it's 77 year history that participants were given  the option of wearing a one-piece or the more revealing two piece.  This was a difficult decision since 15% of the overall score was based on this part of the competition.  If you can't pull off the confidence and the strut in those heels, you could destroy your chances of a win.    

     Not a lot has changed in the bikini over the past 50 years with the exception of fabric content,  amount of coverage,variety of sizes, acceptable ages and acceptable areas to wear them. OK - I guess there are quite a few changes but the bottom line is, the bikini is here to stay.  We at Exposure Swimwear want to thank Louis Reard for the island called Bikini Atoll for sharing it's name.    

     Just a little note - when I Googled Bikini Atoll, much to my surprise, there was only one picture of a woman in a bikini and one naked man on the beach - not together.  All the pictures were of ocean life and mostly of atomic and h-bomb explosions.  Kinda of a mood crusher.  Not highly recommended unless you just want to scroll down to see the naked guy - not that exciting either.

     But you may want to take the time to read a little bit about Louis Reard.  His story is pretty darn interesting. 

How to get your money's worth

     The economy is pretty rough for most of us, money is tight for many of us and even if it wasn't you would still want to get your money's worth on any purchase you make.  Most women do that spur of the moment purchasing at times.  You know what I mean - you see something that you just love and have to have it right NOW !  Retailers know this and tend to put new, exciting items right in our faces.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with going with those desires, occasionally.  But when it comes to swim wear we usually think about it and try it on and think about it some more and text a friend a picture and ask them their opinion and then decide.  So we have plenty of time to look for what makes a quality suit.  Weather we are looking to purchase from a discount store or a high end boutique, we don't want a new swimsuit that will fall apart after just a few wearings.

     We Googled 'buying a quality swimsuit' and you will surprised at what we found.  Only one of the links on the first two pages even mentioned quality.  All the other links talked about chlorine and how to buy a suit that would fit the body that we all wish we had.  The one almost informative link said that you should look for a suit that best fits your needs and is made of a fabric that will hold up to your life style.  That is all great but where is the info about exactly what to look for?
     Well - it is right here.  We'll keep it basic and brief because too much detail = boring.

     SEAMS -  do a little pull and tug test on your seams.  I don't mean you need to tie it between tractors and pull, to test the seams, you just need to be able to give a tug and NOT see them pulling apart.  This may sound silly but you will be surprised. Look for loose threads in the middle of the seams.  There is no reason for those and a definite place that will start to come undone soon.  You don't always have to have a serged seam but you always need a strong seam.
     THREADS - some companies still use the clear nylon thread.  This is totally for their convenience so they don't have to match the fabrics, carry a large inventory of thread colors or worry about thread changes.  The nylon threads tend to irritate the skin and may also wear into the fabrics faster than your standard cotton or poly threads will.  Check for the thread to be sturdy, not too thin and definitely not looking like they are frayed.
     FABRIC - not all suits have to be made from spandex fabrics.  If you are buying a bikini or a two piece suit that really doesn't require a lot of stretch then you can get by with a larger variety of fabric types.  The stretch is very important.  If it stretches too easily, it will most likely not hold it's shape when it becomes wet.  A saggy butt or a suit that will not stay in place is a useless suit.  Consider the thickness of  the fabric. Too thick will take longer to dry (if that matters to you) and sometimes will not 'give' when you are moving.  This could cause tops and especially bottoms to shift in directions you would prefer they not go.  If a fabric is too thin then it may become see through when it is wet and again, may get very saggy and weak when it is wet.  Check out the straps.  You want there to be some stretch for a good fit and also for comfort.  You don't want it to be such a loose stretch that it will not stay tied or stay snug.  Who wants to be retying all day long.  Or worse yet, have it come untied at an inopportune time. 
     This is a start.  In the next couple of weeks we will be posting pictures of different features of a bikini and swimsuit that will also help you find the best suit for you. Exposure takes pride in our work and will show you the steps we take to guarantee quality.
     Remember - an expensive suit is not always the best suit, a name brand suit is not always a quality suit and you don't have to spend an arm and a leg to get a suit that will last you the entire season or even many seasons.

Muslim swimwear - should I or should I not ?

Ok  -  I have fitted and made swimsuits for almost every size and age imaginable.  Even a few guys but we don't even want to go there right now.  But I have yet to consider making a swim suit for a Muslim woman.

I mean - is there a danger in this?  If the fabric is too heavy when wet will there be a risk of weighing down the woman and having her drown?  I just don't know and have never even given it any thought until now.

While looking for a site to purchase some 'muslin' fabric I made my typical error in typing and ended up finding a site with actually photos of the Muslim swimwear.

So what do you think?  Is there a market here in the United States for this?  Is there a future for us here?
Please let me know what you think.

Welcome to Exposure Products

Welcome to the new site for Exposure Products. We specialize in swimwear, beach wear, lingerie and dance wear for women of all sizes and ages. We have been in business for the past 20 years with our emphasis on the wholesale businesses. Fit, especially with swimwear, is daunting for most women of all ages and sizes. Here, you will enjoy stories and little clips from many of our past customers on how they solved the impossible problem of finding the 'right' suit for them.  Just ask and we will help you out with a style that has proven to be best for the many others who have come to us for help. We will also connect you to one of the retail locations that carry our products. Remember, there is a proper fit to complement everyone. Got a question?  Just throw it our way. We are here to help.  And again, welcome to Exposure Products.