And suddenly...
Last year I posted here about the lengths I went to to get a piece of clothing I liked (loved / was obsessed with).
I have been struck again.
I love the sun and I love warm weather (consequently I'm hating this year's summer in Europe, arghhh...) and there's nothing more relaxing for me than laying in a sunbed, with my bikini on, sunglasses on, big, floppy hat on, iPod on, book at the ready, iPhone nearby, a cold drink to the side and a big, old sun in the sky.
So this year, considering my wardrobe (I'm having a sort of situation at the moment where half of it is clothes I bought in Belgium and don't really wear well in Portugal, and the other half was bought in Portugal before I went to Belgium, so 6+ years old and so very worn and slightly old-fashioned) I decided I needed a new pair of sandals (a la Portuguese style) and a bikini.
Now, about 10 years ago, Brazilian bikinis were all the rage in Portugal. They were very flatteringly cut (if a bit sparse on the fabric!) and had very cute/fashion/eye-catching prints and styles. And particularly the Salinas brand was a craze. They were somewhat hard to find and out of the normal price tag of young women. Still, introduced by my sister, I got a very lovely bandeau bikini, in white and bubblegum pink stripes. It was beautiful. It still IS beautiful, even if the lycra is finally giving slightly after 10 years of tying/untying. I mostly cherish it nowadays, but I still like to give it a spin every year, at least once.
In the years that followed, via sales, gifts and yearly purchases, I managed to acquire 5 or 6 Salinas bikinis (nothing else would do), and they still keep in their individual bags. Most are too small for me to wear them anymore, but I go through them every year and try them and pick the year's bikinis.
In the last couple of years, being away from Portugal and with my increased weight, Salinas bikinis were not really my top choice. I preferred something with more fabric and so turned to surf brands like Rip Curl, Roxy and O'Neill.
Last year, for the first time since I was a very small child, I actually bought a full body swimming suit (that pesky weight again!). But at the end of the season, on sale, I bought a cheap bandeau bikini and the love was on again.
This year I went straight to the biggest bikini/swimwear shop I knew (they stock every brand under the sun) and looked around. Unfortunately I'm a very visual person. I was looking for strong colours, vibrant pinks, and only afterwards consider the bikini itself. This time I hit a blank. As I complained to my sister, as I accompanied her there later for her own shopping, it was all "just a bunch of greens and cool tones!".
Unerringly, we ended up by the Salinas counter and with a few bikinis in hand for my sister to try. I picked one out for her. It was a green bandeau bikini, with a big gaudy metallic work in between the breasts and some warm toned swirls splattered around. As she tried bikinis on and I waited with the green bikini in hand I started looking at it. And noticed the swirls were actually a landscape. More waiting, and a closer look, revealed a sun and the Sugar Loaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro. The gaudy metalic was a triangular piece of intricate gold metal. I got curious. And interested. My sister took a look at the price tag, 150€, and balked. I would have paid them right there, right then.
I looked the bikini up online and struggled to find it. Brazilian summer season starts in December and by now is long gone. Finally I found a photo and a name, Tayo.
I was in love.
I did some research and found out the price was pretty much the same everywhere. And not surprisingly expensive. Just expensive. But for somebody with the past experience I had with Salinas, well worth it.
I like to describe Salinas bikinis like this: they look sort of weird, and they are not necessarily immediately pleasing, but they are interesting, complex, and 10 years later, not only is the fabric impeccable, but they are still the most beautiful bikinis on the beach/pool.
Birthday coming up, I quicky decided this was gonna be it. The elusive birthday present. Did you fall for that? Because, I'm not going to mislead you, I was going to buy this bikini, birthday or no birthday.
And so I did. BUT.
The bottoms were not like the ones I'd been lovingly gazing at on the computer screen. For Europe, or at least Portugal, the bottoms we got were these:
No metallic bits and no side laces. Just a regular brazilian brief.
I am actually considering buying a pair of these
Individually. They cost 88€.
All that being said...
... have I finally lost it?
(Absolutely rhetorical. I have lost it and I am going to order those.)
Disclaimer: It should be absolutely, immediately obvious none of those photos are of me in a bikini. *laughs*
I have been struck again.
I love the sun and I love warm weather (consequently I'm hating this year's summer in Europe, arghhh...) and there's nothing more relaxing for me than laying in a sunbed, with my bikini on, sunglasses on, big, floppy hat on, iPod on, book at the ready, iPhone nearby, a cold drink to the side and a big, old sun in the sky.
So this year, considering my wardrobe (I'm having a sort of situation at the moment where half of it is clothes I bought in Belgium and don't really wear well in Portugal, and the other half was bought in Portugal before I went to Belgium, so 6+ years old and so very worn and slightly old-fashioned) I decided I needed a new pair of sandals (a la Portuguese style) and a bikini.
Now, about 10 years ago, Brazilian bikinis were all the rage in Portugal. They were very flatteringly cut (if a bit sparse on the fabric!) and had very cute/fashion/eye-catching prints and styles. And particularly the Salinas brand was a craze. They were somewhat hard to find and out of the normal price tag of young women. Still, introduced by my sister, I got a very lovely bandeau bikini, in white and bubblegum pink stripes. It was beautiful. It still IS beautiful, even if the lycra is finally giving slightly after 10 years of tying/untying. I mostly cherish it nowadays, but I still like to give it a spin every year, at least once.
In the years that followed, via sales, gifts and yearly purchases, I managed to acquire 5 or 6 Salinas bikinis (nothing else would do), and they still keep in their individual bags. Most are too small for me to wear them anymore, but I go through them every year and try them and pick the year's bikinis.
In the last couple of years, being away from Portugal and with my increased weight, Salinas bikinis were not really my top choice. I preferred something with more fabric and so turned to surf brands like Rip Curl, Roxy and O'Neill.
Last year, for the first time since I was a very small child, I actually bought a full body swimming suit (that pesky weight again!). But at the end of the season, on sale, I bought a cheap bandeau bikini and the love was on again.
This year I went straight to the biggest bikini/swimwear shop I knew (they stock every brand under the sun) and looked around. Unfortunately I'm a very visual person. I was looking for strong colours, vibrant pinks, and only afterwards consider the bikini itself. This time I hit a blank. As I complained to my sister, as I accompanied her there later for her own shopping, it was all "just a bunch of greens and cool tones!".
Unerringly, we ended up by the Salinas counter and with a few bikinis in hand for my sister to try. I picked one out for her. It was a green bandeau bikini, with a big gaudy metallic work in between the breasts and some warm toned swirls splattered around. As she tried bikinis on and I waited with the green bikini in hand I started looking at it. And noticed the swirls were actually a landscape. More waiting, and a closer look, revealed a sun and the Sugar Loaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro. The gaudy metalic was a triangular piece of intricate gold metal. I got curious. And interested. My sister took a look at the price tag, 150€, and balked. I would have paid them right there, right then.
I looked the bikini up online and struggled to find it. Brazilian summer season starts in December and by now is long gone. Finally I found a photo and a name, Tayo.
I was in love.
I did some research and found out the price was pretty much the same everywhere. And not surprisingly expensive. Just expensive. But for somebody with the past experience I had with Salinas, well worth it.
I like to describe Salinas bikinis like this: they look sort of weird, and they are not necessarily immediately pleasing, but they are interesting, complex, and 10 years later, not only is the fabric impeccable, but they are still the most beautiful bikinis on the beach/pool.
Birthday coming up, I quicky decided this was gonna be it. The elusive birthday present. Did you fall for that? Because, I'm not going to mislead you, I was going to buy this bikini, birthday or no birthday.
And so I did. BUT.
The bottoms were not like the ones I'd been lovingly gazing at on the computer screen. For Europe, or at least Portugal, the bottoms we got were these:
No metallic bits and no side laces. Just a regular brazilian brief.
I am actually considering buying a pair of these
Individually. They cost 88€.
All that being said...
... have I finally lost it?
(Absolutely rhetorical. I have lost it and I am going to order those.)
Disclaimer: It should be absolutely, immediately obvious none of those photos are of me in a bikini. *laughs*