What to Wear >> To the Beach

It's time for another installment of "What to Wear!" This has become one of my favorite posts to do, since this little feature keeps growing and g r o w i n g! We now have seven girls all posting their own interpretation of the prompt...it's so much fun to see how different we all are and how our personalities are reflected in our clothes! I hope you are finding it fun to play along, too. :)

This week's topic is what to wear to the beach. As I talked about last week, the beach here in Northern California is not the kind where you can actually get in the water. Once in a great while it's actually hot enough there to lay out in the warmth, but most of the time it's a sweatshirts and scarves kinda deal. Inland, where I live, it IS hot enough to go swimming pretty much every day. But here, there's the problem of NO WATER. Yeah, yeah, there's a couple of rivers nearby, but they're always packed full of rowdy people drinking beer and throwing their cans wherever they feel like. It's not so nice. Then there are the reservoirs. Personally, I think swimming in a reservoir would be creepy. They don't have a natural shoreline and they stock them with fish. I guess growing up in the land of 10,000 lakes has made it so I do not accept reservoirs as "real" lakes. I will settle for nothing less. :)

There are also the public pools. Here you can see the pool near our house. When we first moved in to our current place, I was so stoked because we live about two houses from the park, and the park has this nice big swimming pool in it. I had dreams of getting a summer pass and going for a quick dip every day. Except...the pool never opened this year. And then a stupid sign went up saying that the pool was only available for rentals this summer. What the what? Lame. LAME! Darn you, budget cuts!

What we have here is what I would wear to the beach, or the pool, or to run through the sprinkler (if we had one). This is exactly what I wore when I was home a couple of weeks ago to bum around the lake in, and to take my niece to the kiddy pool. I really like this combination because it plays up my favorite parts (my arms and shoulders), and plays down my less favorite parts (my hips and thighs). I'm naturally pear-shaped, so the high-waisted look is one of my favorites. These shorts from Urban Outfitters have been in heavy rotation the past couple of months. If you're pear-shaped like me, higher waistlines can really be so flattering if you do them right proportionally. They hold you in and emphasize your waistline, making you look va-va-voom curvy. Well, approaching that at least. To complete this retro-inspired look, I added a vintage scarf to keep my hair back (I hate getting my hair wet - blech), and this halter-style swimsuit top. The strap is removable, but I'm not brave enough to let the girls hold up their end of the deal, ifyouknowhatimsayin.

You know what's the most important thing I'm wearing though? SUNSCREEN! I'm big on making sure SPF of 30 or higher is applied anytime I'm going to be spending time bare-skinned outside. See that white glow coming off my stomach? That's the healthy glow of preventing skin cancer, not to mention wrinkles.

There you have it - what I would wear to the beach. It's not just comfortable to move around in, but I feel comfortable in it. I mean, no woman I know feels 100% awesome walking around in a swimsuit. For me, though, this look covers up just enough to not feel bare and hides the parts I'm less comfortable with, but reveals enough to show a bit of skin and show off the parts I worked hard to tone. And that's what's most important, that YOU feel good in whatever you're wearing to the beach!

Did you check out the other 6 hot chicks taking part in this week's challenge yet? No? GO GO GO! Give 'em a cheer for showing off their hot bods to the interwebs! Pop over and say hello to:

  Moose in Chartreuse | Jillybeanstalk | Gypsy in Jasper | Horses of Ares| 

 | A Bodacious Thought | Not Lady Like |

If you'd like to join our style crew, send any one of us an email! In two weeks we'll be tackling what to wear to a bon fire. One of my favorite late summer/fall activities!

Until then, have a beautiful day. We're still in Seattle looking for an apartment, where there will definitely be no beach going... ;)

shanti >> sondra

outfit details >
swimsuit + watch: Target
shorts: bdg via Urban Outfitters
sunglasses: f21
scarf: vintage, thrifted
sandals: The North Face

bracelets: from all over
basket: gift from Panama

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