How To Believe That Your Body Is Actually A Bikini Body
As a body love activist I have changed my mindset to believe that all bodies should being considered bikini bodies and that all bodies should be celebrated. As an owner of a plus size swim wear boutique how do you teach girls to believe this new mindset?
Feeling good in your body is a process, which is what we write about in our body positive blog. I wish that after one Lizzo music video everyone could POOF and be confident forever, but that's just not how it works. But, Lizzo is a great start.
Finding people who look like you that you admire is important. It allows you to visualize yourself being confident and makes you realize shedding insecurity is possible. But the other, really important thing is choosing to wear something simply because you like it.
We've been taught for so long that certain silhouettes or styles are only for certain body types. I wear things because I like how they make me feel. How I look to other people is irrelevant. They can wear what makes them feel good too!
2. Many people don't understand the difficultly in providing sizes for larger women but especially something as intimate as swimwear. Explain to us the difficulty and what you want people to know about SwimXL and the importance of being inclusive.
No two bodies are the same, even when they're both curvy. Women carry their curves differently, so different fits will make different women feel beautiful or sexy.
So many women are forced to wear oversized clothing because they have a large bust or loose tops to accommodate their curvy bottom. This is why, we just launch our Ma Paire collection which allows women to choose their own tops and bottoms with sizes that go up to a 4XL.
I love how affordable your swimwear is!
3. It seems that big girls always have to pay more from swimsuits and knowing how hard it is already for us in finding stuff that fits it's disappointing having to spend more money. But now with swimXL. You've got a 3XL swimsuit on your site right now that is only $24. How do you do it and why do you feel other brands are charging so much more?
We have an entire section of under $25 suits and we always have deals going on. To me, swimwear shouldn't be expensive. I want women to have a large collection of swimsuits to choose from based on their mood. I like encouraging women to go to the beach more, in general.
I think it's a shame that I spent so many summer's hiding behind a t-shirt, pretending I didn't want to swim. I love the water! But, it's hard to justify buying 3, $80 swimsuits to wear twice in one summer. Brands charge more because they can. Women have accepted that swimwear, and plus size fashion in general, is just overpriced, but I think we are changing that.
what is the swimXL story?
In 2018, I gave birth to my beautiful son, Corbin, and everything changed for me. I've always been confident in my body despite never being a petite woman, but after having a C-Section, my body is softer, with a lot more stretch marks and a FUPA. I struggled to feel confident and the last thing I wanted to do this Hot Girl Summer, was put on a swimsuit. But I'm stubborn and anything that's scary to me, pretty much becomes what I feel like I must do - sink or swim.
So with my background in business and marketing for the past decade, this summer, I decided to launch this for other women who felt like me. More than anything, SwimXL is a pep talk and a party. A pep talk for when you feel insecure and a party for when you start feeling yourself again. And I think that's why so many women connected with this so fast, because it leaves room for insecurity. I think everything is really "rah rah" right now and that's good, but sometimes I need a pep talk that meets me where I'm at. It's not all "slay bitch" and "yass queen" all the time.
4. What's next for SwimXL? What can we expect to see next summer?
We are just getting started and have a lot of exciting collaborations coming with other brands. More than anything though, we are excited to use our platform to tell authentic stories from authentic women. We just launched a new Youtube channel that we're excited to grow into a collection of interviews of women's real body stories. Whether you buy our products or not, we want for you to feel better because you interacted with our brand. That's our true motivation, swimsuits is just a reason to have the conversation.
Stephanie LaFlora is a storyteller who uses business, film and brands to reflect and respond to culture. Stephanie is the founder and owner of SwimXL, a body positive swim shop that launched in 2019. Her background in tech, publishing and marketing culminate into thoughtful brand making built for cultural impact and innovation.