Four years ago I blogged about running skirts (I’m not a fan)  and this year I blogged about bike dresses (I recently bought one). I guess as a result of all the related googling other kinds of active wear skirts and dresses have made their way into my social media newsfeed.

The latest is the swimming dress.

Here’s my favourite of the lot.

On the plus side, it’s cute. And while it doesn’t look like a great choice for actually swimming in, that doesn’t matter so much at the beach. Lots of the time at the beach you’re not actually swimming. You’re sitting around making sandcastles, playing frisbee, finding snacks, collecting shells, reading books, and so on. Also, the nice thing about dresses, as opposed to bikinis, is that with less skin exposed there’s less of you to sunscreen. And swim dresses might get some women out to the beach who wouldn’t otherwise go. All good.

There’s a big wide world of beach dresses out there. Some, like the one I like, are targeted at women hanging at the beach with kids, dogs, and friends. The motivation seems to be cute and comfortable. Also, less worry about holding your tummy in all day.

Others are definitely targeted to women who’ve had skin cancer and they feature high necks and full leg and arm coverage 

Still others are targeted at those women who observe modesty norms for religious reasons.

There are lots of different reasons to show less skin.

And yet….

For me, I’ve worked hard to be comfortable at the beach in a bikini. Many years ago, younger thin aspring me held out the bikini as an example of the sort of thing I couldn’t wear yet but that I could wear once I’d lost enough weight. Once I realized that wasn’t going to happen and that life is really very short, I started wearing them, also cute dresses and short skirts.

Sometimes I fling on shorts and a t-shirt over the bikini if I’m running around lots at the beach but mostly I hang out in my two piece bathing suit.

And the thing is I think if I started wearing swim dresses, pretty soon that’s all I’d wear at the beach. I’d be part of the crowd of fifty something women who stop wearing bikinis because they’re too old. Bye bye bikinis, bye bye cute dresses next, and definitely bye bye mini skirts.

I also keep thinking of the fight by early feminists for women to have the choice not to wear dresses to the beach.

So I think I won’t buy a swimming dress, as cute as they are.

I’m going to be that fifty something woman in her bikini.

This is just about me, my life history as a beach going person, and about my tendencies and approach to life. You do you, of course. No judgements here 

(Oh, and there’s also beach leggings if dresses aren’t your thing.)

How about you? Do swimming dresses hold any appeal? Why/why not?