Bathing Suit shopping

 ok, i admit... i have had 1 bathing suit in the past 15 years.  it was a blue mass of fabric and i only wore it in the dark in a hotel pool two times. 

i'm still REALLY self conscious about my body, but think i may try to put on a suit this summer... my arms are horrible and have rolls of skin/fat still on them. i  am still about 45 pounds from my goal weight and hope to be there by the end of summer.  

i'm thinking maybe a tankini with a skirt?  or a one piece with a skirt?  
i'm going to try to convince my husband to go to the carribean in december (we've never been anywhere!) and i want to wear a suit then but not sure if i'll need to get a smaller size, here's hoping.  but for the summer, any ideas?  what did everyone do here?  

Even when I was 246 pounds, I wore a swimsuit in broad daylight.  It was a modest suit, not some string bikini, but I really didn't care who saw me.  If they didn't like it, they didn't have to look. 

So, I say: let it all hang out!  Find the most flattering suit you can and just do it!  Caribbean?  Hell yes!  

I went swimsuit shopping the other day.  My "new size" didn't fit and I ran out of steam to keep trying them on.  But this coming weekend, I plan to go at it again and find something I like for this summer.  Maybe a one-piece, maybe a tankini, not sure yet.  But I'm definitely wearing a swimsuit around my yard and on vacation this summer.  

My go-to is a tankini w/ a skirt bottom.  I've been wearing the skirt on the bottom for so long I can't imagine wearing regular bathing suit bottoms again!

I am using a tankini type thing with regular bottoms .... i bought them at burlington coat factory for cheap ..... i figure the 18 and 20 i bought should fit me until i am in a 12 .... then i will shop again ....

try burlington so you won't feel bad when you have to trash them in a couple of months.  :-)

I wear one pieces for water aerobics, can't stand a skirt flapping around, and a two piece for fun. The good: I got a one piece at Walmart for $15! The bad: their tankini tops were too short. And the ugly: my thighs, never a good feature.

I like to wear Board Shorts (to cover up my jiggly inner thighs) paired with a tankini top.

http://www.swimoutlet.com/product_p/7103.htm
http://www.swimsuitsforall.com/plus-size-board-shorts

~Helen~

I was thinking about getting the land's end one piece with the separate shorts instead of skirt.  They also have short sleeve shirts designed for use in the water "rash guards" under accessories which I've also considered.

here's a pic:  http://s7.landsend.com/is-viewers/dhtml/images/spacer.gif

At my highest weight (322) I wore a nice one piece that I purchased from Lands' End. The suit was made beautifully, had tummy control and nice support in the chest. I bought a satong to go with it and I felt pretty good going out in it. Check out their website!

 thanks everyone!  great ideas!  i did think of the rash guard top because i can't find a bathing suit with sleeves. lol.  

Torrid.com has cute tankini's :)  kinda pricey, but you could always sell it on ebay :)