Posted: Jan 23, 08
2:06pm
Is not something I generally think about. If I am in the doctor's office and the magazine I am reading has a story on cellulite, I'll turn to the latest news on Brad and Angelina instead. Nevertheless, I seem to have absorbed a certain amount of information on the subject, the most important being that there is nothing you can do about it. (That is, unless you are a movie star; then it can be airbrushed away.)
Cellulite is mostly hereditary and not related to being overweight, or out of shape. Thin, fit people can get cellulite. Even young people, according to a webpage devoted to teens.
http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/your_body/beautiful/cellulite.html
The condition is described there by Steven Dowshen, M.D., in most unflinching terms: "Cellulite is the lumpy substance resembling cottage cheese that is commonly found on the thighs, stomach, and butt."
I guess it's true that young people get cellulite, though you could not prove that by the sleek young limbs that parade through the locker room at my gym. I do remember being concerned about my dimpled thighs when I was a lifeguard in college. By “concerned about,” I mean of course hating. But really, the situation then was nothing compared to now, when the cellulite is aggravated by a certain laxity of skin (sagging, lets call it) that no amount of strength training will banish.
Here, I expect some people will be thinking, "My legs / My wife's legs are still perfectly smooth, thank you.” Those people can stop reading now. Others will be thinking, "It's important to love your body no matter what, and to accept the physical changes of aging." Okay, that might work in the privacy of your home. But picture the typical middle-aged woman on a beach in a bathing suit. Picture "the lumpy substance resembling cottage cheese" that defines her saggy thighs. Admit it—it is not a pretty picture.
Where am I going with this? Bathing suits. There now are bathing suit manufacturers that supposedly cater to mature women, offering models designed to minimize "problem areas." Usually these suits are ridiculous looking numbers with ruffles or little skirts. Really, it's cruel. Better to revert to the styles of the 1920s, when bathing beauties went to the beach wearing garments that covered the leg down to mid-thigh or to just above the knee. And attractive they were, too.
It is actually possible to buy such suits on the Internet, mostly on websites that cater to women who, for religious reasons, wish to dress more modestly. Nevertheless I have ordered one of these suits, and it isn't half bad.
http://www.ohanaswimwear.com/onepiece_molokai.php
I like to think that it looks like it's meant for serious swimming, not sunbathing. Have I actually worn it to the beach? I have to admit that I have not. But I do wear it to swim across the lake near my house and I fancy the look resembles that of Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel.
I'd like to think we could start a movement for these thigh-forgiving suits. I can see several possible angles. Nostalgia. Jock-y. Retro. Maybe they could even be marketed as the "Gertrude Ederle" line, and distributed by TeeBeeDee. Now there's a Million Dollar Idea.
