Cathy Classics by Cathy Guisewite for May 21, 2013

run,cathy run!

Cathy skip this nonsense and just swim in shorts and a tank top.

Yeah, this is nuts! I agree to get the heck outta there!Good morning, Cathy clan!!

I wear a 6 in dresses & pants. AND A !*&@! 10 IN SWIMSUITS!!

It’s a diabolical capitalist plot to further undermine the confidence of women! :-)

Uh oh! The M word. (mature) That always sends Cathy screaming.

As a woman in her fifties, I can tell you it’s not a diabolical plot. Swimsuit sizes reflect a woman’s ACTUAL dress/clothing size which was set since about the 1930’s or so. Sizes have been “decreasing” like crazy over the past 30+ years, since non-couture, affordable designer fashions came into vogue with things like Calvin Klein jeans, etc. The average woman now wears 2 (sometimes 3) sizes below what she would have worn in the 1950s and 1960s into roughly the mid-70s or so. Designers aren’t stupid; they know they have a better chance of getting you to buy if you fit into a smaller size. I’m a size 8 to 10 in dresses and pants now, but I know in a swimsuit I’ll need a 12 or 14. To put it into perspective, Marilyn Monroe, at her thinnest wore about a size 12 dress. I’ve learned to stop caring about the size and concentrate on the fit. No-one knows what size I buy except me (and maybe the salesperson at Victoria’s Secret…)

I’m more miffed that they charge separately for swim suit tops and bottoms.

That looks like an immature suit to me.

Even though I wear a size 6, my 3 bathing suits have tags that claim differently . . . 2 say they’re a size 8 and the 3rd one says it’s an 11/12!

Hi, rgcviper!

saxie5: I think that’s ridiculous, too! But given that I don’t exactly have the toned body of a super-model, I feel uncomfortable in a 2-piece anyhow so my 3 swimsuits are all 1-piece. They still cost more money than they should have given what they’re made of and how little they cover when I’m wearing them, but they were still cheaper than spending $20, $30 or more EACH (depending on where you buy them) for both the tops AND the bottoms!!!!!

Hello and Happy Tuesday, fellow “Cathy” clan. Hope your week is going well so far!

The size doesn’t matter — they don’t cover anything anyway. And I so agree with you saxie5!!

OK, saleslady. Are you ASKING to be slapped by Cathy?

HI, MOM. Greetings, Clan.

Men’s clothing is not much different – different brands with the same size label are not the same size. Come to think of it, I need a new bathing suit this year – thank goodness men only wear one piece so don’t get charged for two. I noticed last year while at a water park that I was probably the only male there with a bathing suit that did not reach to my knees (and I hate wearing those). I was hoping to not need a new one until the shorter style came back – but after losing so much weight this winter I am afraid I will lose the suit while swimming. lightenup – there are always one or two in every crowd that should be fed to the lions!

hendelca: try Nautica or a similar brand (find an outlet if you can). You can still find men’s suits that are not “jams” there.