What on earth are you meant to do about swimwear after two pregnancies?

[artichokes]

Help! I am meant to be spending must of September on a mediterranian beach but I have no idea what to wear.

I am only 30 and I am a size 12 so I don't relish spending the next 60 summers in an M&S one-piece. But I am not sure what other choice I have as I have terrible stretch marks on my tummy and its not as taut as it once was, I worry that a bikini might be over ambitious.

What do others do in these circumstances (or am I the only one ).

sarong? Not those huge things down to your feet, but the pretty skirt-like ones

Some say tankinis but they're really unflattering on me

Well I have just ordered a one piece (arives tomorrow) because the tankini I had previously bought kept riding up my stomach so I felt very uncomfortable Im 28 and size 10. It will be the first one piece I have ever worn and I am very nervous about how it will look but it must look better than a belly full of stretch marks.

A short sarong isn't a bad idea.

I agree with you both on tankinis. IME have all the downsides of a bikini (i.e. they rise up and show your tummy) without the corset affect of a one-piece.

Stary - did you find somewhere with nice onepieces that don't look like what your granny would wear?

stareyed where have you ordered it from?

I have this tankini from Debenhams which is pretty good - doesn't seem to ride up at the front, although it sometimes gapes at the back.

I just wear a bikini, with big pants! There will always be people who look much, much worse than you and to be perfectly honest, everybody will be so busy worrying what THEY look like that they won't give a monkey's what YOU look like!

I got it from figleaves here: www.figleaves.com/uk/department.asp?dept=swim&cm_sp=LeftNav--Category--Swimwear [hoping you dont think they are grannified]I bought one with control panel becsaue I havent yet lost my baby bump.

Boden one-pieces. They're cut so nicely that they are still sexy. I have a 'ditsy' one with high legs and a really low back. When DH first saw it on me, his response was to make a guttural noise and leap on me...

lol ellieorollie - I've ordered a boden one too from the sale so I've got high hopes for it!

staryeyed - not sure which one you've ordered but there are a few nice ones on there. Didn't think of figleaves

Oooh, i quite like some of those figleaves one pieces.

What do people think of plan black swimsuits - stylish and flattering or deeply dull?

I think fine for England, but you would feel very very dull on a beach on the med. I went to Greece this year and really wished I'd taken a bikini with me - there were a million women on the beach who were older/fatter/saggier than me in bikinis and they all looked much better than people of the same size and shape in swimming costumes