To say we are excited about today's blog post would be a major understatement. Swimsuit season is upon us and it's a season we all simultaneously cheer for and dread. We spend the majority of our year in weather warm enough for swimming, and live in swimsuits and flip flops for most of that. However, we wouldn't go as far as to say we love wearing our swimsuits.
Motherhood and the lack of free time has taken its toll on many of the parts that become on display the minute we take off our swim cover-ups. You know the ones we're talking about. The ones below our necks and above our feet. Those parts.
Thanks to the good makers of Spanx, the jeggings trend, and the invention of the push-up bra we are able to conceal some of our bodily imperfections with great ease most of the time. But then comes judgment day. It's usually occurs somewhere between Easter and the first week of May. The day you need to swim suit shop.
But what if that task wasn't something to dread? What if when that day came each year, you were excited? Thrilled? Dare we even go as far as to say looking forward to it?
What if when looking in the mirror while swim suit shopping you thought, "I look amazing!" rather than, "Ugh!!! Look at my love handles/stomach/thighs/chest/back/arms!" ?
That's why we are excited about today. Because today we are sharing how that can happen!
Today we are going to introduce you to Gail. Gail is a magical swimsuit fairy godmother who wants you to throw out all that unnecessary self-hate during swimsuit shopping (because really it is unnecessary), and learn to embrace, and - here's the kicker - love how you look in your swimwear.
Gail and her team of fellow fairies at Southeast Swimwear reach deep down into their magical beach bags to pull out all the tricks to make sure you leave their presence feeling like the swimsuit super model that you were always meant to be.
Correction: are.
Gail is the owner of Southeast Swimwear located in Woodstock, GA. We were introduced to Gail and her store via friends who went in feeling a little dismal about the thought of having to get a new swimsuit, and came out saying, "It was the most enjoyable swimsuit shopping experience I've ever had in my life!".
The minute we stepped into Southeast Swimwear we could see why. Gail and her team are beyond helpful and extremely enthusiastic about each and every person who comes through their doors. They know they have their work cut out for them, and that most people dread looking in the mirror at themselves in a swimsuit. Even if you don't make a purchase they want you to leave their store feeling beautiful and understand that your body is unique and amazing. They want you to feel like in their hands they've shown you how to enhance what you like, and make you love what you see reflecting back at you.
Gail opened Southeast Swimwear with the goal of being able to give women the chance to enjoy swimsuit shopping again. She saw that most stores only catered to a select group of women and body types, and decided women deserve more! She wanted to offer great quality swimsuits to women of all shapes and sizes.
And ladies, she has delivered! She and her team are swimsuit experts! She puts her entire heart into her business and it shows. Speaking with Gail you can't help to feel inspired by her commitment, her positive outlook, and her drive to champion women and their image of themselves.
She and her team are also super fun. And you know we love a good time.
Before we give you a little tour of Southeast Swimwear, and all the amazing items Gail carries in store we had a little fun and asked her a few questions...
If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Rice Krispy treats!!!! And coffee, does that count as food?!
What are the top 5 things in your beach bag?
Sunglasses, hat, plenty of sunscreen, my phone(mostly for pics) water, I am pretty boring! It is really about having my daughter and sometimes daughters with me, and just being together in a happy place!
What is your favorite beach read? Or favorite genre to read at the beach?
Always a murder mystery for me!
What is one message you would like everyone who comes in your store to leave with?
To not refer to themselves in any negative way, feel confident. As women, our bodies have been through a lot, and your kids just want you in the pool with them! When ladies "hate" themselves, it truly is heartbreaking for us as well.
What is your favorite thing about working with your family and friends?
We can laugh together (we do lot of that) and because it is a small business, I try to give all holidays off for them to be with their families.
(We'd be remiss if we didn't mention Gail's daughter Madison works in store with her, and also owns a super cute bridal shop. Bridals by Madison is located just a few doors down from Southeast Swimwear, and we can only imagine how beautiful and loved every bride feels walking in and out of those doors.)
Now let's mingle around Southeast Swimwear!
WHAT'S IN STORE
Southeast Swimwear plays host to many of the top swimwear brands for women - Sunset Separates, Tara Grinna, Fantasie, and so many more!
Everything you will find in her store are brands you will not find at the mall. We love that she has different stuff and the quality of everything is amazing!
And we can't forget about the coverups. She has some of the cutest coverups we have seen and so many darling styles!
HOW IT WORKS
So this part is really what sets her Southeast Swimwear apart from all the other places. You don't walk in and just start picking out things you want to try. It's more of a personalized shopping experience and trust us...you'll be better off if you let the experts do their thing!
We walked around the store, talked about our sizing, what we liked, didn't like, and what our goals for a swimsuit were.
Gail grabbed a bunch of different things in a variety of styles for us to start with just to get an idea of what would look good on our bodies and what we would feel comfortable in.
After putting different pieces on she would evaluate how it fit, bring us other options, and listen to what we liked and didn't like to help find the perfect suit for us!
OUR TRY ON EXPERIENCE
We loved most of what we tried on, but not everything was perfect. You have to trust the process and know that even if you don't think it is something you would normally pick out, just to give it a try because that might be something you end up loving or it will tell Gail and her team more about you sizing and likes/dislikes.
There were some things we liked, some that were OK, and some that we loved the instant we put on. One fun thing is that Southeast Swimwear have a wide selection of options in each pattern. If you don't like something about one piece you have on, but love the pattern, they can bring you a different option. Even a small tweak can make a huge difference in fit.
We also loved seeing the different ways that items could be worn. So many of their pieces could be worn multiple ways to give you different looks (and different tan lines!).
What we loved most is that the Southeast Swimwear team instantly made us feel comfortable, listened to us, gave us lots of different options and were honest with us.
If something didn't look good, they admitted it and worked to make adjustments so we would look and feel our best.
We really can't say enough great things about them. You'll be amazed by the huge selection of suits for every single body size and will leave feeling excited about summer and swimsuit season!
If you go, be sure to tell them we sent you and say hi to them for us!
If you have an questions at all feel free to message them on Facebook (they respond extremely fast!), and if you aren't local, but are interested in a suit or product you saw, send them a message. They have ways to be able to ensure you are shipped a correct fitting swimsuit.
To learn more about Southeast Swimwear:
