[stellsbells]

Run.Rabbit- I hadn't thought of that, but I definitely agree that a person has to have the right kind of personal style to pull off the padded bra swimsuits. Some of them are very 50s retro, and on the right person I'm sure they could pull it off and make it look cute
But, regular ol' me... I couldn't pull it off. Just isn't my style.

GeorgousBlonde- Oh, how embarrassing! I used those also... until my chihuahua managed to get a hold of one and proceeded to use it as a chew toy. I was very sad

[stellsbells]

Yeah I live in Europe, south of France.
I believe there's a big difference on this point between us. My mother told me that when she was younger she went to the USA and got caught by the police on the beach because she was topless lol, she didn't even knew that it was forbidden.
A lot of my friends told my that they would be ashamed to show their breast, but it's very common to see it on the beach, no one's shocked.

I don't really understand 'self esteem issues'. Do you mean something like, if we accept easily our bodies ?

Wow. I would feel very uncomfortable going to the beach and seeing naked boobs everywhere. I would never do it here in the states, but if I ever travel to Europe I think it might be fun to go to the beach and hang out topless. I would feel much more comfortable doing something like that in an environment that was open and accepting of that kind of thing. :)

& yes, that's what I meant by "self-esteem" issues. A lot of people in the states are very uncomfortable with their bodies and would be very embarrassed to be naked in a public place like the beach. I'm not limiting self-esteem issues to just the states, though. I would just imagine that in a place like Europe where nudity is more common that there would be more people that were comfortable with there bodies.

[onicemile]

lol, don't get me wrong, you don't see naked boobs everywhere when going to the beach, but there's always at least two or three girls topless around.

And well, I believe this is worlwide: girls always find something wrong with their body. Almost all of them think that they are BIG... That's generally not serious, but I know some anorexic girls, and i used to be bulimic. Plus i wouldn't be here if i was totally ok with my body.

The thing with the beach, is that you're already half naked in swimsuit. You don't hide much with the bikini, but topless lets show a 'private' body part. It doesn't has to do with your body image. If you're really ashamed of your it, then you keep a shirt on. Bikini or not sound close to me. It's hard for me to imagine it being a taboo... Well I find nudist gross, because totally naked peoples make me think of worms lol, but i believe i wouldn't mind so much doing it. Hum, seing penises
of unknown men may be quit disturbing though.
I don't know, i try to think about it the way you may be thinking about me.

I can't tell you if we're (i don't talk for all europe, because all countries are REALLY different, we don't have the same history, don't speak the same langage, and of course don't have the same weather) more open about nudity because i've never been to america during a long time, just short trips, so i can't compare. But one thing i know, is that half of the music videoclip we see on tv comes from the usa and is full of half naked dancing girls. We don't see nipples or sexs, but for me it's the same... Don't you think so ?

The feeling I get when talking about this, is that USA sounds more strict on some points. Like places when you can't smoke ? I don't remember well the story but once again my mother had troubles with the police because she was smoking in the street lol. Or there's that shocking thing we heard about, some american schools that are refusing darwin's evolution theory and teach that all began with adam and eve. Also our english teacher told us that a lot of americans never go out of their states during their lives, not even for travel. All i know about america comes from school and tv so i can't really compare us, but from those things, i'd say that we sound more open minded. Also, people in here don't obey to the law (especially in the south, a lot of french people think that my city is a kind of chicgo lol). And there's less, or should i say not at all, patriotism. No one feels proud to be french and at last no one cares.

I'm getting out of topic now so I may just stop. No offense in what I said, if I'm wrong somewhere please tell me because I'm not sure about the things I said and would be happy to learn more. Also I hope this post isn't a mess because i'm writing on my mobile phone :S

[onicemile]

but well, i think that i'm saying "n'importe quoi" because san fransisco sounds like one of the more open minded cities in the world, and is in the states. Well i should go to sleep now instead of talking, it's 1AM in here !

[bunnyday]

I lived in the UK when I was little, and started school there. When I moved back to the US, nothing made sense. I didn't understand why girls' backpacks had to be separated from boys' backpacks, which is very common in US schools, but apparently not UK schools.

And yeah, the whole thing about nudity in the US here even confuses us Americans. It's fine to have the skimpiest bikinis in music videos, wear the lowest-cut tops possible and shortest shorts possible in public, but in a lot of schools if a girl's skirt is even 2 inches (I think 5 cm? Don't have a ruler around) above her knee she gets detention. However, you'd think that if it's okay to wear a bikini, you might as well go naked... yeah, not really. Though actual nudity isn't really as "tempting" as skimpy clothing.

And in North Carolina at least it is legal to go topless on the beach, but not legal to drive down the road topless. Figure that one out.

[bunnyday]

As for Victoria's Secret push-up bras, stores around where I live and where I go to college don't have my size, let alone the push-up swimsuits. The only place I could get them is online, and I refuse to buy clothes online without being able to ship them back. That and I hate Victoria's Secret with a passion (you have to have big boobs to even walk into a store, plus I have asthma and can't walk in anyway because of all that effing perfume!).

There aren't any padded push-up tops anywhere else except for Hollister, and I didn't really like Hollister's collection.

[Cheffette]

As for Victoria's Secret push-up bras, stores around where I live and where I go to college don't have my size, let alone the push-up swimsuits. The only place I could get them is online, and I refuse to buy clothes online without being able to ship them back. That and I hate Victoria's Secret with a passion (you have to have big boobs to even walk into a store, plus I have asthma and can't walk in anyway because of all that effing perfume!).

There aren't any padded push-up tops anywhere else except for Hollister, and I didn't really like Hollister's collection.

Hollister and VS both smell pretty strong/offensive.

Their models are also way too skinny.

[bunnyday]

As for Victoria's Secret push-up bras, stores around where I live and where I go to college don't have my size, let alone the push-up swimsuits. The only place I could get them is online, and I refuse to buy clothes online without being able to ship them back. That and I hate Victoria's Secret with a passion (you have to have big boobs to even walk into a store, plus I have asthma and can't walk in anyway because of all that effing perfume!).

There aren't any padded push-up tops anywhere else except for Hollister, and I didn't really like Hollister's collection.

Hollister and VS both smell pretty strong/offensive.

Their models are also way too skinny.

I've never thought their models were scary skinny (especially because I've been accused of having anorexia for YEARS). I don't know what it is, I can tolerate Hollister's smell much better than VS's and I've never had problems breathing going in there. VS though... ugh, next time I'm even going to be walking past one I'll make sure to bring my inhaler.

[Cheffette]

As for Victoria's Secret push-up bras, stores around where I live and where I go to college don't have my size, let alone the push-up swimsuits. The only place I could get them is online, and I refuse to buy clothes online without being able to ship them back. That and I hate Victoria's Secret with a passion (you have to have big boobs to even walk into a store, plus I have asthma and can't walk in anyway because of all that effing perfume!).

There aren't any padded push-up tops anywhere else except for Hollister, and I didn't really like Hollister's collection.

Hollister and VS both smell pretty strong/offensive.

Their models are also way too skinny.

I've never thought their models were scary skinny (especially because I've been accused of having anorexia for YEARS). I don't know what it is, I can tolerate Hollister's smell much better than VS's and I've never had problems breathing going in there. VS though... ugh, next time I'm even going to be walking past one I'll make sure to bring my inhaler.

Hahaha! VS should provide inhalers for all the people entering their store for the first time!!!

"Hello ma'am, is this your first time in Victoria's Secret?"
"Yes."
"Take this complimentary inhaler. Youi'll need it in the fragrance section!"
"Thanks!!!"

Lol!!!

Well personally speaking I am a freelance model where I live (which means that I was too big to get signed by any real agencies). And believe me, I've been through what you've been through. I've been tall and thin all my life. Now that I'm at a healthy weight, People are telling me I might be "to curvy" too model!

Nonsense! I'm following my own heart! I put in all this effort to gain weight and I'm not planning on losing it anytime soon!

The VS models are all, on average, about 1-2 inches taller than I am and at least a size smaller. When I was about 17 years old I was their size, but I hated it because I had no energy, felt sick and depressed, and hated looking so thin. (At 20 years old I now weigh almost 20 lbs more than what I used to weigh)

So yes, they are too skinny, in my opinion. And they don't have enough bodyfat to form their own real breasts. If they gained weight, and did NBE, who knows what they could achieve? But since most of them stick to extreme dieting rather than maintaining an optimal healthy weight, they must either opt for implants or stay flat-chested (personally I think the flat look would be better because at least it looks more natural).

Just my two cents...

You WILL be able to gain weight and people will stop asking you if you have an ED. It just takes some time. It won't happen overnight, but one day the struggles you've gone through will seem like just an unclear memory, far behind you.

[bunnyday]

Disturbingly, a lot of people said I should be a model. Of course, this was years ago before my nose had a growth spurt of its own and my acne got really bad.

But I'm too short to be a model anyway. I feel sick enough being thin too, what if they tell me to lose more weight?! (not that that would be difficult...) I apparently have the genes for big boobs, but don't actually have them because of my low weight. I'm not very athletic or active like my sister is :/ Though I do feel better that VS' models are likely photoshopped... actually, I kind of feel worse too :/