14 DAY TRIAL // Buying a swimsuit is a big deal, as any woman out there must have already found out by now, because it has to be the right model, in the colors that are hot that season and cut in such a way as to make the best even of a more “flawed” (if you will) body. With all this, and despite the many hours spent searching for the ideal swimsuit for one summer, most women end up not wearing theirs, as a new poll cited by the Daily Mail reveals.
The survey, carried by Tesco among average British women, revealed that, no matter how much money they spend on their swimwear, they still can’t face the moment when they actually have to hit the pool and thus expose themselves to the eyes of so many people. Women’s lack of self-confidence and a negative body-image are actually helping the fashion industry make millions a year on swimsuits that are not worn even once, the same poll reveals.
“According to new research, this indecision is costing UK women billions as a staggering 45 per cent of swimwear bought each summer is never worn. An estimated quarter of a billion pounds is spent on swimwear women decide they are too out of shape to put on in public.” the Mail writes of the findings of the survey. Even more worrying, one in 10 women (amounting to an estimated 11 percent) are so scared of publicly exposing themselves in their swimsuit that they cancel their holiday altogether.
Those who don’t, though, come up with strategies and tactics meant to divert people’s attention from their body to something else. These range from wearing a shirt over the swimsuit, to something to cover only the lower half of the body, and to not going by the pool or the beach at all. Others, who still want to catch some sun, choose more isolated and remote locations, where there are not too many people, which means fewer eyes fixated on them, the survey shows.
“It’s a shame that, for so many women, poor body image seems to be getting in the way of enjoying a holiday.” Catherine Matthews, head of nutrition at TescoDiets, says for the Mail as regards the findings of the study. As women continue to not enjoy their summers as they’d like, this segment of the industry continues to flourish, the British publication further explains, with £285 million in sales of swimsuits a year.