Modest swimsuits

The other night my husband stopped short on his way to the bathroom. He looked down at the overflowing trash can.

"Are you throwing away your swimsuits?"

"Yes, I threw away all my bikinis. They're immodest."

"That's okay, I never liked that pink one anyway... Wait a minute, you threw away the brown one?! I really liked it!"

"I know, I looked good in it. But it's not modest."

My disappointed husband then informed me that really no swimsuits could be modest, there really weren't shades of gray, and when you go around half-naked in a swimsuit you might as well be completely naked.

"So I'll never go swimming again?" I teased him. Or perhaps he was afraid my next suggestion was to buy a full body swim dress?

The thing is, I do think there are shades of gray. While a string bikini is certainly not modest, Christian women aren't required to wear a full burqa to the beach. There is middle ground! If it was that black and white, well, the Vatican would've spoken. But they haven't ever pronounced swimsuits as sinful. Here's what Pope John Paul II said (before he was pope):

"While we are on the subject of dress and its relevance to the problem of modesty and immodesty it is worth drawing attention to the functional significance of differences in attire. There are certain objective situations in which even total nudity of the body is not immodest, since the proper function of nakedness in this context is not to provoke a reaction to the person as an object for enjoyment, and in just the same way the functions of particular forms of attire may vary. Thus, the body may be partially bared for physical labour, for bathing, or for a medical examination. If then we wish to pass a moral judgement on particular forms of dress we have to start from the particular functions which they serve. When a person uses such a form of dress in accordance with its objective function we cannot claim to see anything immodest in it, even if it involves partial nudity. Whereas the use of such a costume outside its proper context is immodest, and is inevitably felt to be so. For example, there is nothing immodest about the use of a bathing costume at a bathing place, but to wear it in the street or while out for a walk is contrary to the dictates of modesty."
(Love and Responsibility, Karol Wojtyla)

Phew. So it is okay to wear some sort of swimsuit, when you're going swimming, as long as you're not doing it just to "provoke a reaction to the person as an object for enjoyment" (in other words, not flaunt yourself as a sex object).

I think there are swimsuits out there that are more and less likely to reduce the wearer to an object. Other things to keep in mind are of course how you look in the suit, how fashionable it is, how expensive it is (my favorites all seem to be more than I'm willing to pay), and how comfortable you'll be in it. Here are several suits that I've found online, to give you an idea of what's out there and places you can look. (Note that I've never seen them in person or worn them myself, but I'd like to!)