Summer UnDressing

By TINA WILSON

I get so revved up about the beach that I start packing long before the first summer weekend begins on Fire Island.  Sharing a beach house with numerous people requires a wee bit of discretion with regard to how much of yourself you let “hang out”, even among the dearest of friends.

Packing for the beach house is a dilemma as I must pack for the summer and leave whatever has been chosen in the house for the duration.  There are different moments at the beach as there are in the city and cooking, lounging, exercising, and socializing require well thought out undergarments. Ultimately beach life is about comfort for the body and soul, so shapewear as we know it is forbidden.

My predominant roles in the beach house are chef and instigator of political discourse. I love to prepare meals for large groups and go wild with the ingredients and experiment with salty, sweet and savory.  This summer my focus will be on composed salads like Fried Eggplant, Tomato & Peach Salad with Preserved Lemon or Fresh Corn Cakes with Crab Tomato Salad from Food52.  While cooking I like to wear something loose that allows the breeze to touch my skin, as it gets hot in the kitchen even when you aren’t using the oven. Underneath my thousand-year-old T-dress I might wear a bralet. Hanky Panky’s Retro style or b.tempt’d’s Lace Kiss Bandeau both come to mind to retain some semblance of dignity while moving about the kitchen; and along with said bralet, Hanky Panky’s infamous thong.  For the hotter mid-August days, even that might be too much and OnGossamer’s Mesh thong and a camisole like Fleur’ts Lace Shelf or OnGossamer’s Cabana Cotton Shelf Cami with a loose pair of shorts is about as bare as anyone should get while cooking…The other must have while cooking is music, I’m prone to being all over the place but a little Smiths mixed in with some Sade works for me…. and I have not gotten sick of the soundtrack to “Big Little Lives” yet!

We have a custom of going to watch the sunset at the town dock before dinner, all the locals come out with cocktails in plastic cups and we fraternize until the sun goes down and we oooohhhh and ahhhhh like we’ve never seen a sunset. This moment in time is your best shot at getting “dressed up” for the weekend, the lipstick comes out and so do the ta-tas.  “Show off” bras like Chantelle’s Merci Underwire Push Up or the be.inspired Underwire Push UP  by b.tempt’d look sexy coming or going respectively; particularly layered with a white shirt or low back tank.  Personally, an underwire is out of the question so Montelle’s Wire Free bra is the better option for me.  This is also where shapewear might appear if at all, and I choose a bike short, which works perfectly under a wispy skirt that might any minute get caught by the wind.  Something in a fun color that won’t look like or feel like shapewear such as Yummie’s Everyday Shaping Shortie is ideal.

In the mornings we must put in the exercise to offset the martini consumption that came the night before and a low impact sport bra for the brisk walks is a must.  Again it’s all about comfort and I have discovered the Evolution bra by Knixwear, it’s in the mail on its way to me and it had better live up to all its promises, in the meantime I will humor myself and pretend a more vigorous activity other than bike riding is a possibility and go for something a bit more supportive during low impact moments like b.tempt’d’s Active Underwire Sports Bra. The beach crowd is not the most athletic crowd but we do have our runners and for them I would suggest Curvy Couture’s Ultimate Fit High Impact.

Whatever I end up packing, be assured it will be a glorious summer filled with a little politics, a little sunning, a lot of wine and some mind blowing salads!