Posts Tagged swimming
Look Ma, No Sunscreen! Body Glove Swim Shirts
Among my list of least favorite things to do on vacation is to repeatedly slather on sunscreen. Yeah, I know there are a dozen good reasons why I need to do it, but sometimes it’s a lot easier to just sit in the shade or wear a shirt.
So when I saw this Body Glove shirt featured on a half-price sale at Sierra Trading Post, I tossed it into my virtual shopping cart. I have been using it the past few weeks when I went snorkeling, boogie boarding, and playing with my kid in swimming pools. I don’t wear it all the time as that’s a surefire way to end up with a clearly delinated farmer’s tan, but it has seriously lessened the amount of sunscreen I’ve had to apply to my body on heavy swimming days.
There’s nothing very complicated about these shirts. They cling to your body, staying in place while you move around, and keep the sun’s rays from hitting your skin. Some Spandex, some nylon, and a little pull tab at the bottom to help you get it off your wet body.
That “cling to your body” part means they work better for some body types than others, however. When I pulled mine out of the box I thought they had sent a kid’s size by mistake. It fit though, exposing every little bulge in the process.
If you’ve got a hardbody and six-pack abs, you’ll look fantastic in one of these. If you’ve got a little extra around the middle like me, it’s all going to show. If you’ve got more flab than that or need some enhancing/downplaying of some area in normal clothes, well, this won’t exactly flatter your figure.
Body Glove shirts come in a wide variety of styles and colors, so you can probably find one that matches your bathing suit bottom reasonably well. There’s a whole professional line for surfers and scuba divers, so it’s kind of hard to find what you need on the Body Glove site. Dig around elsewhere instead if your patience is limited.
For kids you might as well go all the way and get the long-sleeve version. That way you spend less time hearing them whine each time you need to apply sunscreen. With their whole upper body covered, you’ve got less skin to deal with.
Search the sale rack for Body Glove clothing at Sierra Trading Post, or see the kid’s apparel section.
Posted by Tim in Adventure Gear, General Gear, Kids and Family on July 29th, 2009
