For Mother's Day, I received a cashmere sweater from Land's End. It was OK–a little boxy. I decided to keep it, but recycled the catalog that came with it immediately, knowing I would never order anything from Land's End again.
On Thursday evenings I buy the New York Times so I can read David Pogue's column. The style section is fun, too. On the Thursday after my Mother's Day present came, there was an astonishing story in the style section about swim suits from Land's End. The writer, Ruth La Ferla, was out of her mind with enthusiasm: women who had never been able to wear bathing suits in their lives were now wearing Land's End suits with ease and grace. I marched right down into the basement and dug down through the recycling bin until I found the Land's End catalog.
Tom chose a suit for me and I called Land's End first thing the next day. I had no idea what size to order, so I ordered 2 sizes. Too bad: that particular suit was back-ordered until mid-June. I decided to wait, because I wasn't going to the beach until July 15. (Not our beach, but a beach on the Outer Banks of North Carolina where people wear swim suits instead of down jackets.)
Today one of the suits came–the larger size. The smaller size was still back-ordered. I tried it on. It fit like a glove. I have never in my life had a suit that fit. I was a little out of sorts that it was the larger size. But having a suit that not only fit, but made me look better than in real life more than made up for the fact that it was the larger size.
So I thought I'd take it down to the beach this evening and photograph it for you. And if you want to see how it looks when it's wet, see below. But then . . .
when I pulled out the catalog again in order to compare myself with the model, I happened to read the copy at the top of the page. Humiliating but true, Tom had chosen a Slender Suit for me! "Slender Suits make swimmers look slimmer. They shape your middle to build your confidence. Amazing slimming power. Fits your top, bottom, and bottom line." I thought the suit had felt a little weird when I took it out of the box–I guess it was the architecture involved.
