• Recap & Thoughts | #BeachBodyNotSorry 2016 •

• Recap & Thoughts | #BeachBodyNotSorry 2016 •

It’s already pretty cold outside but I still want to quickly talk about this year’s #BeachBodyNotSorry project and have a look at the beach outfits I wore this season. I kind of felt that plus-sized beach bodies were more present than ever in 2016. Of course there were a few very important moments like → Ashley Graham on the cover of “Sports Illustrated” or the most recent → “All Woman Project” launched by Clementine Desseaux and Charli Howard (featuring some amazing beach wear by Phylyda – I hope I can work with this brand next year!). But we also had bloggers showing their beach bodies everywhere and it makes me proud to say that I’m a part of this – again.

Unfortunately, this time I couldn’t show as many looks as → last year – on the one hand, there simply was a lack of new beach wear (I just didn’t want to wear everything again, but neither did I want to spend loads of money on new stuff – cause our summer in Germany isn’t long enough to hoard uncountable masses of bikinis and swimsuits), on the other hand, I missed almost 90% of our summer because I was very sick. Even beginning to shoot before the start of the official beach season wasn’t that helpful, so I only managed to do five looks (plus two “covered” beach styles, meaning: one with a kaftan and another one wearing transparent stuff over my bikini).

So let’s recap my #BeachBodyNotSorry looks of 2016…

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• Rio •

• Rio •

6 - Lu zieht an.®

Photos: Falko Blümlein
Swimsuit: H&M
Beach Towel: Aragem Rio
Hat: Bits And Pieces
Earrings: COR:TT “Cube Rock”

Well, not exactly Rio, but the good old dunes. And the title comes from the beach towel which I bought last year in Rio de Janeiro, at Aragem Rio. It has the most beautiful print, including typical forest and animal images from Brazil but also the “skyline” of Rio with Corcovado and Pão de Açúcar.

This is my last #BeachBodyNotSorry post for this year and at the same time my favorite – because it is so colorful and elegant. And then there’s the hat with my name on it. It was always difficult for me to get stuff with my name because Luciana isn’t really German (obviously, haha!) and therefore you can never find it on cups and other souvenirs. But there’s a lovely lady in Lebanon who makes these hats and was so kind to individualize one for me – not only could I choose the color but also what’s supposed to be written on it. If you have a look on Instagram, bloggers like to wear hats with “Out of Office” written on them or “Do not disturb” – I just wanted to finally own something with my name on it, so Luciana it was. ;) I’m so, so happy with this hat! Thank you again, Alia!

The swimsuit I’m wearing is already pretty old, I guess from 2010. It’s funny that it still fits (and that’s a size 42!). :) But it has always been one of my favorites, so I finally decided to wear it for the project, even though it’s not available anymore. I searched for similar swimsuits – here’s my selection:

So, back to #BeachBodyNotSorry – I’m pretty sad that I didn’t manage to do and blog more beach styles this year. Somehow the weather wasn’t good enough for my plans and then I was sick when I would have had the chance to do actual summer looks. I also didn’t buy new swimsuits and bikins and I didn’t want to show everything again (it’s different from normal outfits, you know what I mean…). But let’s just see what happens next year. :) If you want to see last year, just → click here or on the button in the sidebar on the right. I’ll also do another recap of this year and add a button for 2016. :)

By the way: I already talked about → the whole pump thing and it all being visible, and this time it’s my measuring system, the → FreeStyle Libre, which I put on my belly. I removed it from the photos because I felt it kind of distracted from the actual look, but you can still see it in the video. No biggie but I wanted to explain. ;) It’s still a part of me, but sometimes the artist in me feels annoyed by its appearance in the pictures. ;)

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• Kaftan & Cupcakes •

• Kaftan & Cupcakes •

13 - Lu zieht an.®

Photos: Falko Blümlein
Kaftan: H&M+
Bikini: Rue 107
Sunglasses: geilgeilgeil.com “Berlin”
[15% off with LUZIEHTAN15]
Earrings: Dior “Gum Tee Shirt”
Bracelet: Hermès

Honesty.
That’s my message of today’s #BeachBodyNotSorry post.

I know how it feels to see bikini posts and ads with super slim models, with the thinnest of the plus models and loads of Photoshop. There are some who you just can’t identify with, others who you feel were just accepted for this ad because they’re plus but not (as I like to say) obviously plus. By the way: I want to state that I think that all of them are okay and there’s no need to body-shame them for being as they are – it’s not nice to say that they’re too skinny when they’re thin and it’s not nice to say that the plus models are not fat enough to be called plus. These ladies aren’t the ones to blame – if (!) you want to blame someone for using “wrong role models”, it’s the companies who decide that you can’t show fat girls in bikinis and if you do so, that they have to be totally photoshopped. We need to ask the brands and advertising people to give us more realness, bodies with their “flaws” and actual humans, not optimized photos. Just like last year, when Swimsuits4all started a small revolution by initiating the #BeachBodyNotSorry campaign with Denise Bidot and absolutely no Photoshop and it was absolutely amazing – and the reason why I started with my own #BeachBodyNotSorry project here on the blog: I want to show you one of so many different bodies that are good the way they are. It’s about seeing something “real” (and by “real” I mean “not modified” – because all bodies are real bodies!) and something that maybe some of you can relate to.

But there’s always that one thing which I keep hiding – my insulin pump. It’s not because I’m ashamed of it, but most of the time I feel like it ruins the whole composition of my looks. And usually it’s no problem to “hide” it – I wear it attached to my bra between my breasts or under dresses clipped onto the shorts I’m wearing underneath to avoid the horrible chub rub. It’s not that I’m trying to hide my chronic illness on purpose, it’s just that it’s not that fashionable. But then I thought: why not show my pump and share it with the world? I know there are many who think I have diabetes because I’m fat (oh, the favorite argument on the topic of fat people from people who actually don’t care – you’ll get diabetes!) and even though I keep explaining that I’ve got Type 1 (which means that I was born with it – and when I was 10, I had to start with insulin therapy), they just don’t care. Anyways – I don’t do this for people who hate me just because they want to hate me. I do it for people who feel like they need somebody to look up to. Someone who looks like them. With a major booty, a hanging belly, cellulite and stretch marks – and maybe also diabetes. Because not only my body, the surface, is a part of me, it’s also what’s inside and diabetes is a part of it. A few years ago, I wrote about my diabetes story (you can read it → here, but unfortunately only in German), today I want to show that wearing a pump is nothing to be ashamed of, even though there will always be people who look at you (but most times they’re just wondering if you’re a cyborg, haha!) or ask you weird questions, but that’s absolutely legitimate. Curiosity at least shows that someone’s interested in you, right? ;)

And since the introduction was about honesty: even though sometimes diabetes sucks, it’s not something I want to cry about – there are so many worse illnesses and diabetes is just super annoying because it’s always on your mind. But it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t stop me from doing anything and yes – I can eat everything, even sugar (diabetes is about carbs!). I just want to tell you honestly that if I get the chance to “hide” the pump, I’ll continue to do so if it just doesn’t look super fancy with my outfits, but if I can show it, I will show it. You should never be ashamed of what’s part of you, even if it’s something unpleasant. ♥

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• Dots •

• Dots •

4 - Lu zieht an.®

Photos: Falko Blümlein
Bikini: Marina Rinaldi
Scarf: Vintage
Sunglasses: YSL
Earrings: Chanel

So, you’ve already seen what I wore on my way to the beach – this is the bikini I wore underneath. ;) I really love the dot combo and the different possibilities to wear them – there are also detachable straps for the bra and you can wear the bottom high-waisted or not, showing more of the bigger dots or not.
Fun fact: I’ve always been a fan of strapless bikinis, since I was a small kid at the beach in Brazil – I always wanted to wear everything strapless. :) And it hasn’t changed.

I know there should always be a little message in every #BeachBodyNotSorry post, but to be honest, I don’t really know what to say since I already said it all → last year. But today, I really want to point out again how important it is to not let other people’s possible (!) thoughts and reactions stop you from going to the beach or pool in summer. I mean – it’s been super hot these days (and pretty rainy, too) and I just can’t think of a summer hidden behind lots of clothes just to hide my body, and neither should you. Even if there’s something you don’t really like about yourself and your own body, there’s absolutely no need to wrap yourself in loads of long-sleeved shirts and pants, because, seriously, you’re going to melt and this is an even worse feeling than other people’s stupid looks. They’ll stare anyway (because we all do it, it’s natural!), so why not ignore it and wear whatever you feel like. And the beach is so much more fun when you’re wearing swimwear! Just don’t forget your sunscreen! ;)

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