To thong or not to thong...?

We may be a little biased here at Ocean Eyes Swim, but we do believe the thong cut bikini bottom is the bees' knees (knees? bum?)

There is a great divide within the garment wearing community about our not-so-humble bum bare-er.

A multitude of arguments exist ranging from the appropriateness of wear at particular water events to some women believing they "don't have the figure to wear a thong" (to that we say, you HAVE a body, do you not? Then you DO have the figure!)

Of course, I do understand the emotion behind a woman dropping lines like that; what with the media forever depicting (highly edited) women as flawless, goddess like beings with no wrinkles, cellulite or imperfections anywhere (If you didn't catch our Real, Raw & Divine campaign, now's the time).

For the sake of making a visual point, please enjoy pics throughout this post of my bestie, Erin, who's bum I greatly admire, hence my desire to photograph her in Ocean Eyes Swim!

With legions of debate already looming regarding the place a thong bikini has in your wardrobe and our society; I won't add to that here; you know our stance on the topic so instead I will simply remind you just what a thong cut can do for you (aside from make you look like a total bad-ass - pun intended).

Behold, my top points for complete bad-assery:

• Many women are under the belief that a thong cut makes your bum look bigger when in fact, it is the opposite. Think about it, the fabric of a full coverage bikini bottom spans a wider area than a thong. Based on how optical illusion theory, a thong actually creates a slimming silhouette across one's back side, elongating the leg. Pair this with a high cut hip and you've got yourself some eyes travelling the vertical lines of your figure instead of the horizontal ones of a full coverage piece.

• Your tan lines will be awesome!

• And now, the big one: I won't lie, it will take some time and a lot of positive self-talk to bare all after so many years of society telling us to be ashamed of our bodies in order to sell us things (I'm looking at YOU wrinkle creams) but we as women, do not exist for anyone but ourselves. If you want to wear a thong because you like them, you go do it and here's my bikini professional opinion as to why you should. Society is so deeply conditioned to believe that the female body should be covered up, but then, in the same breath, will beg to see it so we get our kits off and demonstrate some self-love and acceptance and everyone's all offended again - Nuh, f**k that. That's called manipulation. (some) Men think that they're entitled to see your body and therefore when you show it off for anyone but them, they get pissed. The media want you to hate your body and cover it up, so you buy the miracle 'treatments' they peddle for marketing dollars that correct female flaws that don't actually exist. That insecurity you feel when you don the fabulous thong is not a result of anything that's wrong with you, it's the oppressive force of society that's been placed on women's shoulders since forever was invented. (Side story, a male friend once looked at my Instagram and saw a pic of me in a thong and said, "are you sure you want me to be looking at this?", as if I had something to be ashamed of. To which I responded, "Well I'm not sexualising my body in wearing that, you are". I totally didn't mean to make him sound like a perve, because he isn't one. Rather my goal was to remind him that his perception of me in that photo was his and his alone).

• Whoever made bums offensive needs Jeebus (who is Jeebus you might ask? Jeebus is our bikini overlord).

And that my friends, completes my list of reasons why one should go out and fill their swimwear wardrobes immediately with thong bikinis (preferably the Ocean Eyes Swim variety). And I don't think I need to remind you that if you disagree with thongs in general, or with anything you've read here, that's fine, it isn't for you. But if you see a woman out in the wild enjoying herself, her body and her thong, it's none of your business. If you do agree however, you've found your tribe Queen; you wear that buttcrack bestie to your full empowerment. Please enjoy another pic of my GF, Erin in yet another thong swimsuit <3

Bo xxx