Do or Don’t: Plus-Size Bikinis Take Brazil’s Beaches by Storm

Brazil is famous for a lot of things—like amazing (and totally hot) soccer players, gorgeous beaches, delicious food, stunning supermodels, fantastical modernist architecture, and the country’s vast, plush rainforest. One of the most famous things that so many people associate with Brazil is… wait for it… the country’s signature itty-bitty teeny-weeny super-sexy bikinis (from where, I suspect, the eponymous wax gets its name).

And, while anyone who’s ever been to Brazil can attest to the fact that the country is just teeming with hot bodies, there is a growing segment of the Brazilian population that boasts more robust figures—and, according to a report by the Associated Press, they’re not afraid to show off their curves!

“Finally, it seems like people are beginning to realize that we’re not all Gisele,” a 38-year-old size 12 mom-of-four told the AP when they spotted her on the beach in a black bikini. “It used to be bikinis were only in tiny sizes that only skinny girls could fit into. But not everyone is built like a model… God makes some people thin but he made me like this. So who am I to think that he was wrong?”

Check out these photos I pulled from Brazilian plus-size swimwear label Lehona Moda Praia’s lookbook. Lehona makes swimwear in sizes from 44 to 60—which is about a size 12 to size 28. What do you think of these bikinis? Pretty hot, huh?

“We’re working from the principle that bigger women are just like everyone else: They don’t want to look like old ladies, wearing these very modest, very covering swimsuits in just black,” Lehona Moda Praia director Luiz Rebelatto told the AP. “Some brands, they don’t want their image to be associated with chunky women… Only the thin, the rich and the chic.”

What do you think about plus-size bikinis? I love how so many plus-size women in Brazil are totally confident in wearing bikinis on the beach—and I think that everyone should be able to wear whatever they feel comfortable in. Do you think plus-size bikinis are a Do or a Don’t? Do you wish there were more plus-size swimwear options available in the United States? Tell us in the comments.

PLUS…

· Stacy London is producing a new show about plus-size shopping

· A new store debuts plus-size dressing rooms, let’s discuss

· Bridesmaids star Melissa McCarthy is designing a plus-size clothing line!

Photos via Lehona