We're not all Gisele Bundchen, says a Copacabana mom
(NEWSER) - Tall and tanned and young and lovely ... and packing on the pounds. The girl from Ipanema isn't quite so svelte any longer, and barely-there Brazilian bikinis are finally expanding with her increasing girth. A number of manufacturers are now peddling plus-size versions that are popping up on beaches. "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," says a mom soaking up the rays at Copacabana beach. "Finally people are beginning to realize that we're not all Gisele Bundchen." The director of Lehona, one of the first Brazilian companies to launch a line of bigger bikinis, said designers "work 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." More»