Nothing Lasts Forever...Or Can It?
It's no secret that I swim a lot. I usually swim a mile or more of laps a minimum of 3-4 times a week. Lately, it's been 5 or 6 times a week. Being a serious lap swimmer means you go through a lot of swimsuits. Harsh pool chemicals like chlorine make the elastic turn gummy and the suit then fades and stretches out and turns thin and flimsy. Although I'm used to this wear-and-tear, I still can't help but get bummed out whenever I see one of my (many) favorite swimsuits starting to go bad. Especially when it's a Speedo, TYR, or Nike brand racing suit I paid $65, 70, or 80+ for. Swimsuits aren't cheap! Unfortunately, the first place where my swimsuits typically tend to stretch out is in the ass, while the rest of the suit might still be in perfectly fine condition. I hate this! Does this happen to you guys, too? Or do I swimm too much, or maybe just have an ass that's too large for my swimsuit? (Don't answer the latter. Ha!).
It brings me to a real (non-rhetorical) question: do you guys have any ideas about uses for old swimsuits? I realize it's a shot in the dark, and probably a silly question, but I want to know if anyone knows or can think of creative or practical ways to recycle or re-use the material from old swimsuits. It sounds ridiculous--and don't laugh, but--I always cringe at the idea of having to pitch a suit in the trash even if it's faded and gummy, when I think about how much I paid when I bought it, and how the torso is still intact but just the ass part of the suit is worn and see-through.
I don't really know how to sew, and I don't know if it would be feasible to sew with the lycra/nylon material that swimsuits are made of, but...I can't help but think it would be cool if there were some way to cut the bottoms off of some of my suits and then turn them into a sports bra I could wear to the gym, or something. I also keep imagining that maybe the straps or other parts can be turned into a headband, or the built-in bra cups in some of my non-racing suits can be cut out and reused somehow. Do you think these are crazy, or are my ideas realistic? What else can my swimsuits be reused for or recycled into? Any ideas??
In other news, I am...swamped and stressed with things related to starting comprehensive exams (hopefully I get the green light to start very soon). I am stressed about a lot of things. But I'm also happy about other things. Despite the abundance of rain, summer is off to a great start.
Also, I am currently (re)reading a book about college/university sororities by investigative journalist Alexandra Robbins. I'm sure to have more to say about this later, as I'm not bias-free when it comes to this topic. (I actually had to read/skim this and another book by Robbins last year for a qualitative research based class, looking at it from the lens of how Robbins collected info and often went undercover as a participant-observer, the way many researchers do when conducting qualitative research). I'm enjoying it a whole lot more as leisure reading this time around.
