Bestswimwear.com, an online retailer of designer swimwear separates, is meeting the growing demand of women for cinched and shirred-back bikini bottoms by carrying a variety of styles, designed to flatter every figure.

B. Swims Cheeky Cupcake L47 bottom, recently featured in the vibrant Canary yellow on the cover of Surfing Magazine, is bringing the trend to the forefront of the industry as the original do-it-yourself cinch bottom. The Cheeky Cupcake is the first adjustable shirred-back bottom. The pull string allows consumers to ease into the trend by giving them control of coverage.

The Cheeky Cupcake has been successful because it creates curves, says B. Swim designer Nikol Roberts. By giving the customer the ability to adjust the bottom herself, she can decide how cheeky she wants to be.

B. Swim also features the Pucker-Up Buttercup L53 bottom with a non-adjustable shirred-back creating a moderate amount of coverage. The newest addition to the B. Swim collection is Sassy Pants L59 a shirred-back hot pant. All B. Swim bottoms are offered in a variety of colorful prints and bright solids that pair perfectly with the lines popular tops.

Bestswimwear.com shoppers embracing the cinch-back trend will also find more options from Vitamin A with the Brasilia bottom and Rio Ruffle collection. The Brasilia is a seamless tie-side shirred-back bottom that allows the fabric to rest comfortably on the body, while the Rio Ruffle cinch-back collection features a scoop, tie side and hot pant each outlined by figure flattering ruffles.

The more conservative woman who desires to stay current will find the Sunsets Separates style 20B shirred-back bottom offers coverage and class with many options for colors and prints that can be paired with the lines specialty D, DD and E cup sizes.

About Bestswimwear.com
Bestswimwear.com is an online retailer of designer swimwear. Specializing in swimwear separates, Bestswimwear.com offers women of all sizes the perfect fit. Many of the designer brands carried at Bestswimwear.com are featured on celebrities, fashion runways and in top fashion magazines.

Contact
Bobbi Barbour
Bestswimwear.com
1036 Hermosa Ave
Hermosa Beach Cal 90254
Phone 310.379.7946
http://www.bestswimwear.com

Heavy metal music blares in the showroom at Resorts casino in Atlantic City. Two aerialists fly and writhe to screaming guitars and stentorian beats, wearing black push-up bras, bikini bottoms and thigh-high stockings. They end their routine climbing on top of each other to simulate an erotic encounter.

Welcome to “Cirque Risque,” aka the naked circus, a celebration of talent and cleavage. the revue is the product of a sexy makeover at Resorts.

The oldest casino in America’s Playground was sold last December to owners with some wild ideas to lure new crowds. Suggestive images of women are the focal points of a roaring 1920s marketing campaign, mirroring the debauchery depicted in “Boardwalk Empire.”

“I like doing things that capture people’s attention,” says co-owner Dennis Gomes, 67, a former Las Vegas investigator whose detective work inspired the movie “Casino.” In Atlantic City, he helped revitalize the neighboring Tropicana with such exotic promotions as a tic tac toe-playing chicken.

When Resorts unveiled its concept, it made national headlines with a billboard showing a female backside in a g-string and beads, advertising a burlesque show called “Moonshine Follies” (double entendre intended).

Gomes has succeeded in slowing down revenue losses, which counts as a win these days, but his new initiatives are also generating lawsuits and picket lines.

Union protesters have singled out the casino because of wage cuts under the new regime. more than a dozen cocktail waitresses who lost their jobs in the transition are suing, claiming they were let go after tight uniforms were introduced.

“Long-term waitresses were made to do a photo shoot in the new uniform,” says union spokesman Ben Begleiter. “Women who were a size 6 or 8 were made to wear uniforms that were size 2 and 4. They were photographed from the neck down and in some cases they were asked to spread their legs wider. the pictures were sent to a modeling agency and 60 percent of the waitresses were terminated. Women can’t wear undergarments in the new uniform.”

A towering picture of two flappers in backless dresses adorns the side of the building. Signs are punctuated with the slogan “Let us serve you.”

Gomes is unabashed about his flapper fetish. He says he personally designed the uniform. “A woman’s back is beautiful,” he says.

In his mind, the flapper era was one of liberation and empowerment.

“It was a time when women could come out and be more equal to men and, heaven forbid, dance in public,” says Gomes. “The first flapper I ever saw was a picture of my grandmother.”

Gomes purchased the aging property for a bargain, $31.5 million, with partner Morris Bailey, a new York real estate developer. Revenue through August was $106.5 million, off $4.4 million from 2010. That’s an improvement over last year, when earnings slid $24.1 million in the same time frame.

“The average decline for all 11 casinos was 8.7 percent for the first eight months of the year,” says Daniel Heneghan, spokesman for the new Jersey Casino Control Commission. “Resorts had a relatively small decline at 4.1 percent. the smallest decline was the Borgata, at 2.7 percent.”

Consumer spending on gambling has been falling industry-wide since the early months of the Great Recession, according to gaming analyst Keith Foley of Moody’s Investor Services. the burgeoning Pennsylvania casino industry is also cutting into Atlantic City’s take. He says casino owners should brace themselves for a permanent reduction in revenue.

“Gaming is a relatively new form of entertainment that grew dramatically during the bubble,” says Foley. “The idea that gaming will bounce back to where it was, there’s no evidence to suggest that is happening now or will happen at any point in the future.”

Gaming isn’t going away, Foley says, but casinos need to offer more than the fantasy of instant wealth. Gomes describes Resorts as a new company with limited resources. Instead of turning the casino into a theme park, he is offering a whole other type of fantasy.

Cirque Risque ends on Wednesday but there’s talk of a holiday show. In October, female audiences can ogle shirtless male performers, as an “extreme” flamenco dance troupe named Vivancos takes over the showroom.

“It’s focused on seven brothers that are magnificent to look at,” says Gomes. “Their bodies are muscular and their dancing is phenomenal.”

The casino workers union, Local 54 of UNITE-HERE is staging weekly protests at Resorts. although there could be a city-wide strike, the group is targeting Gomes’ property because of pay reductions.

“There were workers who’ve been at Resorts since it opened in 1978 whose salaries were cut more than 50 percent,” says Begleiter. “Instead of investing money in the casino, Gomes is trying to make it profitable by slashing salaries.”

Gomes says he’s still paying union wages and there would be no jobs if Resorts had closed.

“I hired the workers back at three and a half year salary levels,” says Gomes. “The union is claiming that our people are working at poverty wages. If that’s the case, the union is the one that negotiated these rates. We had a job fair today and thousands of people came.”

Gomes is seeking candidates to fill slots in case of a strike.

“We’re signing people up so if people walk off the job, they’re going to be replaced temporarily or permanently by people that want to work,” says Gomes.

When picketers circle outside chanting “Shame on you, Resorts,” Gomes plays an answer chant on loudspeakers near the doors, “We love Resorts.”

“Our mission statement is to help every person, executive or line employee, through love and kindness to reach their highest potential,” says Gomes. “It creates good karma. In the martial arts, they call it chi. the good chi comes back to you.”

It’s going to take a considerable amount of chi to restore healthy profits at Resorts. Atlantic City as a whole took a hit when Pennsylvania legalized table gaming last year.

“People still game but they don’t do it in Atlantic City as much,” says Foley, the gambling industry analyst. “If people are offered a good alternative and it’s a closer ride, they’ll go. In June, Pennsylvania was $243 million and Atlantic City was $276 million. In December of 2010, Atlantic City had about $300 million in revenue. Pennsylvania had about $185 million. In December of 2008, Atlantic City had about $302 and Pennsylvania had less than half of that. Pennsylvania is coming up and Atlantic City is going down. They’re getting decimated by Pennsylvania.”

Gomes said he believes the business is cyclical and Atlantic City will start bustling again once the economy turns around. Both he and Heneghan point out that luxury tax revenue was up during the first six months of the year.

The total through June 2011 was $15 million, compared with $12.3 million in 2010. the increase indicates that visitors are spending more on hotel rooms, meals and non-gambling activities.

Lisa Rose: lrose@starledger.com.

Resorts casino brings glitz (and controversy) back to AC

One of the newest and best waxing experiences, Uni.K.Wax Center is located at 8915 Towne Centre Dr. Suite 118 in San Diego, California. Offering the cleanest, greenest and possibly fastest waxing experience at affordable prices, Uni.K.Wax Center of San Diego is the first to create a green “waxing only” center experience for men and women on the west coast. Represented by Madeline Johnson Marketing & Public Relations, Uni.K.Wax Centers offer unique and innovative hair removal services and products that originated in the bikini capital of the world, Miami (South Beach), Florida in 1993.

Now with fans like Beyonce and Cameron Diaz and over 20 booming locations from coast-to-coast, Uni.K.Wax Centers are growing rapidly by word-of-mouth as more and more friends recommend these body and facial waxing specialists with locations recently opened and opening in cities coast-to-coast.

Uni.K.Wax Centers are devoted to the art of practically painless, safe hair removal in a clean and comfortable environment. Offering both male and female clients a greener waxing experience in facial and full body waxing, Uni.K.Wax Centers use an innovative natural, herbal wax that completely removes hair without wasteful and painful paper strips.

Unlike “hard waxes” that break on the skin, Uni.K.Wax always stays soft on the skin and has a proprietary elasticity that allows the technician the ability to remove hair thoroughly without the pain of “pulling” the skin with paper strips. Uni.K.Wax is created from safe, natural ingredients including pine sap and beeswax and has an aloe vera base that nourishes the skin while gently removing hair.

Removing hair in the most gentle and fastest way possible, Uni.K.Wax technicians use a special spatula on larger areas of the face and body, that never touches the skin, ensuring the cleanest, most hygienic waxing experience one can receive.

Using just enough wax for each client, each Uni.K.Wax Center client is waxed with their very own personalized warming canister of wax that is prepared on site in the Uni.K.Wax laboratory. Unused wax is disposed of immediately after each service to ensure a standard of hygiene found in no other waxing spa or salon.

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Uni.K.Wax Centers are also affordable and offer a detailed wax menu for both men and women. Waxing everything but the head, Uni.K.Wax prices range from $8.00 for upper lip to full Brazilian Bikini for $25.00 for women.

Additional services include Shapes for men and women and Celebrity Brows starting at $25.00 with take home stencil and cosmetic kits.

Special packages for her include full legs, bikini line and under arms for $63.00 and back, shoulders, chest and stomach for him for $93.00.

Those wishing to book an appointment can do so by calling today (858) 455-5520. Open Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 7 pm. Closed on Sundays. Uni.K.Wax Centers of San Diego have extended summer hours from 9am to 8pm from Memorial Day to Labor Day. For more information about Uni.K.Wax Centers visit http://sandiego.unikwax.com/. Members of the media call Madeline Johnson at 212.228.3640.

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Betfair gambling group may have inspired the wrath of feminists out there, but it has certainly turned the attention of many gamblers to their product… and created an unprecedented interest in female beach volleyball! The group, which is actively changing the direction of its marketing campaign, had a quick response code printed on the bikini bottoms of two UK Olympic Team volleyball players, essentially encouraging gamblers to take a picture of their booties and redeem the code for a free flutter! it is believed that Zara Dampney and Shauna Mullin are the first sportswomen to rent their rears in a sponsorship deal. Betfair has already been told that it will not be allowed to pull this advertising stunt during the Olympics, where it is sponsoring the UK female beach volleyball team.

A Polish guy is walking along the beach in France. there are many beautiful women and he really wants to meet one. But the women don’t seem to be at all interested. Finally, he walks up to a French guy surrounded by adoring women.”Excuse me,” he says, “but I’ve been trying to meet one of those women for about an hour now, and I just can’t seem to get anywhere with them. You’re French. You know these women. What do they want?” “maybe I can help a leetle beet,” says the Frenchman. “What you do ees you go to zee store. You buy a leetle sweeming suit. You walk up and down zee beach. You meet girl very qweekly zees way.” “Wow! thanks!” says the Polish guy, and off he goes to the store. He buys a skimpy red bathing suit, puts it on, and goes back to the beach. He parades up and down the beach but still has no luck with the ladies. so he goes back to the Frenchman. “I’m sorry to bother you again,” he says, “but I went to the store, I got a swimsuit, and I still haven’t been able to meet a girl.” “okay,” says the Frenchman, “I tell you what you do. You go to zee store. You buy potato. You put potato in sweeming suit and walk up and down zee beach. You will meet girl very, very qweekly zees way.” “thanks!” says the guy, and runs off to the store. He buys the potato, puts it in the swimsuit, and marches up and down the beach. Up and down, up and down he walks, but the women will hardly even look at him. After half an hour he can’t take it anymore and goes back to the Frenchman.”Look,” he says, “I got the suit, I put the potato in it, and I walked up and down the beach- and still nothing! What more can I do?” “well,” says the Frenchman, “maybe I can help you a leetle beet. Why don’t you try moving zee potato to the FRONT of zee sweeming suit?”

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 11th, 2011 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Casino News & Jokes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Betfair Bets on Bikini Bottoms « Online Casino Blog – Casino News and Jokes

TORONTO — Whether taking a stretch on the sand, breaking a sweat on the trail or seeking respite on holiday, Day 2 of spring-summer 2012 collections at Toronto’s LG Fashion Week offered plenty of options to send fashion fans to their destination of choice in style.

Attitude Jay Manuel: Clad in fedoras, headscarves and oversized glasses, models walking the runway for Attitude Jay Manuel were the picture of globetrotting cool in the spring-summer line from the Sears private label collection.

It was the second collection with creative director Jay Manuel of “America’s next Top Model” fame at the helm. And the new line delivered a taste of urban safari-inspired chic for the jet-setting fashionista, along with several garments that could easily be incorporated into everyday wear closer to home.

Black loomed large in the collection, but there was ample colour in he mix with bold magenta, blue and red hues alongside more muted neutrals like olive greens and beiges.

Loose-fitting shirtdresses, off-shoulder knit sweaters, slinky maxi skirts and sleek jumpsuits conjured laid-back luxe. A medley of prints from snakeskin to swirls, colour blocks and chunky vertical stripes adorned breezy henley blouses, slinky sheaths and tanks.

But there were plenty of basics for traditionalists, including trench coats boasting looser silhouettes, tailored tapered pants and bootleg denim.

The lone hiccup in the show was when Yasmin Warsame took a tumble amid cloudy gusts of dry ice on the slick, patterned runway. but the supermodel manage to recover with the assistance of a front-row stylewatcher and the cheers of the supportive crowd.

Chloe comme Parris: with a paint-splattered runway and brightly-hued paintings affixed to stark white walls, the Studio environment took on the semblance of gallery for stylewatchers soaking in the latest looks from Chloe comme Parris.

Chloe and Parris Gordon brought their own taste artistry to the makeshift canvas catwalk with the latest looks from their fashion and jewelry brand steeped in a colour palette of navy, cream, olive and yellow.

The sisters unveiled a sleek succession of monochromatic knits and richly-printed separates adorned with their brassy customized buttons, buckles, findings and zipper ends.

The line was a study in contrasts, with tailored suit jackets and fitted pants and slim-fitting jersey-style dresses alongside garments boasting more fluid silhouettes, like sheer panelled shirtdresses, asymmetrical wrap-front tunics and with draped-back detailing on tanks and shirting.

Mercedes Benz Start Up: Montreal-based design duo Martin Lim took home the top prize at the Mercedes-Benz Start Up program for up-and-coming Canadian designers.

Designers Danielle Martin and Pao Lim were among five finalists in the inaugural contest aimed at offering support and mentorship to emerging homegrown talents.

The pair founded their label last year, and gained experience in the industry working with renowned designers like Christian Lacroix and Roland Mouret. in a short video screened the duo revealed they were inspired by a trip to Europe prior to the unveiling of looks from their spring-summer 2012 line.

Martin Lim’s succession of fluid and feminine colour-blocked creations clearly curried favour with the judging panel, which included Canadian supermodel Jessica Stam, Fashion Magazine editor-in-chief Bernadette Morra and Bustle Clothing co-founder and creative director Shawn Hewson.

Stam announced the winners following the runway showcase which featured fellow Montreal-based finalists Travis Taddeo and UNTTLD, and Vancouver-based Cassie Dee and Triarchy.

The final five were selected from a nationwide search and received mentoring as they readied their collections for the runway.

In addition to mentoring from industry experts, Martin Lim will also receive an editorial feature in Fashion Magazine and their own fully-produced runway show during fall-winter collections at Fashion Week next March.

Lim said he and Martin were “honoured and quite surprised” in being crowned winners and sees it as a valuable opportunity for their fledgling label.

“As a small company, we really need help in order to go to the next level.”

Launched in June, the program is aimed at providing a national platform to discover and offer assistance to up-and-coming designers who have been in business for less than five years.

Twenty designers were selected from a pool of submissions to move on to the semi-final round of competition. in its inaugural year, the semi-finals took place in Montreal and Vancouver. JoAnne Caza from Mercedes-Benz Canada announced Tuesday that the program will expand to semis in four new cities: Halifax, Quebec City, Ottawa and Edmonton.

Ryerson University school of fashion chair and panel judge Robert Ott said the Canadian fashion industry poses unique challenges.

“It’s really tough to be recognized, first of all, and sometimes it appears that Canadian designers have to go abroad to get other countries to recognize them and then they may return home and then we’ll give them due recognition,” he said backstage prior to the show. “But the other thing is there’s very little funding, it’s difficult to get a designer with business together so it can actually realize their dreams and start manufacturing collections and selling it to retailers.”

All finalists will continue to receive support, he said.

“I think it’s not a question of who ends up first: it’s a question of who actually has longevity in making their passion come true — and it could be any one of them.”

Tosca Delfino: when it came to tapping into inspiration for her latest swimwear looks, the desisgner brought a decidedly more personal touch to her creations with a line inspired by friends and photos captured in her own travels.

Add in a dose of sun-kissed island luxury with a sprinkling of the city and the designer delivered a concoction of colourful creations fit for the sand and surf — or a maybe a stylish lounge poolside.

Save for a few “Baywatch” — style tank suits, Delfino’s new designs for spring-summer 2012 were not for the modest, with plenty of string bikini and bandeau tops and halter-style suits with plunging necklines. the collection was largely steeped in more muted earthy hues with vibrant pops of aqua, yellow and coral.

Rather than tried-and-true patterns that have become de rigueur in swimwear, such as polka dots and stripes, Delfino was more inventive with miniature dolphins, stars and a succession of colourful, kaleidoscopic patterns varying in shape and scope on everything from high-waisted briefs to kimono-sleeved rompers. there were also playful touches like fringe and ruffled folds on suit bottoms.

The nighttime Toronto skyline got the beach treatment printed on a tank-style suit and matching cover-up skirt with a high slit.

Joeffer Caoc: the womenswear designer brought his penchant for glam to the playing field with an athletic-inspired range of designs.

Past collections from Caoc have largely focused on his sleek evening looks befitting a night on the town. yet he opted to embrace a decidedly more casual esthetic in his spring-summer 2012 line.

Stylish sportswear-tinged touches were present in the creations, which incorporated bright orange and fuchsia alongside powdery pastels on a base of creamy white and neutral hues.

Racerback-style dresses, fluid tanks, track shorts, jersey pants and hoodies featured subtle embellishments like miniaturized mesh panelling or more pronounced racing stripes along pant legs and contrast-coloured trims encircling collars. but the glam was in full force with slightly bolder offerings giving metallics time to shine.

Some eye-popping looks weren’t suitable for those who wish to recede in the background: black athletic mesh pants and jackets affixed atop shimmering gold lining, slick silver briefs and an iridescent silver romper.

For the slightly less adventurous, there were plenty of classic offerings to close out the show, including tailored jackets in tweed and seersucker, layered silk tulle tops and chic slim-fitting sequinned dresses.

Day 2 also featured collections from Amanda Lew Kee, Michi, Laura Siegel and LOVAS.

Fashion Week continues until Friday.

Sport, sun, travel colour collections on Day 2 of LG Fashion Week

XIV fell -6.30%, to close at $5.80 and its overall traded volume was 7.19M shares in the last trading session. XIV opened the day at $6.27, it made an intraday low of $5.79 and an intraday high of $6.34. the stock has a 52 week low of $5.74 and 52 week high of $19.36. the market capitalization of the company stands at $335.50M and it has     - outstanding shares.

XME percentage change fell -6.82%, to close at $45.79 and its overall traded volume was 5.27M shares in the last trading session. XME shares were trading within the range of $45.56-$49.37 while its opening price was $49.30. the 52-week range of the stock is $45.20 – $77.44. the market capitalization of the company stands at $606.72M and it has 13.25M outstanding shares. SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF (the Fund) seeks to replicate as closely as possible the performance of the S&P Metals & Mining Select Industry Index (the Index). the Index is an equal weighted market cap index. the Index represents the metals and mining sub-industry portion of the S&P Total Market Index. the Fund invests in industries, such as steel, coal and consumable fuels, gold, precious metals and minerals, aluminum, and diversified metals and mining. the Fund’s investment advisor is SSgA Funds Management, Inc. XPP slid -7.46%, to close at $40.96 and its overall traded volume was 44,797.00 shares in the last trading session. XPP shares were trading within the range of $40.93-$43.29 while its opening price was $42.81. the stock has a 52 week range of $38.26 – $90.43. XPP’s market capitalization is $24.34M and it has     - outstanding shares. XXV percentage change dropped -1.79%, to close at $30.26 and its overall traded volume was 264,800.00 shares in the last trading session. XXV opened at $30.92 and is trading within the range of $30.25-$31.00. the stock has a 52 week low of $27.05 and 52 week high of $36.06. XXV’s market capitalization is $55.74M and it has     - outstanding shares. ZQK percentage change dropped -6.23%, to close at $3.16 and its overall traded volume was 933,293.00 shares in the last trading session. ZQK opened the day at $3.38, it made an intraday low of $3.16 and an intraday high of $3.43. the stock has a 52 week low of $3.14 and 52 week high of $5.70. the market capitalization of the company stands at $521.91M and it has 165.16M outstanding shares. Quiksilver, Inc. is a diversified company that designs, develops and distributes branded apparel, footwear, accessories and related products, catering to the casual, youth lifestyle associated with the sports of surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding. It markets products across three core brands: Quiksilver, Roxy and DC, as well as several smaller brands. its products are sold in over 90 countries in a range of distribution channels, including surf shops, skateboard shops, snowboard shops, specialty stores, select department stores and 764 owned or licensed company stores. During fiscal year ended October 31, 2010 (fiscal 2010), more than 65% of its revenue was generated outside of the United States. In April 2010, the Company sold its Raisins juniors swimwear label and Leilani contemporary label.

Moved Below Lower Keltner Channel – XIV, XME, XPP, XXV, ZQK

For those lucky expectant mothers who are taking a fall vacation to a warmer location, packing the right swimwear is important. Maternity swimwear is designed with the utmost comfort of the mother in mind, while maintaining a flattering and stylish look. for fall vacations, one’s choice in maternity swimwear is dependent on one’s goals and activities during one’s vacation. Whether you plan on having a highly active or totally relaxing time, there is the perfect swimsuit for your preference and personal style.

For those whose perfect fall vacation consists of staying active, whether that is through kayaking, swimming laps, or waterslides, a one-piece is a great option. a one-piece ensures stability and that one’s swimsuit will not slip or slide during activities. Although one-pieces are practical, they are also flattering and sexy. one stylish option is the 1 Piece Keyhole Maternity Swimwear from Maternal America. With an adjustable halter tie, it is able to be molded to fit your body perfectly. a v-neckline culminates at the bust with a trendy metal O-ring and gentle ruching, creating a beautiful shape for your body. another great option is the Jade Empire Tank from Prego Maternity. The rich jade color is super flattering, and the empire waist emphasis gives this suit a beautiful shape. As practical as it is pretty, the swimsuit is designed with wide adjustable shoulder straps, which ensure excellent bust support during all water activities. Both flattering and functional, a one-piece maternity swimsuit is a fantastic option for the active adventurer

If one’s dream fall vacation is laying on the beach or by the pool, gently soaking up the sun’s rays, a cute bikini is a fantastic option as it will create minimal tan lines. Seen on such pregnant celebrities as Tori Spelling, Alicia Keys, and most recently Alanis Morissette, a bikini is trendy while still being comfortable. The Black Dot Bikini by Prego Maternity is a stylish and functional option. The dot pattern is very feminine and the rectangular ring design at the bust adds a unique touch. With its adjustable halter top, it can be fitted perfectly to your size. You will want to keep wearing this long after you have given birth another gorgeous maternity bikini is the Aqua Ring Maternity Bikini from Belabumbum. Perfect for lounging by the pool or at the beach, this bikini has a dainty floral print layered on top of a flattering aqua blue. The silver O-ring at the bust and on the waist is trendy and unique. With its adjustable halter and back ties, it is both functional and flattering. Bikinis are trendy and sexy, but still maintain a high level of comfort.

For fall vacations, swimsuit cover ups are essential. They provide a great transition from the beach to a low-key dinner or from the pool to game night on the cruise ship. When paired with flip flops, you have instantly created a gorgeous casual outfit. a beautiful option is the Beach Maternity/Nursing Dress from maternity designer 1 in the Oven. Made of a light-weight cotton gauze fabric, this maxi dress is super stylish. The four dainty buttons at the bust provide easy nursing access, ensuring you will get a lot of wear out of it Pair it with flip flops or gladiator sandals for a cute beach look. another great cover up option is the Tunic Swimsuit Cover-up from Maternal America. The lightweight cotton fabric ties at the back for a figure flattering look. Whether you are heading to lunch directly after the beach or just strolling around, it is a fashionable and comfortable look

For a fall vacation, it is important to find the maternity swimwear that works best for the activities you will be doing. by finding a swimsuit that is both comfortable and flattering, you will look and feel your best. since most maternity swimwear is so stylish, it can be worn long after you have given birth, ensuring you will get a lot of bang for your buck.

Maternity Swimwear – What to Take on a Fall Vacation

In his monthly columns in Vanity Fair and on his blog, Wolcott hardly seems like the kind of author who’d acknowledge the part dumb luck played in his rise to the heights of serious cultural criticism, a field so small its regular, paid practitioners would be hard pressed to pull together a pickup volleyball team to go against the world’s remaining door-to-door seltzer salesmen.

Writing for the last 40 years in Vanity Fair, The New Republic, The London Review of Books,The New Yorker, The New Criterion, Esquire, Harper’s, Texas Monthly, and The Village Voice, Wolcott made his name with a curmudgeonly disposition and orotund style of criticism. in his Vanity Fair columns, he’s slain manqués like Piers Morgan (“How did we get stuck with Piers Morgan? who is he, why is he here, is he returnable?”) and mooks like the cast of Jersey Shore (“I recognize that Jersey Shore is a pop sensation, and as such we’re stuck with the stupid thing…”), while gutting mountebanks like Lou Dobbs (“If Lou Dobbs were any more full of himself, the tub would overflow…”) and Bill O’Reilly (“O’Reilly’s posturing as a working-class hero has been derided as pure salami…”).

The Don Rickles of commentary, Wolcott has delighted in going after cultural figures at the highest levels. a 1989 Vanity Fair column about Richard Ford had the blunt-force headline “Guns and Poses: a Revisionist View of Richard Ford, the Lauded Novelist,” prompting a friend of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author to (jokingly?) threaten to have Wolcott shot.

Writers were a special target. Jay McInerney once compared Wolcott to mark David Chapman, employing all the moral seriousness a novelist dressed as a ninja on the cover of Esquire could muster. Harold Brodkey supposedly wanted to hit him with a baseball bat.

One can only imagine what those writers (and others like Joyce Carol Oates and the late Mario Puzo) would think upon reading this: “When I flick back at the book reviews I did in the seventies, I sometimes wince at the nasty incisions I inflicted on writers when I crossed the line between cutup and cutthroat.” Or what his former colleagues might make of this admission: “I can see now why others might have found me abrasive, overfull of myself, acting as if expecting a star on my dressing room door any day soon.”

“Placating” isn’t the first word most readers would use to describe the spirit of his work, but here it is, coloring the pages of Wolcott’s funny, gossipy Instagram portrait of New York in the ’70s. Lucking Out, except for the few kitten scratches he employs more deftly than most writers use semicolons, is a generous, large-hearted love letter to New York, to music, movies, dance, literature, and, ultimately, to the art and craft of criticism. for a longtime reader of Wolcott’s work, this prompts a little cognitive dissonance, Wolcott being no one’s idea of warm and fuzzy.

Here he is describing his pinch-me amazement at going from Frostburg State (Maryland) dropout to 19-year-old Village Voice staffer: “How lucky I was, arriving in New York just as everything was going to hell. I had no idea how fortunate I was at the time, eaten up as I was in my present-tense concerns and taking for granted the lively decay, the intense dissonance that seemed like normality.”

Flash forward 39 years and that lucky kid is holding down a tenured gig as one of Graydon Carter’s “murderers row,” a position so prominent, it earned him a spot (ahead of David Duke!) in Bernard Golberg’s 2005 book 100 People who Are Screwing up America (And Al Franken is #37): “America will never come back together—liberals/conservatives, Democrats/Republicans, Red States/Blue States—as long as journalists like James Wolcott hold important positions at big mainstream media outlets.”

Wolcott’s image of himself in Lucking Out is far humbler. a religious reader of Marvel Comics as a kid, the author relays his own origin story as a variation of Peter Parker’s, bound volumes of Partisan Review at the library standing in for the radioactive spider bite that turned the 90-pound weakling into your friendly neighborhood Critic-Man.

It all starts when a lackluster student with a home life barely worth mentioning finds a father figure in the high-flying literary superhero Norman Mailer, whose recommendation lands young Wolcott his first job at the Voice. once there, Wolcott discovers his own super powers:

Upon appearing in print, I realized I possessed an asset that I had never reckoned on, something given to me at birth… my name… my byline, James Wolcott, it sounded so mature, so English, so litty-critty and stamped with authority. It was a byline that sounded as if it knew what it was talking about and had an extensive library for backup.

Had anyone known the truth—that this litty-critty, authority-stamped byline also appeared on the mailboxes of rat-trap apartments in marginal neighborhoods, its human counterpart “living on Cokes and powdered donuts”—Wolcott might not have gone quite so far. but this was the ’70s, when a writer lived on the page, not in party photos on Mediabistro, drink in hand, notebook nowhere in sight. Then, mystique trumped accessibility; what would eventually (revoltingly) be called a writer’s “brand” was once just their style. as Wolcott learned, if you swaggered with lordly aplomb on the page, no one had to know you were actually a schlub from Bumfuck, Maryland.

If the writers who lately have been assiduously tending to their brands with tweets and iPhone self-portraiture take the time to read Lucking Out, they’ll find valuable advice:

Avoid parody, which also slides too easily into facetiousness. Avoid political satire, which has a shelf life of a sneeze. Avoid preamble—flip the on switch in the first sentence. Find a focal point for your nervous energy, assume a forward offensive stance, and drive to the finish line, even if it’s only a five-hundred word slot.

Writers still sticking it out without a Twitter-to-book deal or an invitation to an unconference might embroider this bit of perspective on the lumbar pillows they bring to Starbucks: “That’s one of the advantages of sticking around in life long enough: you get to see how other people’s stories turn out, though it doesn’t do your own any good, the future having laid its own special snow-covered wolf traps just for you.”

Other people and their stories drift in and out of Lucking Out, allowing Wolcott to dole out funny, juicy gossip about some of his half-forgotten colleagues and the never-remembered artists he wrote about. There’s the hilarious description of Robert Christgau, longtime Voice music editor and self-appointed Dean of American Rock Critics, “wearing nothing but red sheer bikini underwear, attending to something at the kitchen stove and pensively scratching his ass.” Or the time Tom Verlaine confronted Lou Reed for “foraging for inspiration” with a hidden tape recorder during a Television show at CBGB.

When Wolcott falls in with legendary New Yorker movie critic Pauline Kael (he calls himself one of “Pauline’s junior G-men” instead of the less flattering epithet of “Paulette,” which he manages to never use in the book), the names start piling up. Kael, a mother figure for Wolcott with an influence and cult of personality to match that of Papa Mailer’s, takes Wolcott by the arm and leads him like Woody Allen’s second wife in Annie Hall pointing out Paul Goodman among the party guests with chairs in history at Princeton or philosophy at Cornell. “That’s Joe Mitchell,” Kael tells Wolcott during a visit to the old New Yorker offices.

“I keep reading about Joe Mitchell the Southern gentleman,” she continues. “I’ve been saying hello to him for twenty years and all I’ve ever gotten back is a grunt.”

It’s one of the dirtier tricks in Lucking Out that Wolcott uses Kael to voice some of the book’s most dismissive asides, as when he quotes her complaining about David Denby, the critic who would one day inherit her New Yorker job: “All that boring intelligence.”

Denby aside, Wolcott goes a long way toward making peace with some of his former antagonists. in his chapter on punk, Wolcott writes about Lester Bangs with an admirable degree of sensitivity to Bangs’ drug- and alcohol-fueled career tailspin, especially considering the fact that Bangs once accused Wolcott of being a white supremacist in print.

He even has a few nice things to say about his former Voice colleague Alexander Cockburn, whom he describes as the paper’s “brightest journalistic star,” “whooshing in and out of the building on a jet stream of daredevilish charisma.” That’s an especially munificent assessment given the fact that Cockburn repeatedly referred to Wolcott as “Wanker” in a snotty Nation column from May 1, 1989 headlined “The Sons of Onan,” in which he wrote, “I fear that James (Wanker) Wolcott has become discomfited by my speculations about the ravages wrought upon his countenance by solitary vice.”

In Cockburn’s defense, Wolcott does write quite a bit about his solitary vice in a chapter about his decade-long love/hate affair with pornography.

“I intermittently haunted Times Square and it haunted me, the place exerting a pull even as it deadened the nerves, nerve deadening being part of the pull,” he writes. “Porn was an addictive fix—masturbation as self-medication…”

Finally, an explanation for why pornography has always been a motif in Wolcott’s work, a Rosebud of sorts. in a 1987 Vanity Fair column about porn auteurs The dark Brothers, Wolcott noted the hardcore producers’ “attempt to bring to porn what Sam Kinison brings to stand-up comedy: sacrilege, no apology, hostile pathology, hoarse gusts of laughter from the jaws of hell.” That’s pretty charitable to the creators of such dubious classics as Black Throat and The Creasemaster. The fact that director Greg dark (née Greg Brown) would go on to direct videos for Britney Spears and Mandy Moore only affirms Wolcott’s thesis two decades later that “pornography’s popularity has mainstreamed out of its once mole-like existence.”

Looking back at his decade scratching away in his own personal mole tunnel, Wolcott is frank about his youthful fears: “For someone like myself, a bookworm with bulging lobes who drew most of his vainglorious ideas about sex, conquest, and the mercurial enigma of Woman from novels written by men who really knew how to grill up a hot paragraph, the actual act itself loomed like a parachute drop into existential night, where the chute might not open.” When it comes to opposite sex, Wolcott sometimes sounds like Charlie Brown pining over The Little Red-Haired Girl, so innocent and moony are his 70s era crushes. of course, it doesn’t hurt that the objects of those crushes are each so deserving and so entirely out of Wolcott’s league, like Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth (“My crush on Tina was instantaneous. It was the only correct way to respond.”); Dominique Browning, then an editor at Esquire (“Everyone had a crush on Dominique. there was a secret society of Dominique infatuees who stroked her name aloud as if it had dove wings.”); or New Yorker writer Veronica Geng (“scarily, sexily talented and thinky, an electrical storm waiting to happen”).

When he does actually get the girl, it’s kind of a disaster. in a sex scene a less honest memoirist might have left out, Wolcott writes:

I horse-whispered to myself that I was Norman Mailer before the Ravel Boléro lovemaking soundtrack started, putting my hips into command mode and getting a pretty good locomotive head of steam going, indeed began feeling so devilish that I thought I might sprout a pair of warlock horns and a swishing tail, but then a strand of her hair got caught in my wristband and extricating it brought me back to reality, where I was at a distinct disadvantage.

To the charge that this might fall short of being confessional, Wolcott would likely not blanch. he once derided a rash of popular confessional novels, declaring them the provenance of “navel gazers,” and concluding, “Never have so many shared so much of so little.”

And by eschewing the sticky, over-sharing stuff in Lucking Out, Wolcott wisely sidesteps his own criticism. that doesn’t mean the book’s publication won’t open him up to the criticism of others. If history’s any guide, Wolcott knows how to outsmart even his most obstreperous detractors.

In 2001, when Wolcott published his first (and so far only) novel, The Catsitters, there was a cohort of writers  eager to see the magazine world’s equivalent of Comic Book Guy fall flat on his smug face with the release of The Worst. novel. ever. How disappointed they were to find themselves reading a slight, gentle male take on chick lit, not the scorching literati version of Truman Capote’s Answered Prayers they’d braced themselves for since Wolcott first took up his poisoned pen at the Voice.

Even Esquire, which allowed McInerney to call Wolcott’s work “a sleazy pleasure at best—like watching a kid in school get a wedgie” a decade earlier, ran a small excerpt under the penitent headline Best Prose in a Book We’d Love to hate but really Can’t.

With Lucking Out, Wolcott again confounds them. The book ends with a coda so gentle in its illustration of the ways pop culture infiltrates the lives of each of us—big, bad culture critics especially—it would feel like a gooey Hollywood ending if it hadn’t actually happened. And if some Hollywood producer reads Lucking Out and gets it in his head to make an East Coast, punk-rock version of Almost Famous, the first call he should make is to Jonah Hill.

Wolcott better hope Hill forgot that he wrote, “Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill drag too much sag-ass inertia” and takes the call.

But Wolcott, sweetheart he’s become, would probably just say he’s sorry.

Lucking Out hits bookstores and online retailers on Oct. 25.

Lucky Jim: Wolcott gets nostalgic, even nice, in his memoir of the '70s

Labor Day has come and gone and the air is beginning to get that crisp chill. Fall officially arrived yesterday. It’s time to trade in bathing suits, flip flops and the beach for comfy jeans, boots and fall fun. Below are five great ways to enjoy and celebrate fall. 1. Pumpkins galore

Pumpkins are the quintessential fall vegetable, providing endless possibilities for fun and food throughout the season. get together with friends or the family and head out to a local pumpkin patch, where each person can pick the perfect pumpkin to decorate or carve into a traditional jack-o-lantern. In Waynesboro, Renfrew’s 18th annual Pumpkin Festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15. Visitors for the day can enjoy pumpkin carving, bowling and the ever popular “pumpkin-chuckin” trebuchet, along with tasty soups and homemade bread. 2. Yummy cooking

Fall is also the peak time for many tasty fruits and vegetables that can be found at local grocery stores or farmers’ markets. Apples come into season during the fall. think about taking a trip to a local orchard to hand-pick a bushel of apples or try out some warm apple cider on a chilly night. the fruit will be celebrated during the annual Apple Festival Saturday, Oct. 8, at Tayamentasachta in Greencastle. the festival runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. other produce to look out for and use while whipping up dinner includes: squash, sweet potatoes, pears, pomegranates, brussels sprouts and cauliflower. 3. Celebrate the holidays

There are two very different holidays that Americans celebrate during the fall. First Halloween and then Thanksgiving. Halloween, sometimes referred to as all Hallows Day or all Saints Day will be celebrated on Monday, Oct. 31. Invite friends and family over to decorate the house, carve pumpkins and create a spooky feeling. and don’t forget the kids, who can dress up in Halloween costumes and go trick-or-treating or attend a local party. Traditionally, these events are held locally the last Thursday in October. Thanksgiving, which will be celebrated on Thursday, Nov. 24, is the perfect family time when everyone gathers around the table and enjoys a huge dinner — turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, corn and much more! 4. Colors of the season

Hues of yellow, gold, orange and red begin to decorate the landscape as the leaves on the trees change color. get outside to take a walk or a drive up through the mountains during a beautiful fall day and enjoy the endless array of colors.

Allow the kids to help rake the leaves up in the yard and then jump into the big pile and toss them in the air. 5. Say cheese

Fall is a great time to get family pictures taken, especially since the holiday season is right around the corner. this time of year provides the perfect backdrop to take pictures outside while the weather is not too cold or hot.

Fall pictures make great Christmas cards, gifts or just mementos to hold onto.

5 Things to do now that fall is here