Actually, there are women who are "plus size" that you and I would never guess are "plus size." Some stores count size 14 as a "plus" size. You can be physically fit, but if you are of abnormal proportions, like a really tall woman who is NOT stick-skinny, just normally proportioned, and a normal-size swimsuit is not gonna do it. I am overweight, and wouldn't wear a bikini in public, but I don't tend to go to the beach anyway, as I burn very quickly in the sun anyway, even using sunscreen. That, and when it is beach season, it takes hours to get to one, as most of Massachusetts empties toward Cape Cod and the Islands, or down to the Rhode Island Beaches, or even up to NH beaches. Ask anyone who (normally) lives in coastal New England - Sandra (tattsxx11) could tell you how flooded with people "The Cape" gets!