One-Hit One-Piece Wednesday: Talisa Soto, 1995

Topless Tuesday: Mystery Girl, 2015

Yup, it's started already.

Lily of the Bunny

Just like Yasmin Brunet, Lily Aldridge has a Playboy model mom.

Laura Lyons, Miss February, 1976.

I do see a resemblance.

You know, sometimes the world is a pretty nice place.

Happy Birthday, Yasmeen Ghauri

Finally, a happy birthday to Yasmeen, who turned 24 the day Gigi Hadid was born.

UPDATE: Nope! Yasmeen was born March 23, not April 23. I am screwing things up left and right around here.

Nonetheless, a nice opportunity to pay homage to an underrepresented model 'round these parts. Happy belated, Yasmeen!

Bonus One-Piece Wednesday: Gigi Hadid, 2014

Today rookie Gigi Hadid turns—gulp—19??

That means she was born in 1995. About the only thing that could make me feel like more of a dirty old man would be a photo of her in a frilly swimsuit eating an ice cream co—

Never mind.

One-Piece Wednesday: Naomi Campbell, 1992

Ah, Kate, You Buxom Blonde Bombshell!

No, this Kate.

Kate James.

The one-hit wonder from 1994.

Why, who were you thinking of?

Sara Sampaio in Calzedonia Swimwear

...in case that interests you for some reason.

One-Piece Wednesday: Rebecca Romijn, 1994

It Is Not, In Fact, Wednesday

This is how chaotic my world has been lately. I was halfway through the morning before I realized I had posted a One-Piece Wednesday a day too early.

No worries. Today is 1) Topless Tuesday, 2) Tax Day, and 3) Stacey Williams' birthday. So here's a photo of Stacey, having deducted her top.

One-Piece Wednesday: Paulina Porizkova, 1984

Hannah Ferguson’s Wet Net

This very suit has now been recreated twice, first by Marisa Miller, now by Hannah.

The wet/dry spots have been lovingly detailed by Joanne Gair, and I’ve stated before that I think this is one of the best bodypainting entries SI has given us.

I guess when you have a shot that’s this iconic, you have to pay it respect time and time again.

And man, I want Hannah back next year.

Samantha Hoopes’s Rainbow-kini

Samantha gets to recreate this exquisite 1989 Elle Macpherson shot.

The colors of the stripes don’t line up exactly, but that’s nitpicking.

Elle, by the way, has now been recreated three times. By Marisa in 2004:

…by Anne V in 2013:

And now by Samantha in 2014.

All in addition to Elle being named the top SI swimsuit model of all time. It’s a shame she wasn’t part of the Legends shoot this year.

But Samantha is a fitting tribute.

Lauren Mellor’s Disco-Ball One-Piece

I love this Lauren gif. It’s kind of cheeky, the way she’s holding the real suit while sporting the painted-on version.

It’s based on this Kathy Ireland shot from 1992.

And you can tell, even from this angle, that Kathy’s original suit had more coverage behind. But I shan’t complain.

This also marks the second time Kathy has been paid homage to. Marisa Miller did her back in 2004

Lauren has a sleek prettiness to her. I’m not surprised they gave her Kathy’s suit. She looks great in shiny things.

Cris Urena’s Throwback to a Throwback

I was right that Cris was channeling Laetitia Casta’s throwback from 2000!

The magazine describes this as “inspired by the 1967 Rudi Gernreich suit.” Gernreich created the “monokini” in the early 60s. I think it was an exercise in avant-garde fashion art more than mere base titillation, which is why I feel comfortable publishing, uncensored, this famous shot of model Peggy Moffitt wearing it.

Because of art.

Even SI, in their 25th Anniversary issue, allowed a little nipple peek from Peggy.

(Incidentally, here’s Eva Herzigova sporting a suit that’s clearly inspired by the monokini, albeit strapless.)

I love how Cris looks in this. The hip-hugging nature of the suit caresses her beautifully. In fact, she puts those huggable hips to good use in a couple of her non-bodypainting shots as well.

SI is still trying to get these giant bikini bottoms to catch on.

I hope Cris is back next year. She’s gorgeous.

Emily Ratajkowski’s Guitar Pickini

Once again, the bodypainting section of the swimsuit issue recreated shots from previous years. Last year, it was covers. This year, they delved inside the issues in search of suits that represented the five decades.

Just like in 2011, all the painted girls were rookies.

I thought I might spend the week looking at them in reverse chronological order (which will line up nicely with Topless Tuesday and One-Piece Wednesday).

The suit painted on to Emily is one that I neglected to include in my “Same Suit, Different Babe” post from last September. In 2007, this guitar pick bikini was draped over the lovely bodies of both Irina Shayk and Bar Refaeli.

(Though if you look closely, and I have, you’ll see that Irina’s top is a little different from Bar’s. The picks in Bar’s have white markings, while the ones in Irina’s have red.)

And you can also find Marisa Miller wearing it, though I’m not sure if she wore it in the issue. The only photo I could find is this cover of Ocean Drive magazine. (That Ocean Drive is also from 2007, so my assumption is that the photo is from SI.)

Irina Shayk is still an active SI model, meaning this is the first time the original girl is in the same issue as a throwback recreation of her own shoot.

In fact, Bar and Marisa join Irina in the 50th Anniversary “Legends” section. So there are four pickini models in the same issue.

In my opinion, Emily's bodypaint shots are her best photos in the issue. She pulls it off nicely.