Thumb-Hook Thursday: Valerie van der Graaf, 2014

Calendar Girls, Revisited: 1992 Part 1

1992 provided an excellent crop of swimsuit models.

On February 12, under the Everhart zodiac sign, Valerie van der Graaf arrived.

The following week, under Ashley's watchful one-piece, we met newly minted rookie Camille Kostek.

Soon after, on March 1, Judit Masco introduced us to Bo Krsmanovic.

Then on March 26 (quite an eventful couple of months), Nina Agdal arrived, under the lounging figure of Monica Bellucci.

That’s the Way the Rookie Crumbles 2015

With a whopping twelve rookies introduced in 2014, someone had to slip away in 2015. I am actually surprised at how many did stick around. Seven: more than half of them.

We lost the entire Netherlands subcommittee: Bregje, Marloes, and Valerie. I expected at least one of them to stick around. Marloes was the swimsuit-model-lookingest girl of the bunch. And Bregje had those eyes. (And that one-piece.)

The most surprising return for me was Samantha Hoopes. Sexy, obviously. But she seemed like a very straightforward blonde-with-big-boobs, if that makes sense. (Though I suppose “blonde with big boobs” never hurt anyone’s chances in the swimsuit issue.)

Samantha has a pretty 2015, by the way.

I also thought Emily Ratajkowski was going to completely distance herself from SI, but she’s back.

I’m sad to lose Cris, but I believe she had a baby. And Lauren had loads of potential, in my opinion.

In any case, we now have seven rookies to watch. My predictions, from most likely to least likely to return:

1) Kelly (would probably be #2 if she hadn’t just gotten ROTY)
2) Hailey
3) Rose
4) Erin
5) Robyn
6) Solveig
7) Ashley

We’ll find out in a year!

Rookies crumbling 2013, 2012, 2011.

Happy Birthday, Valerie van der Graaf

Let us bid farewell to birthday girl Valerie van der Graaf, one of the 2014 rookies who did not return this year.

Happy 23rd, and thank you for your service.

One-Piece Wednesday: Valerie van der Graaf, 2014

Happy Birthday, Heidi and Swimsuitologist

Happy 41st, Heidi.

And happy 4th, Swimsuitologist.

Four years. That's a Presidential office term.

That's the time between one Summer Olympics and the following Summer Olympics.

When the first post went up on June 1, 2010: Emily DiDonato, Chanel Iman, and Samantha Hoopes were all 19 years old.

Valerie van der Graaf, Emily Ratajkowski, Cris Urena, and Sara Sampaio were 18.

Kate Upton and Bregje Heinen were 17.

And Gigi Hadid?

Gigi Hadid had just turned 15.

Graafic Content

Valerie van der Graaf is the latest rookie. (A lot of these are models whose names are definitely familiar to me, but I wouldn't have been able to pick out of a lineup. Nice to put faces—etc—with the names!)

Has the Swimsuit Issue Gotten Too Explicit? (2)

Am I the only one who’s a little creeped out by the boobcam?

(And its cousin, the buttcam?)

It might seem odd for someone with an unabashed love of the swimsuit issue to complain about objectification, but that’s the cumulative effect of all these photos of disembodied breasts.

I understand that this practice allows the crew to provide some previews without giving away the models’ identities. But it is possible to do that without serving up the body parts so blatantly. For example: 

Make no mistake, I look at these photos. Heck, I am literally right now sharing some of them on my blog.

And if it was an occasional thing, without the “boobcam” title, I don’t think it would bother me. But the “check out all these breasts” nature makes me uneasy.

I like boobs, but I like them in context.

Maybe it’s just another nudity dichotomy, where the dirty truth is revealed to me—the swimsuit issue is essentially a titty magazine, despite my desire to see it as something more fun and innocent.

• • •

Speaking of previews, the swimsleuths at Bellazon have identified one of the 2014 locations, even providing a local eyewitness report of a Kate Bock sighting.

Add Switzerland to the list of exotic locales to be draped with SI bikini models!