Ten years ago today, I put fingers to keyboard and started broadcasting my weird little thoughts and observations about the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
A surprising amount of stuff has happened to the issue since then.
The 50th Anniversary. The return of nipples. Recreations of historic shoots.
The foray into social issues. The widening of beauty standards for size, age, and amount of exposed skin. The shift to a kind of half-girlie-magazine, half-women’s-magazine.
The returns of many glorious veterans. The first second-generation model. The unveiling of a superstar.
SI Swim’s increase in social media, from boobcam tweets to an entire SI-hosted blog. A VR app. Live conventions.
A leaked cover. Three triple-covers. The pushing back of the release date from February to May to July.
Through it all, I’ve discovered I’m not the only historian with a deep affinity for this quaint, outdated slice of American cheesecake. There are maybe five or six of us.
I’ve enjoyed having a place to share my love for this magazine, and to share my frustrations as well.
At one point, my plan was to review the 2020 issue, whether it came out in February or May, then maybe shut the blog down (again) on June 1. But the schedule didn’t cooperate with that plan. I definitely want to see what 2020 is going to be like.
After that, who knows? The first time I ended this blog, after five years, was five years ago. And I just can’t seem to quit the swimsuit issue.
