Cover up for summer

Summer has arrived and the months of covering up our legs and arms are over. Or are they? As fashion has it, this is not the season of the skimpy swimsuit. Take note from designers such as Michael Kors, Stella McCartney and Miuccia Prada who made the most convincing case for poolside modesty when she paired jewel-tone satin tunics and turbans straight out of "Sunset Boulevard."

And as unimaginable as it might have seemed, our bare-it-all pop culture is catching on to the cover-up trend. Scarlett Johansson played the 1940s starlet in the April issue of Vogue, baring very little as she posed in Dolce & Gabbana and Prada at the pool and the beach. Another curvy girl, Beyonce Knowles, posed for the cover of the latest Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue in a yellow-and-orange bikini of her own design with an ample boy-cut brief.

This move toward covering up could be a reaction to too many years of low waisted jeans and thong baring backsides. But it's also about a renewed interest in getting dressed, even for the pool. It's about returning the mystery to fashion by not letting it all hang out.

Where bathing suits are concerned, today's safe was yesterday's scandalous. But this summer we've come full circle. Fashion is telling us to hark back to a simpler time, when a pair of oversized sunglasses, a shapely swimsuit and a heady dose of self confidence was sexier than a thong and revealing bikini tops.