Shannon Nelson tells PEOPLE it’s been over 40 years since she’s worn a bikini
Shannon Nelson hadn’t worn a bikini in 45 years —that is, until one person in her life encouraged her to have a little fun with her wardrobe.
The 70-year-old content creator, who goes by @pinkynel online, tells PEOPLE that she used to “see bathing suits as something you had to qualify for with the right kind of body.” However, it was her 15-year-old niece Lily who challenged her way of thinking.
It all started when Lily bought a red string bikini that ended up not being the right match for her — but it was the “perfect” outfit for her “Auntie Shanny.”
“Lily just said it very casually, like it wasn’t a big deal at all,” Nelson recalls of the conversation. “That’s what stuck with me. At a certain age, you assume there are things you’re not supposed to wear anymore, and she clearly hadn’t gotten that memo.”
So Nelson went ahead and tried on the tiny two-piece when she was alone, even if she thought Lily was “joking” about her encouragement.
Nelson admits that she felt “a bit exposed” in the bathing suit, but she found ways of styling the revealing swimsuit with a cover-up and sun hat. Like she said on Instagram, “I’ve never met a bathing suit that a few accessories didn’t help.”
That’s right, Nelson not only tried on the bikini in her own time but she also decided to post a video of herself wearing the suit. She was also “hesitant” about that and felt like it took more “courage” than slipping into the outfit itself.
As she said in her now-viral video, which has garnered over 90,000 likes, Nelson was inspired by other women like herself who flaunt their figures on social media, even if, as she tells PEOPLE, “this old body has definitely changed” (Nelson went through three pregnancies and an appendectomy).
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“I might just wear it again, because at this age, who am I trying to impress?” Nelson says of rewearing the sexy number, which impressed a few thousand people who praised her boldness online. Many of the comments were of the same empowering nature, like messages that read, “You look absolutely amazing! Wear the damn bikini.”
Nelson wants to inspire other women like herself to wear what they feel good in. “I’ll take comfort over style any day,” she admits. And as for her niece’s reaction? “She thought it was completely normal—which, in a way, was the whole point.”