In 2019, Denise Mercedes and Maria Castellanos posed in the same brown bikini from Aerie to show their Instagram followers that the same swimsuit looks good on their different body types.
Mercedes is a size 14 and says she has an hourglass figure, while Castellanos wears a size two and says she has a more athletic build.
As part of the series, the two friends share TikTok videos and Instagram photos that show how the same outfit looks on their different body types.
"The whole purpose of the series is to portray two different body types wearing clothes that we both look great in," Mercedes previously told Insider.
A post shared by Denise Mercedes (@denisemmercedes) on Jun 27, 2019 at 9:32am PDT
Mercedes wanted her audience to see that their size shouldn't stop them from wearing a bikini, so she came up with the idea to pose alongside Castellanos in matching swimsuits.
"I wanted to get the same swimsuit as Maria because I wanted to showcase that we are both completely different sizes, yet we are both wearing a bikini and we both look really good," she said. "The audience was so excited and they loved the idea."
When they were first shopping for swimwear, it was actually Castellanos who kept aiming for one-piece bathing suits, while Mercedes was adamant about wanting them to pose in a bikini.
"I didn't feel secure enough to put myself out there," Castellanos told Insider. "I'm the one who has that ideal 'summer body,' but I was still feeling very insecure. Denise was the one who had the confidence and she helped me."
Since the response to their first photo was so positive, Mercedes and Castellanos decided to share another photo in which they posed in matching cheetah-print swimsuits from Amazon.
"People say you should only wear a bikini if you have a bikini body, but we're trying to say there is no bikini body," Mercedes said. "The bikini body is whatever body you have."
A post shared by Maria Castellanos (@mariacastellanos_ri) on Aug 20, 2019 at 8:58am PDT
"She was like, 'Listen, you really don't have to look a certain way to rock this swimsuit,'" Castellanos said. "She inspired me to wear it, and once we took the pictures, I felt so confident standing right next to her and she felt the same way."
"There are skinny girls who have that self-conscious feeling like, 'I don't want to wear that' or 'I can't wear that,'" she added. "It's not one type of girl feeling down, it's all of us. If we can help people feel good about themselves, that's what we are here for."
Mercedes told Insider that two guys once called out hurtful words while Castellanos was taking photos of her in a bikini, but she didn't let that stop her from posing in swimsuits.
"I can walk around in a bikini and not feel like I'm being looked at anymore," Mercedes said. "When I do publish photos wearing a bikini, I'm hoping people will say, 'Wow, she looks really good in a bikini and if she can wear a bikini, then so can I.'"
"Every time we do one of these, we are in party mode and we just feel so good," Castellanos told Insider of their series on TikTok.
"We are always complimenting one another, and we are here to be supportive," Mercedes added.
@denisemmercedes ##stylenotsize @mariacastellanos_ri
♬ Whats wrong with being confident - angelmamii7
When it comes to finding swimsuits they both like, Castellanos and Mercedes usually turn to Aerie, ASOS, American Eagle, Nordstrom, Boohoo, and Amazon, as they all carry size-inclusive collections.
"We also make sure the bottoms are adjustable so that we can adjust them if they don't fit properly," Castellanos said. "We always try to stick to more conservative pieces, too."
Mercedes and Castellanos know that wearing a bikini on its own can be daunting at times, so they also like to showcase cute cover-ups.
"Wearing just a bikini can be a little uncomfortable," Mercedes said. "Sometimes wearing a cute cover-up while also showcasing a swimsuit makes it a lot cuter and more comfortable. You want to feel comfortable in a swimsuit, especially when you are out in public."
In continuing to share these bikini pictures, Mercedes and Castellanos hope to inspire people and give them the confidence they need to do the same.
"Just how Denise gave me the confidence to do something like this, I want to be able to pass that on to somebody else," Castellanos said.
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