The Bikini–So Much Fashion and So Little Fabric

Perhaps you've noticed: FA2L is slightly obsessed with life at the beach. The combination of sun, sea and sand takes us back to Eden, hints at the deep mysteries of life's origins, feels as nourishing as the womb and injects a straight-to-the-bloodstream rush of sensual pleasure. (Plus, despite knowing better, we're suckers for a real tan.)

We also love swimsuits, and not just because we love the beach. The best swimwear is fashion distilled, and requires much more than cosmetic design–it needs to be engineered. Beautiful ball gowns may be odes to technique, but their folds usually hide endoskeletons (either built-in, or created with foundation garments) providing substance. Only a few couturiers–such as Vionnet, Chanel, Balenciaga and Karl Lagerfeld (depending on his mood)–have celebrated the ancient idea of letting a garment find shape on the naked female body. But that's precisely what swimwear designers accomplish.

Innovative fabrics are a starting point, but then the hard work really begins. Curves must be celebrated, yet supported; a balance has to be struck between modesty and daring; and most women, even supermodels, want to highlight assets and camouflage defects (real or imagined). All to be managed with a few scraps of material small enough to squash in one hand.

Some people balk at the high prices of well-made swimsuits–like those by Eres, above, shown to advantage on extraordinary Lara Stone–but they're usually worth the investment. Of course, like anything else you wear they require care: sunlight, salt water, lotion and chlorine take their toll. To extend a suit's life, take it into the shower with you and rinse it in a steady stream of cool water. Then hang it up or spread it out on a clean towel to dry (but keep it out of the sun, and away from heaters). Welcome to summer!

Dads, Grads and Little Lads: IWC's Perfect Timing

Father's Day is a rare occasion when dads receive presents–but wise parents may want to supplement the day's typical offerings (handmade picture frames, odd ties) with this father-and-son set of Pilot's watches by IWC. Version père is housed in a 46mm platinum case; the 39mm version fils is stainless steel. Both are automatic (of course), mounted on alligator straps and chock-a-block with excellent horological details. Your son will be thrilled to wear the same watch as his dad. FA2L suspects you'll feel pretty good, too.

Instant Glamour: Robert Marc's Summer Shades

There's a lot of extreme fashion around lately (which makes us very happy) but on sultry summer days nothing is better than the uncomplicated chic of white jeans, flat sandals, a simple top and classic sunglasses. Jackie Onassis famously worked this look for decades and the world never tired of it. Robert Marc knows as much, and designs his eponymous eyewear for a woman like that: glamorous, but quietly so, and as likely to be seen driving her kids to the beach in Southampton as to be glimpsed strolling through Portofino or Saint-Tropez. She speaks fashion so fluently, her appearance might even transform a small-town sidewalk into the Bahamas' Harbour Island (for which this collection is named). Well, maybe.

Days of Heaven: The Digital Era's New Bronze Age

The beginning of summer doesn't normally make one yearn for stick pins, but these beautiful, handmade examples by Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons (from Derrick Cruz's Fall '10 collection for Bblessing, New York) should be ordered now, before they hit stores in July and are snapped up by boys and girls looking ahead to autumn's heavy cashmere wraps and tweed jackets. They'll be available in bronze (a durable copper-and-tin alloy) or silver; sold individually or as a set; and they represent astrological signs for, from left, Saturn, the Moon, Mars, the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter. We like that they look both ancient and contemporary, like 21st-century amulets with the power to attract luck and ward off evil spirits. So–what's your sign?