Bikini Days Are Coming!

As the dog days return and the mercury journeys quickly upwards, it's time to start shedding clothes... Fast.

Get in the mothballs and put away those plump sweaters, thick jackets, turtlenecks, scarves, shawls, thermals and woolly leggings.

And the moment is nigh too for a smart survey of your swimsuit collection.

Swimsuits don't follow John Keynes or Adam Smith or market laws. The less swimsuite real estate you own, the better off you are -- the best bathing suits should average less than 2-3 square feet or you own too much metre-age of spandex.

Discard excess fabric numbers and all granny-looking one pieces and stuff with too much ruffles and frills that make you look like you are related to sea anemones.

Rubbish plain-Jane black suits unless really sexy and packed with peekholes in the most delicious and intriguing places.

And know this: Two of the hottest things one can sport on the beach/pool in a bikini are great confidence and a high-wattage smile. Ananya Panday has both and a swell taste in swimwear couture.

IMAGE: Smokin' hot hot! This cool, downtown bikini assemblage made Suhana Khan go 'Wowww'.
It fetched Ananya over 1.4 million likes. Go ahead and add your vote.
Take a tip: What's summer without a gingham suit?
All photographs: Kind courtesy Ananya Panday/Instagram

IMAGE: Khaali Peeli!!! Ananaya is absolutely 'dope' in this intoxicating shade of yellow.
PS Please find less messy backdrops for such dazzling selfies, Ananya.

IMAGE: Phuket Sun Baby: Do Emily Ratajkowski's skimpy, barely-there swimsuit choices inspire Ananya, who chose the American model's book My Body for her beach reading?
Our Ananya has a far lovelier smile, though.

IMAGE: Twas on the Isle of Capri that I found her: Ananya had a day to remember at Capri's Blue Grotto in her Thumbelina costume.
But instead of humming any of the famous songs about this isle in the sun, she confesses that she found herself listening to Sooraj Ki Baahon Meinfrom Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara on a loop.

IMAGE: The busy background of two dozen multicoloured Capri cushions could not make us take our faithful aankh off Ananya in her itty-bitty two-piece with cutey flowers.
Little to no makeup and white low-waist trousers complete the post-beach look.

IMAGE: Ananya in a scanty powder blue swimsuit probably caused a sizeable diversion in traffic from Shaadi.com to her feed when she posted this picture, because it brought on a flurry of wedding proposals and declarations of love ('I will not give up you must be mine) and honest confessions like this one from a certain Chirag: 'Wow it took 2 hours to stop staring'.