Trying on swimsuits is no fun. Unless you’re perfectly formed, perfectly firm, and below the age of consent, the reflection in the mirror is usually more evocative of muffin than mermaid.

So kudos to Canadian swimsuit company Sea Queen, first for developing a line of swimwear for women over 35 (or any woman insecure about baring her flesh), and second for choosing a spokesmodel who—gasp!—is all of 36.

To be fair, she is a former supermodel; this quickly becomes plain when Monika Schnarre, a true glamazon, gets up to shake hands with me in the hotel room where she’s fielding media. Laser-blue eyes? Tick. Swath of honey-brown hair? Tick. Slim, definitely, but not the emaciated look that’s recently given modelling a bad name.

Her cheekbones could slice cheese, her skin is poreless, her outfit an upgrade of her preferred T-shirt and jeans: a simple, red satin top by Toronto designer Rosemarie Umetsu; black Zara pants; and black patent peep-toes. With heels. Jokes Schnarre, “When you’re six foot two, you need an extra two or three inches.”

Height, cheekbones—they helped rocket her up the modelling ladder at the age of 14, and onto the cover of Vogue a year later, the youngest model ever to appear there. At 18, she quit and moved to L.A. to act.

 “I did okay, not great,” she says. “I was happy to pay my rent.” She studied broadcast journalism, she wrote; modelling was just something in her past until Sea Queen came calling. “I initially thought, ”˜No way,’ ” she says, until she realized she could be a role model.

The swimwear line, she says, fills a gap in a world where most designs are geared to the young and coltlike. Besides being—repeat gasp!—36, Schnarre is also a size 8. “I’m proud of it,” she says. “I think I’m a representation of women my age. I’m proud not to be a size 2.”

She counts herself lucky that she originally modelled in an era when athletic bodies were fashionable, she adds, as conversation veers to size zeros and the anorexia epidemic. The current modelling icons mess with women’s psyches, she feels. “Women look at other women and are very judgmental. Men have never wanted women to look like boys. It’s really sad.”

It’s sexist, too. As she points out, no one ever made an issue of Friends star Matthew Perry’s occasionally fluctuating weight, whereas if Jennifer Aniston had added a few kilos, the tabloids would have been all over it.

We segue to how the media delight in close-up shots of body flaws. Eighty-eight percent of women have cellulite, Schnarre says. Not only that, but most modern fashion photos are visual lies. (See www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/05/12/080512fa_fact_collins to read about the retoucher responsible for tweaking 107 ads, 36 fashion pictures, and the cover image of the March issue of Vogue.)

Schnarre says she hasn’t “done Botox or weird injectables”. What she does do is a nightly facial cleanse with drugstore eye-makeup remover, followed by a hot cloth with Kiehl’s cleanser. She likes Kiehl’s Abyssine moisturizer, practises daily exfoliation, and uses M.A.C eye shadows and Bobbi Brown for the lips.

Because it’s so familiar, she says, “Women should be able to do their face as well as a makeup artist.” Today’s, because her schedule includes a TV shoot, took her 45 minutes. She normally allots five. Beauty, she believes, starts with what you eat: lots of olive oil, avocados, and fish, mostly salmon. “I do all the bad stuff too,” she says. “I like wine and chocolate.” She also works out every day. What’s coming across is that Schnarre, like most women, is only willing to spend a reasonable amount of time and money on her looks.

Mind you, her new career doesn’t call for major glamour. Schnarre got seriously into home renovation during a three-year stint in Vancouver, and now, back in her hometown of Toronto, makes her living buying and doing up houses and condos—and that doesn’t mean swanning around with colour swatches: “I love the manual labour. There’s a sense of accomplishment. Fashion is fleeting.”

She’s also an ambassador for Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build campaign. “I want to inspire women to swing a hammer.”

So, swimsuits. Sexy cuts, black, gold, jungle prints, maillots, and halter bikinis, all very wearable and a price-conscious $95 to $120. What’s unique is the built-in bra, good for “when things start heading south”, says Schnarre. “What designer jeans have done for the butt, Sea Queen has done for the bustline.” She grins. “That’s a good quote.”

Stockists include Swimco (various locations), the Bay (various locations), and the Just Cruisin’ Shoppe (890 Howe Street; 637 6th Street, New Westminster). No guarantees you’ll come out looking like Monika Schnarre (you only wish), but at least you’ll be able to face yourself in the fitting room.