Written by Rosemary Dorsett, junior, journalism, University of Maryland
With some schools yet to go on spring break, and summer around the corner, it’s time to strip down to your best bikini body—literally. Carmen Electra, the epitome of confidence, charisma and sex appeal, weighs in on how to shape up and embrace your best assets to make a summer to remember.
Electra got started as an entertainer as a dance student at the Performance Art School in Cincinnati. Electra met Prince in 2001 and started recording with Paisley Park Records. “At the end of the day, we always know all the answers. You need to ask, ‘Is this something I need to go for? Or do I need to be more prepared in another way?’” Electra said about her decision to forgo a traditional college experience to pursue her career.
Over the past decade, Electra was featured in Playboy numerous times, starred in comedies befitting her “compassionate, feisty, fun and silly” personality, including Starsky and Hutch and Scary Movie 4, and won the hearts of men across the country.
In 2008, she went back to her dancing roots with the release of a five-disc series Carmen Electra Striptease. Her low-impact aerobic combined with classic strip moves sparked a sensation in gym studios, dorm rooms and homes nationwide.
“The first set of DVDs I worked with Robyn from the Pussycat Dolls. That’s how the idea got started. The dancers would get into such great shape from the routines and we were having so much fun with a bunch of girls just doing choreography,” Electra said. The release of her DVDs showed fans and women a new side of Electra and the meaning of sex appeal.
“The videos took my career in a different direction and made a better connection to women and to fitness,” she said. “The workouts push yourself to be more daring and comfortable to feeling sexy as a woman.”
This former Baywatch babe is no stranger to maintaining a beach body for extended periods of time. Her secret is keeping her workouts varied and exciting. “Once you’re bored, especially after the holidays, mix it up. Go to the gym some days, do my workout, but you can’t have fun on the treadmill every day,” Electra said.
Electra also breaks down the myths of what’s perceived as sexy on the beach and recommends wearing a pair of cut-off jean shorts as a substitute for the string bikini. “Sometimes I don’t feel like wearing a bikini and letting it all out. I’ll just throw on cut off jean shorts over a one piece and call it a day,” she said, “At the end of the day on the beach you don’t want to be insecure and obsessing. You want to have fun.”
For men, said Electra, attitude is everything when it comes to impressing your summer flame on and off the beach.
“All women will agree pick up lines are the biggest turnoff. Just be yourself in the end. It’s all you can be anyway. Don’t brag about yourself or what you have. Sometimes it’s just more cool to lay back and let the girls come to you,” Electra said for all the guys looking for a fling after school lets out. And whatever you do, leave the Tommy Bahama gear at home.
“I remember going on a date with a guy who had really cool hair, and on the second date he totally cut it,” said Electra. “It was completely different and he wore a Hawaiian shirt—that really turned me off. But I guess it just wasn’t meant to be because when you really like someone, those [superficial] things shouldn’t matter.”
