Sports Illustrated 2010 Swimsuit Edition: In The Paint

Bethany Dempsey. Photo below by Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Tongues are wagging.

If your bikini is too small to piece together, why not grab a bucket of paint? Sports Illustrated's latest Swimsuit Edition features a special section on the wives and girlfriends of soccer players, and except for a little paint, they're completely naked.

From the delicate brush of body paint artist Joanne Gair comes a bevvy of beauties in the latest Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. Except these aren't your average swimsuits. In fact, these aren't swimsuits at all.

Called WAGS ("Wives and Girlfriends" of famous soccer players around the world), the models have been slicked over with a coat of paint to make it look like they are actually wearing bikinis. And in many of the photographs, you can't tell the difference.

"It actually took around 15 hours (just the painting)," said Bethany Dempsey, the 26 year old wife of U.S. soccer player Clint Dempsey, to the HuffPost. "You don't feel naked, because you look in the mirror and it looks like you are wearing a swimsuit. The detailing is amazing."

Included in the photographs are some of the most gorgeous WAGS from all over the world, including Germany, Italy, England and the U.S.

To see more paint-clad ladies, check out SI.com/swimsuit. The 2010 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition is on shelves now.