Find the Best Swimsuits for Your Body Shape

Swimsuit season is a time of anxiety for many women. The extra exposure may leave you feeling insecure, and the wrong swimsuit may end up making you feel even more unattractive and less confident about yourself. As long as you know your body type, however, you can easily find a swimsuit that flatters your shape. In general, look to maintain a balance between your upper and lower body. Give larger areas plenty of support while drawing the eye to your better features.

Steps

Curvy Shape

  1. Try a one-piece in a solid color. Solid color suits look sleek and stylish. Your figure may be curvy enough to draw attention on its own, so there is not much need to worry about accentuating certain parts or downplaying others.
  2. Consider a swimsuit with a deep plunge. Odds are, you have a curvy bust worth showing off. A deep v-neck or similar style will help you show off your upper curves while keeping supporting your bust.
  3. Avoid swimsuits with boy shorts. These downplay your curves and may make you look boxy or unbalanced on the bottom.
  4. Look for swimsuits with ruffles along the neckline and ties on the bottom. Ruffles emphasize your upper curves, but heavy ruffles can make you look unbalanced. Keep things in proportion by making sure you have ties or other details at the hip, as well.
  5. Tone things down with a small print. If you would rather mask your curviness than flaunt it, look for small polka dots or other tiny prints. These pieces have a concealing effect that may reduce volume all over.

Pear Shape

  1. Look for tops with extra design elements above the waist. This detailing draws the eyes upward, making your bust look bigger and downplaying the weight of your bottom half.
  2. Avoid skimpy tops. While you may not have to worry about the lack of support, these tops only end up emphasizing your bottom half, making it look even fuller than it actually is.
  3. Try swimsuits with horizontal stripes across the bust or waist. These stripes make your chest look fuller, balancing out your hips and legs.
  4. Look for swimsuits with scalloped necklines or v-necks. These deep necklines give you the illusion of cleavage, making your small bust look fuller and drawing the attention away from your hips.
  5. Stick with black if you buy a suit with boy shorts. Black has a slimming effect. When combined with the boy short design, it can help mask the thickness of your upper leg. Avoid boy shorts in brighter colors, however, since the extra material may actually make your hips look larger if worn in an eye-catching color. Also avoid skirted bottoms.
  6. Make your legs look longer with a high-cut brief. Bottoms that show more of your leg actually help lengthen it, and this lengthening effect often makes a thicker leg look thinner.
  7. Lengthen your torso with a tankini. The extra fabric gives the upper portion of your body a longer, stronger appearance. This extra length makes your bottom half less noticeable.

Apple Shape

  1. Look for fabrics designed to keep your stomach flat. Thicker materials or swimsuits with built in support at the stomach can keep your middle region looking slim.
  2. Try a one-piece suit with shirring down the sides and at the waist. Shirring pulls your waist in, making it look narrower.
  3. Camouflage your mid-section with creative prints. Bold prints, in general, draw attention away from the middle. Color blocking can also be used to create this effect.
  4. Slim down your front by looking for side detailing. Stripes or patterns placed along your side draw the eye to the side instead of your stomach. As a result, any extra weight you may carry in your mid-section stands out less.
  5. Avoid billowy swimsuits. You may think they hide your stomach, but the extra material only adds bulk. This bulk will only make your midsection look larger.
  6. Consider a banded bikini. Bikinis with thick bands on the top and bottom offer you the support you need.

Rectangle Shape

  1. Avoid bandeau style tops. In one sense, your smaller bust makes it possible for you to wear these swimsuits, since you can get away without having strong support for your chest. Bandeau tops emphasize your lack of upper curves, however, making your body look more boyish.
  2. Look for feminine prints and colors, like pink floral. More feminine prints make your figure appear softer and more womanly.
  3. Try a swimsuit with angled stripes. Stripes angled downward toward the center front of your suit create an optical illusion, making it appear as though the suit has a nipped waist. This creates the appearance of curves.
  4. Wear a swimsuit with ruffles or fringe. Ruffles create the illusion of volume, which makes you seem curvier. Ruffled trim works especially well if you have an athletic rectangle shape.
  5. Draw extra attention to your hips with a string bikini. Bikinis break up your straight contours by revealing your stomach, which defines your waist. String bikinis work especially well due to the ties. Look for a bottom with ties that cinch at the side. The extra detailing on your hip will draw the eye, creating a stronger illusion of curves.
  6. Make your bust look curvier with a front tie. A knot that lands in the center of your chest draws the eye to your cleavage, accentuating the shape and creating a voluminous appearance.

Inverted Triangle Shape

  1. Consider a swimsuit with a halter style top. Halter tops provide your large bust with the support it needs, but the deep neckline keeps you looking attractive and womanly.
  2. Avoid swimsuits with high necklines. While these may provide your bust with the support it needs, they may make you look too matronly.
  3. Gravitate toward patterns instead of solids. All-over patterns prevent the eye from focusing on any one part of your body. As a result, your heavy bust and shoulders seem less noticeable.
  4. Look for swimsuits with draping in the middle. This balances out your larger chest with your slim hips.
  5. Try a top with a racer-back. Racer-back straps provide more support that many other types, which may prevent your larger bust from bouncing around.
  6. Support your busty figure with underwire cups. Bathing suits that contain no underwiring may not be enough to keep your chest in check, and you may find an underwire top more comfortable and more attractive.
  7. Avoid triangle tops. These provide very little support, making you look even bustier as a result. Moreover, you are more likely to experience a wardrobe malfunction with nothing but skimpy string triangle cups to tame your bust.

If you have this body type, you can get away with a one piece with the sides cut out.

Petite

  1. Avoid floral print, polka dots, and other similar patterns. These girlish prints will keep your frame looking childish instead of womanly. Instead, opt for bold, vibrant colors that draw attention.
  2. Stick with delicate details. Huge ruffles or other large details may overwhelm your figure.
  3. Lengthen your short waist with a string bikini or similar two-piece bathing suit. One-piece suits and modest tankinis may make you look shorter. The extra skin exposure created with a smaller bikini shows off more of your mid-section, lengthening your torso as a result.
  4. Try a one-piece bathing suit with an x-pattern below your waist and across your midsection. This pattern lengthens your torso. It also slenderizes your figure, making it especially suitable for petites who lack height more than they lack width.

Tall

  1. Gravitate toward bikini swimsuits. One-piece suits may make your torso look longer than it already, but two-piece suits break up this length in a flattering way.
  2. Try a cut-out one-piece suit if your height is partially due to a long waist. These suits are difficult to pull off for most women, but they often flatter women with long, slender waists.
  3. Consider horizontal stripes if you are both tall and thin. Horizontal stripes break up the long vertical line created by a tall, slender figure.

Plus Size

  1. Look for swimsuits with shirring or supportive lining. These features help hide and flatten your stomach.
  2. Stick with swimsuits made from durable materials. Body-hugging athletic suits made from thick material retain their shape well, and as a result, your shape is also kept in check, streamlining your figure.
  3. Do not limit yourself to black suits. Instead, try a combination of abstract prints and subtle ruching to mask any excess weight. While black is also slimming, it is far from your only option.



Tips

  • Understand that you may not fit within a specific body shape perfectly. You may be a pear with a slightly larger stomach, or an hourglass with a narrow waist but an unbalanced top and bottom. Instead of relying solely on general guidelines, try on a variety of styles and determine which look best on your body.

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Sources and Citations

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