Your perfect swimsuit depends on a number of factors, including specific styling preferences. This can help you determine whether you want to wear a one-piece suit, swim bottoms, a swim top, or any combination thereof.
One-Piece Swimsuit Styles
One-piece swimsuits generally provide full coverage for your entire midsection and varying degrees of coverage for your upper body and lower body. Here are eight different one-piece styles:
Cover-up: You will mostly wear cover-ups out of the water—for example, at the beach or poolside—rather than in it. However, cover-ups are usually made from loose, flowy fabric that is breathable and nonabsorbent, so if you do wear one into the water, it will dry quickly.
Long-sleeve: One-piece swimsuits with long sleeves cover your arms in addition to your entire midsection.
Monokini: Monokinis are a hybrid of one-piece swimsuits and bikinis. The top and bottom sections connect, but they still leave most of your midsection bare.
One-shoulder: One-shoulder swimsuits connect over a single shoulder rather than behind the neck.
Strapless: A strapless one-piece covers your torso and rises to just below the collar bone, omitting any straps or sleeves that would otherwise go over your shoulders.
Swim dress: Swim dresses are swimsuits designed to look and feel like dresses made with nonabsorbent, moisture-wicking materials.
V-neck: V-neck swimsuits vary in terms of how deeply the neckline plunges, so you will see some with lower necklines and others with higher necklines.
Wetsuit: A wetsuit is a good option if you plan to swim in cold waters since it fits closely, acting like a second skin to help you retain warmth. Many wetsuits have long sleeves and cover a person’s entire legs, while others might have short sleeves and shorts or high-cut bottoms. Some surfers wear a rash guard—a special kind of top designed to prevent chafing—under their wetsuit, too.
6 Types of Swimsuit Tops
Swimsuit tops offer varying amounts of coverage for your upper body. A bikini top is perhaps the most popular type of swim top, although not all swimsuit tops are bikinis. Here are several different kinds of common swimsuit tops:
Bandeau top: A bandeau bikini top is form-fitting and strapless, sometimes covering just the top part of the chest and sometimes expanding further, similar to a crop top.
Cutout: These bikini tops stretch across your chest with a cutout section somewhere in the middle. Some cutout swim tops double as underwire bikinis.
Halter top: A halter bikini top has ties that extend from the front of your chest around the back of your neck.
Longline: Longline bikini tops extend farther down your torso than other bikini tops and can therefore be a middle ground between one-piece and two-piece swimsuits.
Tankini: Similar to a tank top, a tankini top extends down to your swim bottoms. This style of swim top can offer a great deal of coverage while still being part of a two-piece set.
Triangle top: Many people deem triangle bikini tops to be the most classic style of bikini top. It comprises two triangular pieces of fabric for your chest, which attach with string ties.
7 Types of Swimsuit Bottoms
You can choose from a multitude of swimsuit bottoms, including:
Cheeky: Cheeky swim bottoms feature a medium cut between your legs and glutes that will cover more of your backside than a thong but less than shorts.
High-waist: High-waisted bikini bottoms can sometimes rise as high as your belly button. You can pair these bottoms with a high-neck swim top, such as a high-neck tankini, for fuller coverage.
Jammers: Jammers are tight-fitting swim bottoms that stretch down to your mid-thighs. These are a good option if you’re planning to do high-speed or competitive swimming.
Shorts: Swim shorts have a low cut between your legs and glutes, covering your entire backside.
Swim briefs: Swim briefs are tight-fitting, underwear-like beachwear that hug your hips and leave your thighs bare.
Thong: Thong bikini bottoms are the same as thong underwear but designed specifically for the water. These are often string bikinis.
Trunks: Swim trunks are a casual and loose-fitting bathing suit option for the swimming pool or the beach. These breathable shorts sometimes come with inner mesh linings.
Posted on May 18, 2023