- Enhance Small Bust
- Long Torso
- Support/Minimize Large Bust
- Minimize Rear/Thighs
- Hide Your Hips
- Slim Your Tummy
Enhance Small Bust:
- Adjustable straps, LIKE HALTER TOP
- Ruching, twisting or gathering at bust
- Embellishments at the bust
- High neckline
- Plain, flat bustlines
- Fixed straps that don't offer adjustability
If you consider yourself a SMALL BUST customer, fear not. No surgery is required to enhance you natural, albeit small curves. It is very important that your swimsuit fits and does not gape at the front or sides of you suit. A tie back halter style offers the adjustability you need. Bustline design elements like shirring, twisting, or gathering work well for you. Plunging necklines are super sexy, and when enhanced by some delicate shirring under the bust and/or embellished with hardware, they can be maximizing too!
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Long Torso:
- Long torso swimsuit designs
- Horizontal treatments like color blocking or sashes
- Longer tankini tops
- Solid color maillots
- Suits not cut for longer torsos
- Tankinis cut too short
If you have a LONG TORSO you've probably always had trouble finding a comfortable suit that fits. The straps dig in to your shoulders and the pulling at the bottom can be maddening! Thankfully, the Longitude swimwear line makes one piece suits just for you. There is an additional few in the length of the bodies and the styles are designed to visually minimize your extra length. This is done by breaking up the body into two or three sections by adding waist-accentuating design details like sashes and color-blocking. These elements focus the eye on that feature thereby dividing the body into smaller sections.
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Large Bust:
- Larger cup sizes
- Wide under-bra elastic that surrounds body
- Adequate underarm coverage
- Square or high necks if you want to minimize
- Bras without cups or with "too small" cups
- Spaghetti straps or strapless styles
- Narrow under-bra elastic or one that stops at side seams
- Minimal side bust coverage
If you have a D-cup or larger you are considered to have a FULL BUST. You are probably concerned about support, coverage and maybe even minimizing your blessings! Here are a few bits of information to help you in your quest for a suit that fits and flatters. Be sure that the suits you are trying are specifically made for a fuller-busted customer. Most that are have been designated and can even list the cup size in the size info. The cups need to be deep enough to accommodate the breast. The elastic that runs under the bra needs to be substantial (at least 1” wide) and should continue all around the body, not just stop at the side seams.
Most of our plus size suits (sizes 18W-34W) easily accommodate up to a D cup, with some accommodating up to a DD, E, or F Cup (click here), and most of our sizes 8-16 suits accomodate up to a C cup with some accommodating D, DD, E, & F Cups (click here). To get the support you need, swimsuits with an underwire are usually the best option. Your straps need to also be at least 1” wide with additional supporting elastic underneath the fabric on the strap.
If you are a full busted woman who wants to show some cleavage, good for you! But be sure that the side coverage is more than adequate to make up for the lack of it up front. Make sure armholes are nice and high. Front cleavage is sexy, side cleavage...not so much. The design details that are best for minimizing are high necklines and square necklines. If you like a surplice (crossover) style, be sure that it is a mock surplice. A true crossover surplice compromises the support in the bra that a full busted customer requires.
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Minimize Rear and Thighs:
- Legline following body's natural crease
- Details at bust or shoulders
- Darker bottoms
- Long and loose enough skirts & shorts
- Too high or too low legline
- Sheaths, boy legs, girl legs
- Printed or bright bottoms
- Skirts that are too short or too tight
If you think that your REAR & THIGHS are your biggest concern when shopping for swimwear, you are not alone. Covering up with a skirt or shorts is an option, but not a requirement. If looking for a tank style, be sure to find one with a legline that matches your natural panty line, like. What we mean by that is a legline that follows the natural crease created when you sit where your thigh meets your hip.
Leg lines that are too high do not minimize a full hip, they accentuate by drawing the eye to the fullness and softness of the area. Similarly, that are too low, sometimes called boylegs, girllegs or sheaths, visually maximize the bottom-half by drawing a horizontal line across the widest part of the body, thereby widening it Be sure to search for suits that have design details that draw the eye up towards he bust, shoulders and face. Styles with darker bottoms are best as well as those with embellishments or prints at the bust.
Styles with wide-set straps are great for maximizing shoulders and therefore bringing the hip into an hourglass proportion. Skirted swimsuits are no longer considered matronly! The swim industry has responded to women's requests for cute and sexy skirted styles. Just be sure to balance out the top and bottom by maximizing interest at the bust and away from the lower half. As in tank styles, the bottom of the suit should be solid and/or darker than the top. When considering styles with shorts, always choose those with a loose, but tailored fit. They should skim the hip and slightly flare toward the hem. They should be loose over the thigh. Avoid tight fitting boy shorts.
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Hide Your Hips:
- Legline following body's natural crease
- Details at bust or shoulders
- Darker bottoms
- Long and loose enough skirts & shorts
- Too high or too low legline
- Sheaths, boy legs, girl legs
- Printed or bright bottoms
- Skirts that are too short or too tight
If you think that your HIPS are your biggest concern when shopping for swimwear, you are not alone. Covering up with a skirt or shorts is an option, but not a requirement. If looking for a tank style, be sure to find one with a legline that matches your natural panty line, like. What we mean by that is a legline that follows the natural crease created when you sit where your thigh meets your hip.
Leg lines that are too high do not minimize a full hip, they accentuate by drawing the eye to the fullness and softness of the area. Similarly, leglines that are too low, sometimes called boylegs, girllegs or sheaths, visually maximize the bottom-half by drawing a horizontal line across the widest part of the body, thereby widening it. Be sure to search for suits that have design details that draw the eye up towards he bust, shoulders and face. Styles with darker bottoms are best as well as those with embellishments or prints at the bust. Styles with wide-set straps are great for maximizing shoulders and therefore bringing the hip into an hourglass proportion.
Skirted swimsuits are no longer considered matronly! The swim industry has responded to women's requests for cute and sexy skirted styles. Just be sure to balance out the top and bottom by maximizing interest at the bust and away from the lower half. As in tank styles, the bottom of the suit should be solid and/or darker than the top. When considering styles with shorts, always choose those with a loose, but tailored fit. They should skim the hip and slightly flare toward the hem. They should be loose over the thigh. Avoid tight fitting boy shorts.
Shop hip hiding swimsuits
Slim Your Tummy:
- Tummy flattening panels
- Gathers and/or shirring across tummy
- Busy prints, but not stripes
- Diagonal sashes across tummy
- Loose fit, longer tankini tops
- Shiny fabrics
- Horizontal or vertical stripes
- Too short or too tight tankini tops
If you consider your TUMMY area your biggest figure concern, you are lucky! So many of our swimsuits have a tummy control liner that is similar to a girdle without being too tight or constricting. The panel has a higher concentration of spandex, the stretchy fiber that helps to hold you in. It is an additional layer that is sewn into the front of the suit. It physically flattens the tummy, and with some design camouflage techniques we can visually minimize a not-so-taut tummy.
Look for slimming suits with shirring or gathers starting at the side seams and stretching across the tummy. Also consider busier prints. They act as camouflage because the eye is so busy looking at the pretty flowers/animal print/geometric squiggles (or whatever your style dictates) that it doesn’t settle on one particular spot. It is important to avoid solid, shiny fabrics at the tummy because the shine of the fabric actually maximizes and softness that you may want to hide. Also avoid vertical or horizontal stripe prints. They hug and accentuate every curve. The exception is diagonal or wavy stripes. These minimize like other camouflaging prints.
Consider styles that have a diagonal sash across the tummy. The extra layer adds more support and holding power, but also visually breaks-up the tummy into smaller sections, thereby minimizing it. If you prefer the look and ease of a tankini, look for a style that is looser through the tummy area and is long enough to fully cover the panty’s waistband. Make sure to avoid tankinis that are so tight that across the body that they ride up, revealing exactly what it is you want to hide! Even if long enough the tighter ones tend to accentuate the softness above the waistband of the pant (aka muffintop) so a fuller, flowing silhouette is best.
