Swimsuit shopping tips just in time for beach and pool season!

Hello followers and subscribers! I’m back!

My last blog post was at the end of December 2020. If you read that blog post you know that due to a second bout with a rare cancer in three years, I was planning to take some time away from blogging to focus on my health and to be honest, focus on just getting through every day. Chemotherapy and daily radiation treatments in January and February kicked my a** but thankfully kicked my cancer as well. I’m still recovering my strength but after a couple of months of treatment and then some recovery time I’m ready to get back to sharing fit tips and favorite brands and styles with everyone!

Since the weather is just warming up in my corner of the world, I thought I’d blog about swim suits. I have a rule about not going to the pool unless the high was above 80 and we’re almost there friends so this seems right on time! Here are some tips from things I’ve learned over the years in the fitting room and in my own experience. I’m not going to make false promises but these may help narrow down what to look for in a swim suit and maybe what to avoid.

Tip 1

It is becoming more common to see band and cup sized swim available but it is not all created equal. If you want to look and feel your best in your swimwear, then the quality and support of the fabric makes a difference in look and feel as well as longevity. Usually only small adjustments if any in size are necessary if you’ve already been professionally fit. There are great swimsuits to be found in every size if you know where to look even up to a K cup. Similar rules apply to cup sized swim as well. Padded or shaped suits are a little bossy and if your breasts don’t quite match the shape of the cup you’ll likely be less than happy with the look of it. A soft cup, while having less padding, will conform better to your individual shape.

Tip 2

A swim suit with an underwire will generally give you better shape and support than a wireless or shelf bra style if you’re on the very busty side. Even with no wire, a properly band sized suit will often have better support than a dress sized suit. Many brands are also working on designs that disguise the wire to make suits look less like a bra made for swimming and more like a regular swimsuit.

Tip 3

If you’re feeling a little extra fluffy and you want some control you can sometimes overdo it. Control style suits don’t actually remove anything, they just try to smooth things out. You don’t want a suit with so much control that areas you’re trying to smooth end up squeezing out somewhere else. My advice here is to go for patterns over solids. It works even better than the ruching you sometimes see on swim. As someone who is asymmetrical, I have learned that it’s less noticeable when I’m wearing patterns and the same trick works for swimwear. If you look at the pictures below, the black suit has quite a bit of control but not much shaping.

The blue here has ruching but it’s not quality fabric. It doesn’t help minimize my midsection or asymmetry very well though it’s not bad and it’s comfy!

The black with the pattern below helps disguise my asymmetry and gives the illusion of a little more shaping at the waist as well.

Tip 4

A couple of years ago I was going on a trip and I went shopping for a new suit. That’s when I discovered benefits of a bikini with a high waisted bottom. I don’t have too many curves except where I still have my little baby house. I don’t have too much on top or bottom so every one piece suit I tried on made me look boxy like the picture of the black suit. I just personally wasn’t happy with the look on me.

When I tried a patterned two piece it was a revelation! It gave me more shape and it looked so much better on me in my opinion even with my visible baby house decorated with the shiny tiger stripes.I should also say that I made the leap to a two piece 30+ pounds ago before going through stomach surgery for my first cancer in 2018 and chemo and radiation for my second cancer earlier this year. This body has been through some battles and I’m still here to tell the tale!

Many people feel self conscious in swimwear until they decide not to. Something that I learned from a very wise friend is that your body takes up the same amount of space no matter how you cover it. I felt so empowered when I just made the choice to own and be comfortable with how I look after 50 something years and put on my first two piece in decades. Everyone has their own comfort level where swimwear is concerned but if you try different styles you might be surprised by how you look and feel. Though advertising is changing, many ads you see are still selling a specific body type that is unrealistic for most of us and many ads are still airbrushed and photoshopped. If you’re out shopping and not finding something you like, connect with me for advice on different styles that work well for certain body types or if you just have something specific you’re looking for and haven’t been able to find it. A couple of years ago I spent three days at the Miami Beach swim show and I follow many different brands so I might be able to help you find that unicorn that you’re looking for.

There won’t be a blog next week but in two weeks I’ll be blogging about some specific brands and what they have to offer that may be different than department store brands.

Thank you for reading!👩🏻‍💼