City Pulse

CP Style Police: Flaunt Your Assets in the Best Swimsuit for Your Body

By Susan Romero

The key to finding the bathing suit that’s right for your body type is to play up your assets. Don’t hide that great cleavage or cover a toned derriere. We found some great swimsuit options to flaunt what your mama (or your hardcore workout) gave you. Summer is no time to try and hide your body, be confident and bold with your bathing suit choices. Attitude is everything.

Curve Control – Try Vintage Inspired Swimwear
For those with curve appeal, swimsuits need to hold you in and lift in the right places. Maybe they had the right idea back in the 1950s. Swimsuits offered more coverage and support for bodies that hadn’t yet discovered Pilates and gyms. We found some really sexy, full coverage suits with rauching to hide love handles while hugging your curves.

These suits are good for tummy control as well as minimizing large hips and thighs. Be sure that longer cut swimsuits fit properly and do not accentuate large thighs or hips by digging into the flesh.

Here is where most women must try on a size bigger than they usually wear in clothes.

Vintage swimsuits are also excellent for supporting larger busts. The Miracle Suit is another good choice because it offers bust support while making you look ten pounds lighter, or so the website claims. While solid colors are a safe bet for large busts, we think that anyone can wear a patterned swimsuit if it offers the proper support. If your bust is ample, avoid additional detail like extra fabric or a light color to draw attention to your bust.

Check out http://www.Ebay.com and http://www.Glamoursurf.com for some authentic vintage options. New, vintage inspired swimsuits that you will love are also on http://www.pinupgirlclothing.com.
Look for the Miracle suit at http://www.miraclesuit.com and http://www.Nordstrom.com.

Adding Curves – Look for Padding and Ruffles
For those of us, myself included, who are not well endowed in the bust, padding is a must in any swimsuit. Also, any ruffled detail or print will make your bust look larger. Wearing a white padded, halter, bikini top will do wonders to lift you up and make your bust look larger. Whatever you do, do not wear bandeau bikini tops and stay away from strapless one-piece varieties. They will only lessen your assets and draw attention to a scrawny chest. We found some excellent choices to fill out your swimsuit top at http://www.netaporter.com.

For those of you who need a bit of roundness back there, look for print bottom full coverage bikinis or print swimsuits. Make sure the suit fits well though; you don’t want loose fabric to call attention to what is not there. Also, black should never be worn on your bottom. Instead, choose bright colors or even wear a skirted bikini bottom. There are some really sexy ones at http://www.victoriassecret.com.

Elongate Your Legs – Think High Cut
If your legs are short, look for high cut legs and never wear boy cut bottoms. Skirted bottoms are also a no no. A one-piece suit in a solid color is your best bet. In fact, most women look great in this style. Don’t be afraid of bright colors which look great with a tan!

Long Torso – Break up the Line
If you have a long torso it is best to try shapes that break up the length such as cut out one-piece swimsuits or a bikini top and bottom in different colors. Many brands have special sizes for long torsos, including J Crew. A bathing suit with a belt or other detail at the waist will also help give the illusion of a shorter torso.

Originally published May 2009

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