Ask the Strategist: Swimsuits for Big Boobs, Pregnant Bellies, and Every Hyperspecific Need

Boat and Tote not included but encouraged.

It’s Norma Kamali–ish on a strict Lands’ End budget.

This should about cover it, as it’s recommended by Dominique Pariso, who only wears swimsuits that cover her butt. I love the wonderfully not-too-low V-neck.

And Pariso, who tried all of Summersalt’s swimsuits, “felt held in in all the right places” wearing Summersalt’s Backflip.

For sheer variety, and a band- and cup-size range of 28 to 50 and A to O, consider Bare Necessities. I think this fits the bill for no spillage; the U.K. size 36FF is equivalent to the U.S. size 36H.

When I interviewed Cindy Kahng, owner of the East Village’s Azaleas, she mentioned the store carries a few lines that specialize in cup-size swimsuits. That includes Haight; its Monica bikini top is available in F-, G-, and H-cups.

The daisy print is straight out of J.Crew’s 1997 catalogue.

This one is reminiscent of Girlfriend Collective’s colors.

The founders of Body Glove were originally selling wetsuits out of a Redondo Beach surf shop.

This is the one-piece that freed novelist Sarah Blakley-Cartwright from “swimsuit behavior.” It’s a swimsuit that “accepts that its wearer might not just turn a page but lift a 40-pound child, climb ladders at the water park and hurtle down the 70-foot free-fall slide, sprint after that same child who’s now made a break for open water — or just attempt a cartwheel in the sand,” she writes. There’s no supervision required, either, with under-bust elastic, removable cups, and front snap buttons.

Antiques dealer Erica Weiner ties the neckline higher when running after her kids. It “acts like athleticwear — no slipping, holds me in, and makes me feel like a MILF,” she says, with the double-layered spandex doing “a bit of a corseting suck-in of the belly and butt.”

Actress Megan Ferguson hasn’t ever felt so “contained by a single piece of Lycra” as she has in Left on Friday’s Sunday Suit. Not only is the fabric “imbued with firming forces that challenge my basic understanding of physics,” but the straps are “doing the work of a surgical breast-lift,” she says. We’ve taken to calling it the “High & Tight of one-pieces” since her review. It’s available in either an A-D cup or a D-G cup.

Youswim — which made a name for itself in the “one-size” swimsuit competition — has the Tie Sides Bottom in either I (sizes 2-12) or II (sizes 14-24). You should be able to get more coverage than the average tie-string bikini bottoms, as it’s designed with the brand’s trademarked ultrastretchy Versoform.

It’s not a tie-string bikini; it’s a knot bikini. (Quite literally a twist on the idea.) Writer Brenley Goertzen describes it as having “a high-rise, high-leg cut that is so comfortable around the waist (a.k.a. hides bloating after several hard seltzers), making me feel both held in and sexy.”

I figured I’d mention that senior writer Liza Corsillo (whose C-section scar makes wearing a lot of underwear uncomfortable) prefers a J.Crew Perfect String Bikini Top with the Hallie Bikini Bottom (rather than the Cheeky String Bikini Bottom). “I feel confident walking around in front of friends and family or even bending down to play with my son,” she says.

J.Crew’s version of crinkle is the scrunchie. No one would guess it’s not a Hunza G poolside.

Senior writer Lauren Ro originally got the Andie Amalfi in 2018 and wore it for her first and second pregnancies and in the years since.

The simplicity of a Lido without being $365.

Free yourself of tan lines.

It’s very Pamela Anderson on Baywatch, admittedly.

If a scoop of raspberry ice cream and a Creamsicle had a baby …