I Only Wear Bathing Suits That Cover My Butt. These Are My Favorites.
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While I have been known to go topless on the beach — I abhor tan lines — and would never begrudge someone a cheeky moment by the pool, I only wear full-coverage bottoms. At a very curvy five-foot-six, I have full hips and a big bum. A high-cut leg just isn’t going to, well, cut it. And while plenty of people may think of full-coverage suits as being matronly, I have a wardrobe of actually cutesuitsthat beg to differ. My fit requirements for afull-coverage suitare ruthless: From Memorial Day to early October, I will be at every beach New York has to offer, from the Rockaways to Cherry Grove to Montauk, and I will be swimming every time, so my suits cannot ride up or slip out of place. There is nothing worse than accidentally mooning other beachgoers when trying to elegantly get out of the surf. Many of the suits on my list have been wear tested for a minimum of two years, and I also tried on some new ones for this summer. And, since I am a size 16, many of the below options are also plus-size friendly.
My top three picks
My other favorites
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Summersalt The Sidestroke Suit
At this point, I don’t think there is anything else I can say about the Summersalt Sidestroke, my favorite one-piece. I first got it way back in 2021 and have worn it on many a family vacation since. It’s my old reliable: extremely comfortable and with coverage exactly where you need it. Though it’s one-shouldered, it offers plenty of support through the chest even without cups or underwire and it never rides up. And if the Sidestroke doesn’t check your boxes, Summersalt has a ton of full-coverage options on its site —many of which I tried onand all of which go up to a size 24.
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I think people sleep on Lands’ End in general, and this is especially true of its swim category. Obviously, it’s easy to see swim skirts and tankinis and think the brand is only for grandmas. But there are gems to be found, like this sparkly one-shoulder suit I’ve worn for three summers in a row.
I’ve also worn its Grecian one-piece for just as long and was tickled to find it in Strategist contributor Sari Botton’s winner’s circle when she went on ahunt for flattering swimsuits for 60-somethings.As girls who grew up on the south shore of Long Island, the two of us know a good swimsuit when we see it. “This suit fits as if it were custom made for me. The fabric has a nice, luxurious hand with interesting ruching details along the sides. Best of all, this one supports me where I need support, but not so aggressively that it’s hard to move,” she writes. And in addition to the support through the chest and tummy, it provides plenty to the derriere as well.
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For the price point, it’s hard to beat Aerie swimwear. To quote myself: “The cuts are cute, the size range inclusive, and, most important of all, they are basically indestructible.” What I also love about Aerie is it offers a range of coverage options, many of which are not just skimpy, in a range of sizing. Its suits are often quite stretchy, especially in this soft pique fabric I’m quite fond of, for days at the pool where you don’t want a compressive fabric. (I have them in a more compressive fabric as well.) And while I do love its one-pieces, I also own many pairs of its bikini bottoms. There just aren’t a lot of brands offering two-piece sets for under $50 that are super-comfortable and long-lasting, but Aerie delivers every summer.
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Whoever says a full-coverage suit can’t be sexy has never tried on Norma Kamali swim. Obviously, Norma Kamali’s skimpier silhouettes are legendary — how amazing is this optical-illusionInvisible Bikini— but a publicist I met at a Tanya Taylor preview was the one who tipped me off to her more conservative designs. I tried on the Bill Mio style and felt like a ’50’s pinup model. My waist has never looked more snatched in a swimsuit, but I was still fully covered. And please take my word for this: go one size down.
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I first heard of the Eres Aquarelle when we interviewedDiane von Furstenberg. “Oh my God, I own hundreds of them because I have them in all my houses. I wear it every day,” she said. “I have been wearing it since I was 20 years old,” adding that she also wears it as a bodysuit. It has simple thin straps and a square neckline with, most important, a full-coverage bottom. I was also extremely impressed with the fabrication: The brand uses its signature smoothing Peau Douce fabric, a stretch polyamide, that really holds everything in place. I didn’t need to tug or adjust once.
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For a similarly minimalist look at a more affordable price point, Nu Swim is a good option. It offers several more modest cuts, including the Cyn and Dia one-pieces. The Dia has a scooped neckline and low back, while the Cyn has a low V-neck. I felt extremely comfortable in both.
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Nu Swim Tankini
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I also tried on Nu Swim’s brief-style bottoms. I found the fit to be somewhere between a traditional bikini bottom and aswim shortwith a slightly longer leg. And while I’ve been anti-tankini for the entirety of this monthlong swimsuit project, the bottoms did pair very nicely with Nu Swim’s tankini, which looks more like a cropped tank top than the ugly tankinis of my middle-school days.
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A brief history lesson on Hunza G, according to our senior style writer Ambar Pardilla. “Founded as Hunza in 1984 byPeter Meadows, who trademarked its Original Crinkle fabrication, the line became famous for its innovative material — and the women who wore it.Julia Roberts’s Vivian Ward strutted down Rodeo Drive in it, and Whitney Houston danced in it in ‘I Want to Dance With Somebody.’” It was relaunched in 2015 under new creative directorGeorgiana Huddart. I had always liked their swimsuits but assumed the one-size-fits-all grading, which the brand lists as around a U.S. size 2 to 12, meant they were not for me. However, in an interview with Pardilla, Huddart noted that because of the crinkle fabric, Hunza suits fit a larger range than is listed. I decided to specifically call in one of their Coverage suits–which is supposed to offer more coverage, bust support, and length–and am happy to report that it fit very, very well on my size 16 body. So maybe it’s actually one-size-fits-more-than-you-would-think.
More full-coverage swimsuits we love
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