Late Summer Is the Best Time to Get an On-Sale Swimsuit
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Just as the off-season comes, the end-of-season swimsuit sales — at places like J.Crew and Aerie — are here. You won’t find swimsuits this on sale until Memorial Day next year (and remember, there are a few precious weeks of summer left). Here I rounded up some of the best deals on one-pieces and two-pieces — many of which appeared in our Strategist Swimsuit Project, including one “specifically designed to stay put and not ride up” and another that’s the “gold standard of how to feel in a bikini.” Be sure to sign up for Strategist Deal Freaks Daily newsletter for even more of our deals coverage, too.
Deals I personally think are the best
One-pieces
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To match a tan or the sand at the beach.
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Our resident beach fanatic Dominique Pariso thinks Aerie’s swimsuits are “basically indestructible.”
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J.Crew Sydney Scrunchie One-Piece
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Both sides of this reversible one-piece are plaid (in cerulean and/or fuchsia).
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It may be as campy as a Schiaparelli crustacean.
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All the joy of a Hawaiian shirt.
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Free idea for Olympia Gayot: Dôen x J.Crew?
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It’s cut like a Baywatch lifeguard’s swimsuit.
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For swimming laps and doing water aerobics, writer Brenley Goertzen has “sporty swimsuits,” or one-pieces “with a compressive torso, supportive straps, nonrestrictive cuts, and just enough cheek coverage.” Including one from Lands’ End’s Tugless line “specifically designed to stay put and not ride up.”
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Contributor Sari Botton’s hunt for swimsuits for 60-somethings turned up this swimsuit, which “supports me where I need support, but not so aggressively that it’s hard to move.”
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Reformation Bandi One-Piece Swimsuit
The best time to shop Reformation’s Summer Sale is right about now.
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“I’ve had this version of the Speedo for over ten years; it’s perfect,” says photographer Cynthia Edorh. That’s in no small part thanks to Speedo’s chlorine-resistant Endurance fabric.
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Athleta Sun Shield Rashguard One-Piece
Best for surfers, paddleboarders, or anyone who could use extra sun protection.
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Left on Friday (affectionally known as LoF) is behind the High & Tight of one-pieces.
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You know, smock o’clock keeps on going.
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If you’ve been meaning to dive into something plunging …
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Your excuse to go to the Cayman Islands — or Watermill — before Labor Day.
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More fun than a piña colada umbrella.
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Pariso’s Sidestroke has traveled domestically to Montauk, Fire Island, and Charleston and internationally to Italy, Spain, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic — and she “always gets at least one person who stops me to ask where it’s from.”
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Pariso “felt held in in all the right places” when trying on the Backflip.
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Pariso recommends sizing up “if you have a fuller arm like myself” in the Long Sleeve Surf for a more comfortable fit.
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To approximate the first Barbara Millicent Roberts, or, at least, Margot Robbie on the Barbie promo tour.
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Andie Malibu One-Piece
Andie’s Malibu is “a suit 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,” writes author Sarah Blakley-Cartwright.
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Andie The Kauai One Piece
Free yourself of self-tanners.
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Senior editor Hilary Reid once described the Usha as “Eres-esque in its simplicity.”
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There’s nothing wrong with showing a lot of backside.
Two-pieces
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J.Crew Perfect String Bikini Top
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“As a teen, J.Crew swimsuits were the height of status,” says our senior writer Liza Corsillo. “So I still get a little thrill wearing this bikini to the beach or a pool.”
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J.Crew Wave Eyelet Bikini Top
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The bikini bottom’s fit is right out of a ’90s J.Crew catalogue.
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Wall Street Journal art editor Alexandra Citrin-Safadi doesn’t think about the Hallie wearing it, “which is the gold standard of how to feel in a bikini.”
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Kim France suggested the Riley to a Strategist reader who was looking for a bathing-suit skirt that doesn’t scream “old lady trying to hide her butt.”
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Toto not included.
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Another option for someone who only wears swimsuits that cover their butt.
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Quite literally the itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, yellow polka-dot bikini.
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Old Navy Ribbed Scoop-Neck Swim Top
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“For me, a good mom suit should make you feel good (check), should be durable and not too precious (check), and should stay in place while children are climbing all over you in a slippery pool (check),” says social-media director Gena Kaufman.
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Lands’ End Tugless Portrait-Back Set
Tankini time isn’t over, either.
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The Mango x Eckhaus Latta print “has this biomorphic, almost primordial quality — somewhere between marine life, cellular forms, and something faintly extraterrestrial,” says design consultant Merie Subryan.
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Just as supportive as Cuup’s bras, according to Archive of Everything’s Zoë Sessums.
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Stripes are kinda our thing.
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Hunza G Gigi
Reid originally got the Gigi for a friends’ trip to Jamaica years ago, and it’s been an “incredibly reliable suit to pack for trips to the Rockaways and beyond” ever since.
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Hunza G Julia
Brand consultant Ali Moran thinks “the O-ring detailing in the bust feels like a nod to 1970s Mediterranean resort glamour — exactly the kind of thing a Roger Moore–era Bond girl might wear.” Well, that’s fabulous!
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Araks Louie Short
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Lido Venti - Printed
Cake Zine co-editor Tanya Bush’s Venti “still looks brand new after countless watches, dalliances with highly chlorinated pools, and a few treks,” including in Brighton Beach and Peru.
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The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
