Violet Revolution

Q: I’m leaving for spring break soon, and am not sure which styles I should buy? I’m slightly pear-shaped, but also little bustier. I don’t really like swimsuits with shorts/skirts.

A: Well the good news is if you are looking to camoflauge the bottom half, having a larger bust will help draw the eye upward.  It sounds like even though you are pear-shaped, you are still comfortable wearing a typical bikini bottom. If you were more uncomfortable with showing too much on the bottom, try out a skirt or boyshort. Otherwise, stick with either a dark, solid bottom with a printed top or a subtle print for both pieces. You don’t want to wear an obnoxious print on the lower half as that will only draw more attention there. I’d also stick with a bottom that has tie sides. Usually these offer a little less coverage, which seems ironic, but you are able to adjust the sides to fit you best, so you don’t have that “digging” effect on the lower behind or at the hip, which can happen with a regular scoop bottom. 

As for the top, a halter or an underwire bikini top will provide more coverage and support vs. a bandeau. But be careful here: Halter tops come in 3 varieties: 1) string 2) what I like to call “string-simulated” which is when you have a 1″ band of material vs. the string and usually there’s back closure vs. a tie (but not always) and 3) thick banded, which is a 2″-3″ band of material under the halter cup. I personally would opt for the string with a larger cup and thicker straps that come up around the neck, like this Trina Turk one from Londo Mondo (it even says it’s for a D cup) vs. option 2 and sometimes option 3. Why? I find that once the suit gets wet or after walking around, you start to shift and “sink” because the band around your abdomen becomes less fitted vs. how it was originally. To me, the string seems to hug your ribcage tighter, but finding a large enough string top is key, as otherwise you’re popping out the sides and middle.  This one by Lucky is great because you can get the fuller coverage on top, plus choose between a low-rise tie bottom or higher rise tie-bottom.  What I love about either bottom piece, is that the material is darker and solid in the back — perfect for hiding what you want to hide.   

If you were smaller on top or had an athletic build, the bandeau, a smaller triangle top. or top with push-up/padding are great for you. You could also do a monokini like this one from Londo Mondo (click on picture for more details),

which is quite popular these days. And if you were trying to hide the mid-section, a tankini is the way to go.

Good luck!