Looking for the perfect swimwear that shows what you want and conceals what you don’t?
Almost every woman has some part of herself she feels insecure about. The rest of the year, it’s easy enough to dress in such a way to hide or flatter those parts, but what about when summer rolls around? Bikini season is a time many of us dread, especially plus-sized women. How do you find swimwear that hides imperfections?
The following plus-sized swimwear styles are recommended for hiding imperfections:
- To make breasts look bigger, try ruffled bikini tops
- To create the illusion of a smaller waist, switch to swimsuits with an hourglass pattern
- To craft a skinnier tummy, wear swimwear with midsection diagonals or ruching; you can also tie a sarong around your waist
- To shrink bigger hips, choose a patterned bikini top and a bottom that’s one color
- To minimize cellulite, wear a swim skirt/dress or full-coverage bottoms
- To make your arms look slimmer, try a V-necked swimsuit
Keep reading for more information on how to slim and trim your body in plus-sized swimwear so you can feel confident and sexy no matter where your summer plans take you!
6 Plus-Sized Swimwear Shopping Tips to Minimize Imperfections
1. Ruffled Bikini Tops Create the Illusion of a Bigger Bust
Your figure is quite voluptuous, except for your breasts. You’d like for them to appear a little bit bigger, but which plus-sized swimwear choices do you have?
Ruffled bikini tops and other bikinis with more volume make your chest look equally as sizable. You can also opt for bra-style bikini tops, especially in a push-up style. Some of these bikinis can even make your breasts look a whole cup size larger!
2. Hourglass-Patterned Swimwear Slims Your Waist
If it’s a larger waist that has you worried about wearing swimwear, fret not. You can mimic the shape of an hourglass waistline without actually having one.
Wear a one-piece swimsuit with large patterns at the waist that create an hourglass shape. Patterned panels like those with horizontal stripes also work, especially if the rest of your swimwear is one solid color.
3. Ruching and Diagonal Patterns Make Your Tummy Look Smaller
What if you’re not so insecure about your hips, but your stomach instead? You could never wear a string-tie bikini bottom because you feel like it shows way too much for your liking. What are your options as a plus-sized woman?
For your stomach, plenty! Ruching, which is folded, pleated, or gathered material, is a godsend. A one-piece swimsuit with ruching at the stomach can instantly make you look slimmer. If the ruching expands to the hips, you can doubly benefit in that your hips appear skinnier as well.
Diagonals are your friend too, such as large, color-blocked panels or stripes across a swimsuit. Vertical lines create the same effect, in that all the crisscrossing makes you look smaller and also brings the eye away from your stomach. Make sure most of the diagonals or vertical stripes occur around your stomach for the best effect.
You have yet a few more options for a tummy you’ll be proud to show off on the beach. Many swimsuit brands are producing swimwear with a tummy control panel. This panel benefits plus-sized women and new mothers alike.
What is a tummy control panel? It’s a type of shapewear that pulls in the waist and minimizes stomach fat. Swimsuits for All and Miraclesuit are two of the biggest swimwear names using tummy control panels.
High-waisted swimwear has a retro feel that’s back in style lately, and it’s super flattering. A darker two-piece set in navy blue, deep purple, or black will be slimming and allow you to wear a bikini without feeling self-conscious.
You can also tie on a sarong or wear a long, flowy boho-style top over your swimsuit. You’ll look chic, plus you can hide your trouble areas so you can focus on having a fun pool day instead of how you look.
4. Solid-Colored Bottoms and a Patterned Bikini Top Make Big Hips Less Noticeable
Where your weight is distributed can make a big difference in dictating your figure. If most of your weight is at your midsection and downward, then you may have hips that you feel are too wide and large. You shy away from bikinis and even most one-pieces, as their high-cut style does nothing for your body shape.
You don’t necessarily have to hide your hips, but rather, make them look a bit slimmer so your silhouette is curvy instead of pear-shaped. Here’s a simple trick that will open up your options for swimwear.
Wear a two-piece set, but make sure it’s mismatched. The bikini top should be patterned while the bottoms are one color. Darker hues are more complimentary, but any color works here. High-waisted bikini bottoms look best, as they create the body balance you need.
5. Swim Dresses and Skirts Cover Cellulite
Cellulite is extraordinarily common, even among women of a lower weight. It’s believed that almost every woman, 98 percent, has cellulite, according to a dermatologist. If your cellulite is especially obvious, it’s okay to feel self-conscious about it. Just know that most women have the same problem as you.
Depending on where you have cellulite, your solutions differ. If it’s primarily centered around your stomach, then high-waisted or even one-piece swimsuits will hide it. Cellulite around the upper thighs and rear–a very common area–is also easily hidden.
For some women, high-waisted, full-coverage bikini bottoms might make most of their cellulite disappear. If your cellulite covers more of your legs, then shop for swim skirts and even swim dresses. These have a vintage feel ala the high-waisted bikini, and they’re totally adorable. If you feel like taking a swim, these garments are designed for getting wet too.
Make sure you spend some time in the sun this summer. Cellulite tends to stand out more on very pale skin, so by getting a bit of color, your cellulite may be less obvious. Then you can wear what you want with fewer cellulite fears.
6. V-Necked Swimwear Distracts from Larger Arms
You’re okay with most of your body, but your arms really make you feel bad about yourself. It’s not like you can cover them up like you can your legs and tummy, as almost all swimwear has short sleeves or no sleeves.
You’ll be happy to know that you have a variety of options for covering bigger arms, so take your pick! For starters, put on a bikini or one-piece with a V-cut. The natural cut of this bikini makes eyes venture in that direction. This will distract from bigger arms.
Any V-cut will do, by the way, even a slimmer one, so you don’t have to show a lot of skin if you don’t want to. It’s not necessarily that people are staring at your chest, but that a style of swimwear with a V-cut like naturally brings the eyes there.
If you’d prefer to skip the V-cut altogether, you can. An off-the-shoulder bikini top will cover the upper part of your arms, which is probably the largest. Bikini tops in a handkerchief style are super flattering too. These hide your stomach, don’t show a lot of cleavage, and their cut guides the eye towards your midsection instead of your arms.
We’re not done yet. Rashguards are becoming a more common sight at the beach, even among those who don’t surf or bodyboard. A rashguard is a swim top with long sleeves. Although rashguards have tighter fits, if you opt for one in a darker hue, it will hide your arms.
You can also again rely on a cute loose and flowy long-sleeved jacket, maxi dress, or even a kimono. You’ll look like the queen of the beach while keeping your arms covered!
Conclusion
What’s your trouble area? If you’ve spent years trying to avoid being seen during bikini season because you’re self-conscious, there’s no need for that anymore. The plus-sized swimwear suggestions in this article will minimize or hide any trouble spot, from small breasts to cellulite, large arms, a bigger stomach, and wide hips. We even have another about swimwear that conceals your thighs.
No matter which swim solution you choose, remember that the best thing you can wear any day is confidence. You might view the above areas as imperfections, but they’re not. Even if hiding some parts of your body makes you feel better, by strutting your stuff with confidence, it won’t matter what you’re wearing. You’ll feel great all summer long. Lastly, don’t forget to check out our swimwear top picks.
