Swimsuits for Curvier Gals

I was looking through my May issue of Cosmo and saw an article entitled, "Perfect Suit, Perfect Price." Sweet! Flipped right to it. (I'm *always* on the hunt for a cute swimsuit). I get to the page and there are sixteen cute bikinis...perfectly suited to size 2s and 4s. Great, but what about the curvier gals? I continued flipping and the following page was entitled, "Curvylicious! When you have cleavage or booty to spare...our picks are the ideal solutions." Cool. I was wrong. Then I looked at their curvylicious examples: Bar Refaeli and Kim Kardashian. Ummm...huh?

This just a stab in the dark, but I'm going to guess neither of these two gorgeous ladies has any trouble finding a suit that looks great on them. I went to my stack of saved magazines and did a swift hunt for swimsuit articles aimed at all shapes and sizes. I took a tally to keep a record of how many I came across. Here are the results:

Drum roll please... a whopping zero.

Now, this isn't to say that magazines never feature bathing suit articles aimed at all sizes (like, real sizes and not "celeb" curvy sizes) as I know I have come across one or two in the past, but truth be told, this is rarely focused on. So I went to my trusty friend, J.Crew, and came up with some fantismo options.

If you feel comfortable and confident enough to wear a bikini, go for it! (I'm so about girl power...what can I say, I grew up with the Spice Girls) These high-waisted ruched bikini bottoms are marvelous and will hide a multitude of sins. Wear a matching color set, or pair up a darker color on your bottom half (so it fades away), and a bright, more powerful color on your top half, so more attention is brought to it. Unless you want attention drawn to your gorgeous gams, then flip those color choices.

If you would rather opt for a one piece, don't select a solid colored suit that is one strip of flat fabric going along your tummy. You should never EVER do this unless your name is Gwen Stefani. Either select a suit that has ruching or some sort of fabric detail along the midsection, or select a print that hides any pouches or bulges that we would rather keep under wraps. The last two suits are by Zimmermann from Net-A-Porter.com, and mucho dinero, but they are perfect examples of beautiful detailing that can camouflage bumps and ripples until the cows come home.

No matter what your shape or size, there IS a perfect swimsuit for your body; never forget, though, that your best asset will always be confidence.

xoxo Sheridan