The In Kind Edit: One-Piece Swimsuits We Wear (and Love)
Our ultimate guide to really good one-piece swimsuits is here (because it's never too late to buy one you'll wear forever).
Finding the right suit is a bigger job in your 30s and 40s than maybe it was in your 20s. You want one that feels stylish—but not at the expense of being able to chase (and heave and grab and toss) kids around. Key too is that it looks appropriate for vacation with family and in-laws, where the ultra high- and low-cuts that have become commonplace in the marketplace feel a little less right.
There’s no shortage of seemingly chic and well-made options, but as former fashion editors and moms with lots of opinions and plenty of hours spent road-testing swimwear, we thought we’d take the guesswork out of ordering your next one-piece.
So, in the quest to help make swimsuit shopping less stressful, we’re sharing our swimsuit pictures on the Internet (gulp!). Here’s our very real guide to the suits we love and would buy again.
x Leah + Hannah
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Turns out a one-size-fits-most suit is actually as good as it sounds.
I was still leading an editorial fashion team when Hunza G. launched its somewhat viral suits a few years back, and given the hoopla, I was immediately tempted to try them. (Hunza G. is the London label behind Julia Roberts’s famous dress in Pretty Woman, and they revived the brand not that long ago with the debut of their one-size-fits-most stretchy and brightly-colored one-piece suits.)
The red one I’m wearing here is the fifth one I’ve bought from the brand. As far as comfort goes, it’s top-notch with a stretchy kind of crinkly knit fabric that holds, but doesn’t squeeze. It’s forgiving—stretching with me during pregnancies, and holding its shape after, too. I love the square neckline and the fact that I can pull the suit every which way to make adjustments on my body. My one qualm with the cut is the cheekier bottom, though I do also love a higher-cut leg, which I’ve found flatters the leg line more.
It’s a suit I reach for while swimming with my kids and hanging with family. One that I don’t have to worry about sliding off in the wrong direction while jumping into the pool or playing in the yard. I’ve come to regard it as a go-to, one that I’ll reorder each season in a new shade to update my summer or travel wardrobe and feel good about my purchase each time I do, since it always gets plenty of wear.
The Solid and Striped suit I would buy again and again.
Solid and Striped is another one of those brands that popped up while I was still working full-time as a fashion editor. I felt compelled to try it immediately and have bought at least six suits from the label in the years since. After testing plenty of their styles, the one I’d recommend over and over again is the ribbed one-piece—any one of them really.
The ribbed fabric is really the game-changer here. It’s stretchy and holds you in all at the same time, so that I’ve found it skims my body without digging in. I love the scoop neck in front and the scooped, open back. It feels sexy without trying too hard. The kind of suit I’d happily put on for a couples’ vacation and a family vacation. Plus, it’s comfortable, the way I want all suits to be, but also looks casual and, well, chic.
Since I’m a sucker for stripes, I picked up this version and love the nautical feel and the henley-style snap buttons that give it a little something extra. I used to shy away from a higher-cut leg, but have found how it elongates the leg and flatters my frame. Now, it’s a feature I look for. Like the Hunza suit, this one also is a bit cheekier than I’d like on the butt, but on my curvier frame that seems to be par for the course in most suits I’ve tried. (I’m a size 4-6, usually a 27/28 in denim and the medium in Solid and Striped fits perfectly.)
If your ultimate style goal is about a silhouette that feels timeless (and will look it in photos when you’re flipping through decades later), then why should your swim be any different?
I was a dancer growing up (and still am, where life and time allows), so a classic, leotard-cut suit has always appealed to me. And, frustratingly, they can seem oddly hard to find.
That’s why I was so excited to spot this beyond-basic cut from Monday. It has the skinny straps and clean lines that I love from the ballet classroom, and it hasn’t fallen victim to the less-is-more vibe that’s taken over swim trends as of late (it can’t be just me that doesn’t want everything on display, all the time?). It has moderate coverage on the bottom with a slightly high-cut leg. Read: It’s flattering but not so extreme that you’re one quick step away from something pulling up, back, or away and otherwise exposing more than intended.
The straps are adjustable, key for finding your best fit. It also comes with soft cups that you can easily remove for a cleaner line (like I did) or keep in place for additional support and coverage.
This colorblocked suit pulls out all the tricks for a supremely flattering fit.
Vertical panels of color will always whittle, define, and flatter, and the two white areas on the side of this suit do just that (and it doesn’t hurt that the hunter-and-white color combo is so sharp on its own). I actually braved a random weekday, far from the pool, to grab a photo to try and prove the point. When you actually look at the side of my body, you can spot the magic-eye effect: You think my shape is the green suit, but, a ha!, there’s actually more that somehow fades away due to the contrasting white.
As a non-busty person, I tend to steer away from anything with built-in cups as there’s too high of a margin for error (in that they gape or clearly call out what’s not there), but this fit was was spot-on. Even if it wasn’t, the pretty ruching around the edges of the cups would help to camouflage a not-quite-perfect fit.
Beyond how good it made me feel, I’m giving this suit high marks for how sophisticated, elegant, and, frankly, expensive it looks. It’s not that it’s too “fancy” to fit in alongside the splash pad or sitting with a popsicle and a little, but it’s chic enough that I’d feel good pulling it on with a skirt and wearing as a de facto bodysuit for a grownup-only shopping excursion or outdoor glass of wine.
And, lastly, I think this is the swimsuit I manifested.
Almost a decade ago I was gifted a putty-colored suit while I was an editor at ELLE. The color choice was nothing I’d ever think I’d like—it’s flesh tone on me and shouldn’t complement my typically pale olive skin, but I loved it. And, as with all things putty colored, it’s a very specific mix of browns and greens and grays that makes it just right. I dreamed of finding another.
And then this seamed maillot entered my inbox. It’s the same mushroom brown, and I just can’t think of a chicer color to wear. Like my other pick, it’s balletic in its camisole cut and darting, though this one has a slightly cheekier cut at the bum. The darting’s complemented by internal underwire that’s designed to “prevent uni-boob.” I don’t think I’m the ideal candidate—I’ve never found I need more support from a suit—so it occasionally bunched up a bit, but I think if you’re not an A-cup, it’s a design feature you’ll adore.