Where my curvy women at? Raise your hand if you have felt personally victimized by a swimsuit.
But for real, is 20242 and for some reason, it can still be a major struggle to find a swimsuit that actually fits us plus size and middle size ladies. (Asking yourself WTF is middle size? Read this post!)
Not to mention how tiring it can be to constantly only see ads for swimsuits worn by women that don’t have the same body type as you (urgg).
As I was hunting around my favorite stores for this post, I was really appalled by just how underrepresented anyone above a size 6 is. I kept finding suits that were labeled for women with extra large chests, but the models were skinny women with small cup sizes. Like, how hard is it to put a swimsuit on the type of woman that suit was designed for?!
Excuse my rants.
I’m a size 12. (Update — I now am a size 14, but seem to still swear the same size swimsuits, around a Large or XL) I got a big butt, big thighs and I know how just how hard it can be finding flattering swimsuits for curves.
It’s not rocket science, fashion companies! But, I also have a newfound low-key obsession with swimwear. I love scouring swimsuits online & probably own close to 25 one-pieces and bikinis (lolz)
My Top 4 Curvy Swimwear Brands
I’ve rounded up the cutest swimsuits for you to shop this summer. BUT, when in doubt, these are my favorite retailers to shop swimsuits from:
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My Favorite 71+ Cute Swimsuits for Curvy Women (Best One-Pieces, Tankinis & Bikinis For Women This Summer!)
So, with summer around the corner, I’m sharing my top favorite bathing suits for curvy women. I did the hours of searching so you don’t have to. Each are special in terms of style, fit and/or price. I think you’re going to love all these picks!
Find your favorite bathing suits for your body type or style, and SLAY that beach girl! There’s over 71 styles on this list, so you’re bound to find something you love!
Best One-Piece Swimsuits For Curvy Women
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: you don’t have to wear a bikini to prove to yourself or anyone that you feel confident in a swimsuit.
I personally love one-pieces, they are my go-to style of swimsuit because I love how they “hold everything in” so to speak, and that makes me feel comfortable and thus confident.
I own this one piece! I love the retro style, tummy control and fun one-shoulder strap for pop of fun.
The Amalfi is part of Andie Swim’s Iconic line, and for good reason. The silhouette is flattering for ALL shapes and sizes (up to XXXL!), and the scoop neck is timeless.
The Tulum One Piece’s compressive fabric provides ample support for a flattering fit, perfect for all-day wear whether soaking up the sun or catching waves! With removable cups for tailored support and a cross-strap back for excellent bust support, you'll feel secure and confident in every movement. Plus, there’s an option for a long-torso suit for those who need a bit more length, ensuring a comfortable and flattering fit for all body types!
The hot pink Meyeeka Women's One Piece Swimsuit features tummy control for a sleek silhouette and a push-up design for enhanced support. The cut out draws the eye away from tummy areas, and it has a bold, eye-catching color.
The Midnight Elegance One-Piece combines chic style with affordability. Plus, its tummy control feature ensures a flattering fit, perfect for boosting confidence at the beach or pool.
This multi-colored curvy swimsuit is so cute and unique! Plus, it shows of the girls in all the best ways (for all bra sizes!)
The Golden Ripples Lace-Up Back Tummy Control One Piece Swimsuit adds a touch of sparkle with its shimmering fabric, ensuring you stand out. Its lace-up back not only provides a customizable fit but also adds an elegant, eye-catching detail.
- Adjustable lace-up back
- Unique pattern
- Flattering square neckline
This colorful Leopard Print one piece features a bold V-neckline and an eye-catching O-ring accent with a stylish cutout. It offers medium bust support with removable cups, tummy control shirring, adjustable cami straps, and classic bum coverage for a flattering and comfortable fit.
This is hands-down of my favorite curvy swimsuits. The color is fun, it looks great on all bodies and keeps everything in while I'm swimming. It's a classic!
This blue and white stripe one piece features a classic scoop neck and adjustable spaghetti straps for a personalized fit. Its elasticized leg openings ensure comfort and ease of movement, and sizing goes up to 4X!
Left On Friday is a new curvy swimsuit brand that has the most amazing array of colors you can imagine. Featuring a comfy fit and Smoothing Dream Fabric in a smokin’ Sweet Chili Heat Red, this swimsuit offers a flattering and luxurious feel.
This sleek and sexy one shoulder features adjustable straps and goes up to XXL.
The Aerie Shine Rib Strappy Scoop Full Coverage One Piece Swimsuit combines a sleek ribbed texture with strappy details and a flattering scoop neckline, offering full coverage and a stylish, modern look. You can also get the same print/look in a two-piece bikini!
The Andria Contour Plus Gingham swimsuit is available up to size 4X, featuring a stylish gingham pattern that contours and flatters the figure. Ideal for those seeking both style and support in swimwear. It gets GREAT reviews!
Best Bikinis For Curvy Figures
I’ve only recently felt confident in a bikini again. I think the key was finding bikini bottoms that had tummy control / high waists. I think I so much of my time thinking that bikinis were only thin barely there things but that’s so far from the truth! Bikinis CAN be curvy girl swimsuits!
And they can be so much fun, I’ve found myself reaching for a few of these bikinis of my one pieces this summer. Shop my picks below!
The Super Bloom Ruffled Bikini Top and Slim Sculpt Bottoms Set has a retro inspired look that combines feminine flair with sculpting support. It's SUPER similar to my now sold out pear shaped swimsuit bikini that I've owned for years.
- hugs all the right places
- adjustable straps
- tons of bottom coverage
his adorable Cupshe bikini combines cute pastel colors with a stylish V-wire detail, perfect for a fun and trendy beach ensemble.
What's your favorite color? This company has a curvy bikini for you in that color, I promise
This Lane Bryant suit goes up 46DDD and OMG, how fun is this bikini?! The Lurex Underwire Knot-Front Bikini Top shines with its eye-catching allure, featuring a dazzling metallic finish that's sure to stand out by the water!
The Ola de Verano Racerback Bikini Top and Sports Bottoms Set features a sporty racerback design that pairs perfectly with comfortable, versatile bottoms, creating a stylish ensemble for active beach days.
This Skims knotted one shoulder cut-out suit in bubblegum pink offers an out of this world liquid shine finish and is available up to size 4X, combining vibrant color with a stylish knotted detail for a jaw-dropping poolside statement.
The Sunny Blue Colorblock Bralette and Banded High Waist Bikini Set is super cute!! It features a stylish colorblock design with a comfortable bralette top and high-waisted bottoms. Butttt it’s only available up to size XL…bummer.
The Midnight Soiree One Shoulder Swim Top in relaxing sage green exudes elegance and sophistication, perfect for a serene and stylish poolside or beachside ensemble.
- Sustainable & ethically made (Vegan!)
- BIPOC-Owned
The Shaping Toile de Jouy Lace Trim Cheeky Bikini Swimsuit, available in curve and plus sizes, features a classic blue and white China pattern, complemented by lace trim details. Designed to shape and flatter, it offers a stylish and feminine look!
PS if you want even more ideas these are even more of my personal favorite bikinis for curvy bodies!
Best Swimsuits With Prints & Original Design
I know some women prefer basic swimsuits (and I have basic, solids as well) but I LOVE a swimsuit that has a good print for a fun design. I think magazines like Seventeen and Cosmopolitan trained us that plus size swimwear HAD to be black to “slim us down” and that curvy woman should never wear loud prints.
Calling bullshit on that one! I get the most compliments on the swimsuits that are the “loudest” plus I feel great in them! I think all sizes can rock a loud print at the pool.
The Bandeau Swim Top is in a super unique tropical floral print, and it's super fun to mix/match bottoms! It’s perfect for a tropical vacay or even a staycation.
The Aerie Full Coverage Bikini Bottom features a classic bikini silhouette with a fun beach babe gingham pattern, ensuring a sophisticated and comfortable beach look.
The Floral Print Twist Bralette and Spliced High Waist Bikini Set combines a charming floral pattern with a trendy twist-front bralette and high-waisted bottoms. This cute floral is perfect for Spring Break!
These explorer shorts have a suuuper cute crab print. Plus, they’re totally gender neutral.
The Cockscomb Flower V-Neck Mesh Plus Size One Piece Swimsuit features a stylish v-neck design adorned with cockscomb flower patterns, crafted specifically for plus sizes, ensuring both elegance and comfort for any aquatic outing.
As a lover of color, I adore this Purple Gradient Keyhole Bikini Top and Standard Bottoms Set. It showcases a stunning gradient design with a stylish keyhole detail. Look at that color!!!
This Meet.Curve suit combines a trendy checkered pattern with a modern knotted detail. It’s so trendy! The higher waist bottoms are perfect for my fellow curvy women.
Classic, feminine, and unforgettable. The Ava One-Piece Swimsuit in plus size features a vibrant blue-green floral pattern reminiscent of Bridgerton's elegant aesthetics, combining historical charm with contemporary flair for a stunning beach or poolside look.
The Allison Halter Bikini Top is available in sizes up to 3X, offering a stylish and supportive halter design adorned with a vibrant floral pattern that adds a pop of color to your beachwear collection!
The Tie-Dye Wash Textured Scoop Neck Top and High Waist Bikini Set combines a trendy tie-dye wash with a textured fabric, featuring a flattering scoop neck top and high-waisted bottoms for a stylish and comfortable beach or poolside look.
The Ruched One-Shoulder One-Piece Swimsuit in Limoncello features a stylish one-shoulder design with ruching in the tummy area, ensuring a flattering fit and adding a playful touch to your beach or poolside ensemble. It has an adorable lemon pattern I can’t get over!
The Pink Sweetheart Neckline Shirred One-Piece Swimsuit combines relaxed elegance with adjustable straps and fashion-forward shirring, ideal for leisurely days by the water. It also features power-mesh lining for effective tummy control, ensuring both comfort and confidence.
Best Tankini Top Swimsuits For Women
When you want to wear a bikini but aren’t quite there yet, a tankini-style bikini top is perfect! There are constantly new arrivals to some of my favorite stores with great styles.
Long gone are the days of tankinis swim tops only being for mothers or grandmas. These usually have adjustable straps if you want those so they’re great curvy swimwear stables!
The Overlap Collar Floral Embroidered Tie Knot Swim Top features vibrant, colorful floral embroidery that adds a delightful touch to its stylish overlap collar design. Perfect for adding a burst of charm to your beach ensemble. Up to 6X!
The Colorful Leaf Print Pointed Hem Tankini Set combines a fierce and colorful leaf print with a sporty fem design, offering both style and functionality for adventurous days by the water.
The Shaping V-Neck Cherry Bikini Swimsuit is available in curve and plus sizes. It offers a flattering silhouette with a stylish cherry graphic design and supportive full coverage. Those cherries are so adorable
2024 is the year of the tankini! The Vibing Sea One-Shoulder Tankini Top and Standard Bottoms Set offers a stylish asymmetrical design with comfortable coverage (without looking like your granny’s suit).
Best Active Wear Swimsuits
Maybe you’re trying to find a hidden waterfall in a forest, surfing all day in Maui, or running around the Sierra Nevada Mountains trying to find all the hot springs (my personal favorite summer activity, by the way.)
Sometimes you have to skip the fun confetti details for a swimsuit that’s practical and made for movement.
I adore this sporty one piece swimsuit! Instead of trying to find a bikini with sports bras built in, go with this cut surfer girl vibe that's great for water activities (and my fellow pale girls)
- wear this surfing!
The Red Lurex Backless Plus Size Bikini Top features a lace-up design and sparkly lurex fabric that beautifully catches the sun's rays, ensuring a glamorous beach or poolside look for all-day shine.
The Bandana Print Two Tone Knotted One Piece Swimsuit is available up to size 6X, showcasing a stylish bandana print and two-tone design with a flattering knotted detail. Sporty in design (by keeping everything in!), but also perfect for making a fashion statement while enjoying beach or pool activities.
The Seashell Clasp Belt One Piece swimsuit features a stylish seashell clasp belt detail, combining elegance with functionality for a chic beach or poolside look.
The Bra Sized Tie Front Longline Underwire Bikini Top in multi tie-dye pink, teal, and orange offers both support for a game of sand volleyball and style with its underwire design and tie-front detail for a fashionable beach day.
Introducing the Costa Floral High-Waisted Swim Skirt, your ticket to a tropical getaway! This stretchy and supportive skirt features a high waistband and a vibrant flower-patterned print, ensuring every beach day is filled with style and comfort. Pair it with the Costa Floral Icon Swim Crop to complete the look!!
Quick sidebar: I own about 12 Summersalt swimsuits and most of the styles on this list are from this company. That’s because they are masters at designing bathing suits that fit ALL types of bodies and also with the expectation that those wearing their suits are going to be moving, a lot.
So many of you (the readers!) have bought these suits after I shared mine, and told me how much you love them.
I also recommend Swimsuits For All, they are basically an entire company dedicated to plus size bathing suits. This is where Ashley Graham has her swim line! (Plus they have great customer service!) They make the best plus size swimwear out there, but do sometimes fall short on trendy styles.
Best Cover-Ups & Beachwear
No beach day is complete without a pretty cover up or swim dress to duck into the bar in for more margaritas or roll right into dinner.
I love cover-ups that make me feel really pretty. Skip the boring cardigans, these pretty styles will make any beach or pool day extra elevated!
Resort style at it's finest with this linen two piece cover up set.
Nothing beats a classic white button up cover up shirt. throw it on top of any swimsuit!
Simply layer this over a bikini for beach look. I have a similar one from Cupshe and it's so cute. It gives that LA beach girl vibe.
I adore this kaftan cover up. I wore it in Cabo and it was so classy - just pull it on, add a hair clip and you're ready to roll from pool to dinner!
Add a touch of fun to your summer closet with this sarong cover-up featuring a self-tie sash belt, and midi hem.
The easiest beach look ever. Perfect for staying at a beach resort going from pool-side cabana to beachfront lunch!
>> What I’m Wearing: In most of these photos, I’m wearing some older bikinis from Madewell and Cupshe, but we’ve added lots of similar options to the post!!
Body Positivity Journey
As I rounded up all my picks for this huge best swimsuit for curvy women guide, I couldn’t but think about how far I have come on my body journey.
Rewind 10 years ago and I was undoubtedly in better shape but I had a way worse attitude towards my body. I was working out every day, dieting and obsessing. I hated wearing swimsuits in front of other people and would also pull on shorts, a towel or a cover-up when I left a pool chair.
Now, I weigh more and I have way more jiggly parts, but I love my body. I have so much more respect for it and no longer cover up at the pool.
I’m not exactly sure, but I think it was a combination of age but also blogging. Taking photos of yourself every day and then sharing those photos with the world helps me in huge ways to embrace ME. And of course age.
Being a teenager is HARD, especially in the early 2000’s before all the modern women empowerment movement started.
I had a realization on my bachelorette party back in 2017. We traveled to Austin and I got all the girls these cute red swimsuits with “Squad Goals” on them. T
hese are NOT the best swimsuits for curvy bodies mind you, they were these cheap things I bought on Amazon and the side of them cut up really high. Despite that, all of us on this trip were bloggers and wanted to shoot some fun photos of the swimsuits at the pool.
There was a moment when I realized that here I was – running around in a very skimpy swimsuit in front of strangers at a pool and I didn’t care what so ever.
I hope you can get to this point as well! I used to fear the warm months because I meant I had to either miss out on fun pool days or subject myself to severe anxiety.
If you need more words of advice, check out my blog post called 5 Tips For Building Self Confidence where I share some of the ways I retrained the way I talk to myself and I also have a post on how to trick yourself into feeling confident in a swimsuit!
Lastly, when in doubt, Target swimsuits are usually good for all body types. They usually have trendy curvy swimsuits and plus size swimsuits.
Again, I also love Cupshe for a good curvy bikini that makes me feel hot all heck. Some stores won’t make good curvy women swimsuits (excuse me, we want more than black and boring grandma prints!!) but Cupshe is great.
Especially if you are short or petite! They make great swimsuits for curvy petite gals. I boarder on petite – sometimes I need the shorter inseam or the petite versions of clothes fit me better.
Thankfully I can drift in between regular and petite, but regardless, Cupshe has good stuff (these are all my favorite Cupshe pieces right now)!
And of course, I hope this massive curvy swimsuits guide helps you find a style that you LOVE this summer! I want to see all of you curvy babes in bikinis out there on the beach, pool, etc rocking what your mama gave you.
Breaking down our society’s warped view of beauty standards is super hard, but YOU deserve to feel comfortable in your own body and enjoy swimming or the beach just like anyone else.
Thankfully the past few years, we have been seeing more and more companies acknowledge the need for good swimsuits for curves or plus size folks, but there is still a long way to go. Especially with big brands.
Follow me @thewhimsysoul for daily curvy style inspiration!
As you can tell from this swimwear roundup, most of the pieces I love are actually from smaller brands who are choosing to fight fatphobia and clothing label gaps to make amazing swimwear & bikinis for curvy women (usually with a nice sustainable angle, too!)
The big guys haven’t caught up nearly as much, but we’ll get there. In the meantime, keep reminding yourself that you are more than a body, you are worth more than the shape of your body, but since we have to have a body, you deserve to wear something cute on it.
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And you totally deserve to go swimming in a cute bikini. Even if we can see your rolls (in fact, I welcome them!!)
Make sure to tag me on Instagram @thewhimsysoul so I can see your favorite swimsuits and give you some love! As always, if you ever need someone to chat body image with, I’m always a DM away. Stay golden ladies!
2 comments
For laughs,
I always get men sneak a peek at my shapely big boobs and backside,while their skinny woman are nearby, come on they must get bored with hugging bones …just saying
Loving my body at 51
Ree ?
That’s actually a horrible thing to say; there’s no need to skinny shame, just as there shouldn’t be any fat shaming.
Comparing bodies and tearing down other women, that’s not the way to be.
Do better, be better.