If you're heading on a tropical cruise or island vacation, wearing the right swimsuit is important. But, you can't have the right swimsuit without wearing the right swimsuit bottoms.
How do you know what bottoms work for you? Have you ever worn a pair of bathing suit bottoms that ride up, sag too low, or stretch out easily?
It's natural for your body weight to fluctuate and for last year's bathing suits to feel too tight or too loose.
If you're in need of the perfect pair of bottoms for this year's vacation, consider this list of swimsuit bottoms and their fits.
Know Your Body Type
The first step to finding the right swimsuit bottoms for you is to generally understand your body type. Some swimsuits flatter tall women, while other bathing suits look better on women who are curvier. In general, there is the hourglass figure, the inverted triangle, the pear, the triangle, the rectangle, and the round body shape.
The hourglass figure is a body shape that holds curviness in both the chest and the hips fairly equally. The inverted triangle is a body shape where women tend to have larger chests and smaller hips.
A woman with a pear body shape has larger hips and a rounded chest, but their hips are wider than the top of their body.
The triangle shape is a body type where the chest area is much smaller than the hip area. The rectangle body type is fairly even across the chest and hip area, with the torso also falling even with the hips.
And lastly, the round body type is a shape where a woman's figure is fairly rounded throughout the torso, hips, and chest. All body types are beautiful and unique, and all of them call for different bathing suit bottoms.
Classic Bikini
The classic bikini is a look that you've probably all owned. It's a cut that falls right at the waist and tends to tie on either side of the hip. The classic bikini is a simple slip-on style that is symmetric on all sides, never revealing too much or too little. The classic bikini has been around for years and is definitely a timeless look, falling on the lowest part of your hip for a comfortable and supportive feel.
Women with rectangular body shapes and inverted triangle shapes, tend to find luck with the classic bikini style. Women with athletic bodies also tend to gravitate towards the classic bikini bathing suit bottom.
Skirts
Swim skirt bottoms are a style that tends to fall right at the belly button or slightly above.
All swim skirts are comfortable, supportive, and include a skirt and layered bottom underneath.
The skirt and bottom fall just at the hip, keeping you comfortable, stylish, and sassy throughout the day. If you're heading on a tropical vacation or cruise, a swim skirt bottom is a great look for the beach or for walking around on the upper deck. Skirt swimsuit bottoms tend to look incredible on women with a triangle or hourglass-shaped bodies.
High Waisted
The high-waisted trend is an incredible look for women that enjoy a retro vibe. This classic style covers your hips and your stomach, right up until your belly button. High-waisted bathing suits allow for a supportive beach day. Women with an inverted triangle-shaped body and a round body shape tend to look enchanting in a high-waisted cut.
Boy Shorts
Boy shorts are an incredible look for women with an athletic figure. They’re also a great fit for women who want a full coverage look and a supportive feeling all day long. Boy's shorts offer coverage for your butt, hips, part of your tummy, and coverage on the top of your thighs like the skirt-style bottoms.
High Cut
The high-cut look, also known as the deep V look, falls far below your navel in the middle of the bottoms. However, when it comes to the sides of this bathing suit bottom, each side sits at or above your hips. In this style, a deep v is created on your body and a lot of support is made.
The deep V look tends to flatter women with a triangle-shaped figure and an hourglass figure. On women with these body types, the deep v or high-cut bathing suit falls at the perfect part of their hips, accentuating their body's natural shape.
Cheeky
The cheeky bathing suit bottom style is exactly how it sounds. It draws attention to your cheeks, and it keeps you looking flattered.
The front of a cheeky bathing suit tends to be a traditional triangle cut- almost resembling that of a classic fit.
However, the back of a cheeky bathing suit rides a little higher than a normal classic swimsuit, bottom, showing off your cheeks in an appropriate way.
Cheeky bathing suit bottoms tend to look incredible on women with triangle shapes, square shapes, and hourglass shapes.
Mid-Waist
The mid-waist bathing suit bottoms are modest, yet offer slightly less coverage than high-waisted bottoms.
Mid-waist bathing suit bottoms are designed to directly hit at your hip bones, providing you the support you need for an active day at the beach with your family or friends.
This style of bathing suit is great for playing on the beach and swimming in the waves. The mid-waist style looks incredible on a rectangle body shape, a round body shape, and a triangle body shape.
If you're an active individual and have an athletic body, the mid-waist style is made for you.
Hipster
The hipster-style bikini bottom is a savior for women with small hips and a waist that appears more narrow. The hipster is a style that falls lower on the hips while still giving you the same coverage as a classic bikini style. If you were going to compare the hipster swimsuit bottoms to a pair of pants, think low-rise denim.
Brazilian
If you want to go even further with showing off your cheeks, the Brazilian bathing suit bottom style is known as one of the sexiest bikini bottoms out there. Who says you can't show off a little bit of booty on your vacation even if you're over the age of 30?
The front of a Brazilian is similar to that of a hipster look, but the back of these bottoms show more skin than a cheeky bathing suit. Instead of a V-cut style that you would see with the typical cheeky bathing suit, the Brazilian tends to create a Y-cut.
The Brazilian bathing suit style tends to look incredible on women with a square figure or women with more athletic bodies. Women with an hourglass figure also look good in the Brazilian bottom Style.
If you're comfortable and willing to show off a little more skin, the Brazilian is one of the most flattering bathing suits for any body and booty. The Brazilian is also a great bathing suit for tanning because the tan lines that it leaves on your back and front are minimal compared to a high-waisted bathing suit.
The Brazilian is bottom-line one of the best swimsuits for basking your body and buns in the sun.
Ruched
If you want to accentuate your bottom in a different way, without actually showing as much skin, bathing suit bottoms that are ruched or pinched in the back are the illusion you've been looking for.
Having the small ruched detail in the middle of your bottoms allows for your bum to be accentuated. The ruched aspect of the bikini creates a bubble butt illusion and allows for your curves to be completely flattered and complimented. The ruched look is definitely applicable to many bathing suit styles but tends to fall on a mid-waist to a classic bikini bottom look.
What's great about the ruched bathing suit bottom is that it holds complete coverage for your bottom at the beach, while still allowing you to look stylish and feel supported.
The ruched detailing is honestly a style that looks incredible at any body type because it accentuates what's already there. If you tend to have smaller hips and a smaller bottom, wearing a ruched bathing suit can actually highlight what you've already got.
Fold Over
Fold over bathing suit bottoms are another way to accentuate your hips if you tend to have a rectangle body shape or an athletic body shape. The fold-over bathing suit bottom provides extra volume for your hips and is suitable to support you throughout the day, as it also covers part of your tummy area.
If you want to fold over your bathing suit it will turn into a low-cut look. If you want to have the extra coverage on your stomach, you can unfold the material and make it into a high-waisted look. This bathing suit provides the “best of both worlds” for women with a more rectangular body type.
Tie-Side
Known to be a style that blends in with the classic bikini bottom, the tie-side is a look that you can't go wrong with. It's extremely adorable, hints at a sassy style, and is popular with low to mid-rise falls.
The tie-side bathing suits tend to be popular in making the triangle front shape and offering medium coverage in the back.
This bathing suit looks great on hourglass figures, rectangular body types, and women with rounded shapes.
Great for tanning and for an easy slip on and off, the tie-side bathing suit keeps you covered, while still keeping you sassy and appropriate on your beach vacation.
Classic Briefs
The classic brief look is a bathing suit bottom style that falls somewhere and between boy shorts and a cheeky cut.
This style offers full coverage over your bum and keeps you appropriately covered in the front, too. The classic brief look falls straight above your hip bone and keeps you covered from the hip to the bottom of your bottom.
This is a bathing suit that is great for a woman who is playing with their kids in the ocean or trying to stay supported on a beach walk.
The classic brief look is great for women with round body types and rectangle body types. Women with an inverted triangle body type also look good in the classic brief look.
There’s a Bathing Suit for Everyone
There's nothing more important for your tropical beach or cruise vacation than finding the right bathing suits for your bottom.
The reason this is so important is that when you're comfortable in your bathing suit you'll be comfortable throughout your day. You don't want to walk around for an entire week, wishing you were wearing a more comfortable or more supportive bathing suit.
Consider your body type and consider what’s also comfortable for you. The body type guidelines aren't always perfectly accurate because some women can be midway between two body types. So, always do what's best for you, for the weather that you are going to be traveling into, and for the activities you’ll be doing.
If you know you'll be very active on your trip, and lounging around isn't really on the agenda, consider a bathing suit that has total coverage or one that gives full support front and back.
You don't want to be wearing a Brazilian bottom bathing suit while swimming in the ocean or adventuring on a waterfall hike.
Try a couple of bathing suit bottoms, get advice from your friends, and consider even mixing and matching looks on top and bottom.
Sources:
Your Handy Guide to 6 Types of Bikini Bottoms | Popsugar
The definitive guide to every bikini bottom style | Cosmopolitan
Best Swimsuit by Body Type 2022: Bikinis, One-Pieces, and Suits | Marie Claire (US)