Modest Bathing Suits All Over the Place!

My mailbox overfloweth with clothing catalogs these days, and I'm happy to report there are modest bathing suits everywhere!  I've been unsuccessfully searching for a modest but cool bathing suit for years now, more for aesthetic reasons than modesty per se.  If I could still get away with wearing a two-piece bathing suit, I would.  After all, it's the beach!  However, those days are gone for me.  I'm looking for more fabric and more coverage. I want to be able to body-surf without worrying about losing anything.  And I don't want to wear a granny suit either.  This year, no problemo!  Here's a few examples of the really cute modest suits I've found.

 Athleta has very stylin' suits that are made for active sports, like surfing and  kayaking.  The fabrics are technical (quick-drying, durable) and the designs are  terrific, very eye-catching.  There's a great variety of tankini tops, board shorts, and swim skirts with built-in bottoms.  Even your teenaged girls  will love their styles.  Their prices are moderate, the quality is excellent (I've been very happy with Athleta's products and service.)

Orvis offers many attractive swimdresses.  I liked the shell-print bandeau.  They're pricier than the other manufacturers mentioned here at $120 and $140 a suit.  Sorry, I can't show you any photos, as they are .BMP files.

  L.L.Bean has a great selection of sarong swimusits, swim dresses, tankinis and "skirtinis."  (Beware, their website can take a while to load.)

L.L. Bean designs are more conventional than Athleta's edgy designs.  But there are some cuties here too, such as this two piece tropical print suit. Suits are pricier at $80 and $90, and more for two-piece styles.  But with  with reliable L.L. Bean quality, no doubt.

Wendy recently mentioned Christa Taylor, who offers very cool skirts.

Christa also has a swimsuit style in her collection, although it looks decidely un-swimsuit-y to me. Not crazy about the bows.  Hope her line does well, nonetheless!

Shade offers swimsuits this year too.  Their designs are unique.  They actually look a little odd to me, more like camisole tops made out of swimsuit material.  The tops are long and looser than most.  The  bottoms are conventional swimsuit bottoms, except for a 4-inch "slimmer band" which makes them high-waisted.  I'm not sold on the bottoms, but I can see pairing a Shade Newport or Huntington top with an Athleta swim skirt. Shade's website is a bit hard to use. I'd like to see one page with thumbprint pics of all the available suits.

Ok, maybe it's me, maybe I haven't been paying attention.  But I don't remember ever seeing such a variety in modest swimsuits!  I'm even seeing swimskirt bottoms in the mall stores like Macy's and Lord & Taylor's.  I'll be hitting the beach without any second thoughts this summer!  Ladies, any other recommendations for bathing suits?

Comments

[Wendy]

I'm not sure but I think Shade's suit is meant to be layered under another suit. That was the impression I got from their description, but I don't really get that. I love that Shade offers people the ability to layer with the latest fashions, but I'm not sure that this would work for me. For more coverage, I'd vastly prefer those cute vintage suits Lori pointed out to us (http://www.revampvintage.com/index1.html) instead of layering suits, but I do think it's great that Shade is offering more options.

[ChristineMarie]

I'm also a fan of vintage bathingsuits and they're very trendy now so young people can feel more confident wearing them

[Liz Neville]

The rash guard shirt and board short combination has caught my daughter's fancy. It's a great, "cool" look with comfort, move-ability, and coverage for aspiring surfers and anyone who wants to be able to play at the beach, not just lounge around in hopes of looking gorgeous. It is better suited to young and slim figures though-- what else?

[Emily]

Wow, I love that revamp vintage site, though I couldn't seem to find pics of the swimsuits? I'll have to go back and look again later. I was rather taken with the dresses!!

I live in a beach area that has a fair few Muslim families and Orthodox Jewish families, and I have seen some interesting swimwear on some of the ladies! I don't want to be too obvious about looking though- I doubt they'd appreciate the irony of attracting attention with their modest swimsuits- some of them seem to have adapted other kinds of clothing to the purpose- there are leggins and sarongs involved- but others have on sunsuits, which are something that is big for a lot of people here in Australia, religious or not, cos of our very very harsh sun and preponderance of skincancers. The sunsuits tend to have pants-bottoms though and could be a bit tight for some ladies beliefs but if your beliefs square with the pants part you could always buy a bigger size!! Here are some pics of the sunsuits: http://www.stingray.com.au/products/default.asp?intCatID=6

A

[Alexandra Foley]

Wow! Those vintage suits are to die for! I can't believe how cute they are. The price tag is steep, but Land's End suits (which I usually prefer) are about $100. I know that we aren't all about being sexy, but you those suites are FAR sexier than some of the skanky stuff we see from Victoria's Secret and the like. Thanks for the link.

[Justin Ryan]

I have to side with Alexandra Foley here: Zowey! Those swimsuits are classy, dreamy, and more comprehensively gorgeous (in look, taste and modesty) than any bathing suits I can ever remember! These are, in a way, "sexier" than the skimpier suits. There is a subtle, nuanced larger point here, I think: truer beauty lies, in part, in a certain level of mystery, of NOT revealing, of understatement and a pinch of humility. There's a simple irony that "seeing everything" about a woman is not, in fact, appreciating everything about her.

[Michelle]

Has anyone looked at Wholesome Wear? I have one of their lovely suits!

www.wholesomewear.com

[K.]

LandsEnd also offers a wide variety of swim seperates... some more modest than others... it really depends on what you pair with what.

Thanks for the great links!

[Bethany]

Target (www.target.com) has some nice tankinis right now that can be paired with a skirted bottom. Also, some of the tankinis are longer than most so they give more tummy coverage while still looking fashionable. And hey! you can't beat a swim suit that only costs $35!

[Pam]

Ladies, I ran across you comments and thought I would direct you to a brand new company. This is a cottage industry that designs and creates the suits to fit your body modestly. The suits are reasonably priced in the $35 - $60 range. Take alook!
www.modestycounts.com

[River]

Check out ohana swimwear for some cool but modest suits.

[L.B.]

For basic swimming (for a tallish person who can't always find Athleta options that fit), my own Land's End tank plus skirted bottom works well. (Being able to get separate sizes for each piece makes the whole search process less miserable, as well!)

People with hard-to-find sizes might like to check out
http://www.decentexposures.com/swim.shtml
(note, the rest of the site is mostly about bras, and they do have photos of customers modeling them, fair warning). But they make the stuff custom (like some of the other links) and can alter.

[kristin]

I NEED HELP FINDING A CUTE MODEST SWIM SUIT! ITS HARD FOR ME TO FIT IN MOST SUITS BECAUSE IM PETITE(ABOUT A SSIZE FOUR) AND HAVE A LARGE BUST (ABOUT A C/D) I CANT FIND A CUTE SUIT THAT FITS ANYWHERE! I WAS LOOKING AT TANKINIS, BUT MOST SEEM TOO LOW. CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHERE TO LOOK?

[Cathleen]

Wholesomewear.com has lovely swimwear for girls and ladies. they are practical for pool or surf and keep the sun from starting those cancer causing cells. I would not go to the beach without mine ~ and believe me, it is the young men who notice because they are scandalized by the lack of coverage. Byt he way, wholesomewear often has "buy two, and get a % off" sales.

[Elizabeth]

I am a big woman, and I have found very modest bathing suits at Blair.com
http://www.blair.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&langId=-1&categoryId=87679&pcats=87616,87679&pagenumber=1

I got a tankini with long top and boy-shorts bottom. Also got a boyleg suit. Both relatively modest, and don't have the long skirts that get caught up when I'm trying to swim laps or do physical therapy exercises or hydrorobics. I couldn't wear the longer skirts or shorts in deep water - they would weight me down too much.

[Caitlin]

Im trying to find a suit more like this Any suggestions?

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/WolfDemonGurl89/Swimsuit.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i267/WolfDemonGurl89/BackSwim.jpg

[J]

www.wholesomewear.com

[Ricky]

That suit presented in Elizabeth's post of 6/16/7 is absolute PERFECTION!!

[JR]

I got my one piece bathing suit from newport-news.com for only $30 and I absolutely love it...it was cheap and the quiality is great! Not every single item is modest (a lot are though), but it has the largest line of stylish one-piece bathing suits I have ever seen!

[Melissa Clifton]

I wear skirts/dresses (modest ones) all the time and I even swim in them. You cant beat that for a modest swim suit. A dress for a swimsuit was the only acceptable thing a few generations ago. It was not even accepted in the biggest of
American cities for a woman to wear a pair of pants until around 4 decades ago. Some would think it dangerous or something, but take it from someone that has jumped off trees into a lake, rode a horse in the country, and a moped in Miami, it can all be done modestly and safely in a skirt/jumper/dress.

[Julia Welch]

Hear, hear to Melissa's remarks abour skirts and dresses. For most of recorded history women did everything in skirts and dresses, and I too wear them 99% of the time and do just fine. This includes hiking with the Cub Scouts and camping with the Girl Scouts! As a leader of Brownies, I think it critical to show my girls it is possible to be modest AND competent AND have fun!
This is another word of praise for the suits at wholesomewear.com; my daughter and I wear them and love them.

[Penny]

I found a website called swimmodest.com that has a cute sarong style suit, with many fabrics to choose from.

[Penny]

Everyone's personal standards for modest swimsuits varies slightly. I have always requested that my daughters wear one piece suits, even though they too can sometimes be revealing. My 16 year old daughter was lamenting that she couldn't find any "cute" one piece swimsuits. A few days later she found the "damsel" at Urban Outfitters - I had to agree, it is cute, it stylish, and it is definitely more modest than what most of her friends are wearing.

[alicia]

im a teenager and i've been looking for a cute, modest bathing suit. a tankini with board shorts, not a swim dress or skirtini. all the modest styles i've come across just seem too old, like LLbean and Macys:) any suggestions? cant spend more that $50 or so

[Jessica]

Hi Penny-- I totally hear you and am trying to do something about that through my online store, Sakura Rose (www.sakurarose.com). I don't have my swimwear up yet, but will for Summer '08. Till then, I have found super-cute swimwear through modbeclothing.com amd Shadeclothing.com. I hope I'll have some good news for you as I look into more collections that I can carry this coming summer!