The Art of Swimsuit Shopping

Without Ripping Your Hair Out

In recent years, the idea of creating clothes for plus-sized women has become popular. New lines spring up every month, and many retailers, like H&M, Forever 21, JC Penny, and Macy’s, are making a concerted effort to cater to their plus-size clients. This has been wonderful . . . if your plus size stops at 22. Most of these newly inclusive retailers have forgotten a major component of the plus-sized nation, namely, everyone who is a size 24 and up. For us, the pickings are still slim, especially when it comes to swimsuits.

Swimsuits, regardless of size, tend to be the bane of every woman’s life. No matter what kind of body she may have, it is difficult for a plus-sized woman to find a swimsuit that meets both comfort and aesthetical needs.

For me, multiply that difficulty by four to get close to how hard it is to find a swimsuit that is both comfortable and fashionable in my size, 28.

The other day, my coworker was looking at swimsuits online on her break and called me into her office to help her decide which one to purchase. When I commented on how cute some of the suits were, she told me, “They carry lots in plus sizes!” Excited by this information, as soon as I got home that evening, I went to the site she had been perusing and looked at their selection. Not one suit was above a 24. Crushed, I started to look around the web to see if anyone offered cute swimsuits for girls of my stature. This is what I found:

Mod Cloth

I had high hopes for Mod Cloth. They have a great selection of regular clothes in a great range of sizes. But in the swimsuit department, they came up lacking. They had only a few pieces that were in my size, and none of them were tankinis. Next.

Full Beauty

Full Beauty seemed like a sure thing. This site takes plus-sized clothes from many different sources and offers them in one site. They do have a lot to offer in many different sizes. However, most of the suits that came in my size were ugly, baggy, or dated. For those size 24 or smaller, they do have some cute

items. Unfortunately for me, I am not size 24. Time to move on.

Torrid

Torrid had a great selection of suits in a full range of plus sizes. They trend towards the retro look, which suits me fine. The problem I had with their selection is that it was a little too bold for my taste. It was also expensive. However, for those who want to be bold, this is a great place to shop. They have lots of bikinis as well as some great sexy retro one pieces. I was looking for a tankini, so it was time to move on again.

Lane Bryant

Lane Bryant was my winner winner, chicken dinner. Like Torrid, they carry a great selection of suits in a variety of styles and sizes. What won me over was that they had more selection when it came to tankinis. I was also impressed by the variety of colors they had. Lane Bryant is also expensive, but I had found what I wanted, so I was more than willing to pay. This is the swimsuit I got. I can’t wait to try it out!

What I Learned

Boutiques that cater exclusively to plus size women seem to be the way to go when it comes to swimsuits. Unfortunately, that means paying more. I hope that someday being plus-sized does not

mean having to fork over more than two times what a “normal”-sized woman would pay for her clothes. But until then, Lane Bryant and all of the other boutique stores that go out of their way to carry cute

clothes for all of us of goddess-sized ladies, I salute you!