One Piece Swimwear With Cutouts

One Piece Swimwear With Cutouts

Monokini or Cutout?

One piece swimwear with cutouts goes by two names, which is worth knowing before comparing listings. Monokini came first and described a one-piece with a section removed; cutout is the plainer description that has largely replaced it.

Neither name tells you anything useful about where the opening is, and that is the only thing that matters. Two suits both sold as monokinis can look entirely unrelated — one open at the waist, one open across the back — so read the photograph rather than the category name.

Where the Openings Sit

Three placements cover almost everything in this category, and they suit different concerns.

Side waist. The most common. Openings at the narrowest part of the torso, usually mirrored on both sides. They emphasise the waist by framing it, and because the panel between them stays intact, the front coverage is unchanged. This is the version to look at if you want the effect without exposing the stomach.

Front. An opening below the bust or at the center of the torso. More dramatic, and the one that changes coverage most — worth checking how the remaining panel is anchored, since a front cutout removes fabric from the part of the suit doing the shaping.

Back. Openings behind rather than in front, keeping the whole front intact. The least demanding way to wear the style, and it overlaps with the open back range where the back is the whole design rather than a detail.

As for which shapes suit it: the honest answer is that placement decides this, not body type. An opening draws the eye to what is beside it, so put it where you want attention and keep it away from where you do not.

Cutouts With Tummy Control

These sound like opposites and they are not, which surprises people. A side-waist cutout removes fabric from the sides while leaving the front panel whole, so a ruched shaping front can run underneath it exactly as it would in a plain suit.

In practice the combination often works better than a plain suit does, because the openings break up the outline and the gathered panel handles the middle. What does not combine is a front cutout with shaping — remove fabric from the center and there is nothing left to do the smoothing. See tummy control one pieces for the version that keeps the whole front, and tummy control construction for how the shaping works.

One more thing worth checking on a side-waist version: how the two halves are joined. A pair of openings leaves a narrow bridge of fabric at each side, and that bridge is under tension whenever you move. Reinforced or double-layered there, it holds its shape; single-layer, it stretches and the openings gradually change shape with wear.

Can You Cut One Yourself?

It gets asked often enough to answer properly: not really, and the reason is structural rather than a matter of sewing skill.

Swim fabric is knitted, so a cut edge curls and runs along the loops instead of lying flat. More to the point, the edges of a swimsuit are not simply closed — each carries elastic set into it that holds the tension of that whole section. Cut through one and the pull it was carrying transfers to the fabric beside it, which then distorts.

What can be altered is the seams rather than the surface: shortening a strap, taking in a side seam. Both work inside the structure instead of removing part of it. If an opening is what you want, a suit drafted with one costs less than the two attempts it usually takes otherwise.

Support in a Cutout

The part that gets overlooked. Fabric removed from the torso is fabric no longer holding the top of the suit down, so a cutout style relies more on the bust construction than a plain one does. Check for a molded cup or a proper band rather than a shelf lining, particularly with a front or side opening — underwire styles are the version that holds. The rest of the range is in one piece swimwear.