Plus Size Tankinis

Plus Size Tankinis

Where a Tankini Helps at Plus Sizes

Most advice about covering the middle goes straight to compression. In this shape the useful variable is simpler, and it costs nothing: hem length. A top that finishes an inch or two below the waistband covers the middle whether or not the fabric is doing anything clever, because there is no join for the eye to land on and nothing to pull at.

That is worth knowing because hem length survives a wet suit, a long afternoon and a hundred washes, while anything that works by tension gets less comfortable as the hours pass. If shaping is what you are after, tummy control tankinis combine both; if coverage is what you are after, length on its own does most of the work.

Read the garment measurement rather than the word. A cut described as hip-length is drawn on a fit model, and at larger sizes the same hem has further to travel before it clears the widest point.

Underwire and Real Support

Past a certain cup, a shelf bra is a lining rather than a support system. The weight has to sit on a band, and the band has to be wide enough not to roll over on itself by the middle of the afternoon. Underwire tankinis do this properly, and bra sized tankinis let you order by the number and letter you already know rather than translating into S, M and L.

Straps matter less than most people expect. They stop the top sliding sideways; they are not what holds it up. A top that hangs from the shoulders will dig in there and still gape at the front, and going up a size makes the gaping worse rather than better.

Shorts, Skirts or Briefs Below

The bottom half changes the day more than the top does. Shorts stop the thighs rubbing on a long walk and stay put on a hot bench, which matters more than any question of coverage. A skirt panel covers the hip and upper thigh while a lined brief underneath does the actual swimming. A plain brief dries fastest, packs smallest and disappears under everything.

Whatever you choose, match the rise to the top before you match the print. The overlap is what makes the outfit work.

Sleeves and Sun

A tankini top with a sleeve covers the shoulder and the upper arm, which are the first places to burn and the hardest to keep covered through a day of getting in and out of the water. It also removes the practical nuisance of a strap mark under a sundress that evening.

Fuller cuts and plus size tankini tops with a sleeve set properly into the body keep the arm free rather than binding it at the underarm, so the coverage costs nothing in movement. A higher neckline does the same job for the chest and collarbone.

Sleeves also change how a wet top behaves. A bare shoulder dries in minutes and a sleeved one takes longer, so a short sleeve is usually the better trade for a day that involves getting in and out repeatedly. Save the full length for the hours when the sun is directly overhead.

Working From Two Numbers

Two numbers matter here and they are rarely the same one. The bust decides the top and the hip decides the bottom, and a tankini is the shape that lets you honour both instead of averaging them. If you have ever bought a one piece that fitted one end and fought the other, that is the problem this shape exists to solve.

Order from the measurement table rather than from the size you usually take, and measure over nothing rather than over underwear — swim fabric sits closer than cotton does.

Between two sizes, take the larger for the top and the smaller for the bottom. Swim fabric stretches into a slightly generous top and recovers; a bottom that is fractionally loose rides down every time you leave the water and never settles.

It is also worth knowing that the same label number moves between shapes. A blouson cut carries more ease than a fitted one at the identical size, so the number that works in one is not automatically the number that works in the other.