Sarong Cover Ups for Swimwear

Sarong Cover Ups for Swimwear

Four Ways to Tie One

Nobody selling these explains it, which is odd given it is the only thing separating sarong cover ups for swimwear from a piece of cloth. All four start the same way: hold the fabric behind you with a roughly equal amount in each hand.

• As a skirt. Wrap it around the hips and knot the two corners together at one side. Knotting at the side rather than the front leaves a slit at the leg; knotting at the front closes it.
• As a maxi. Same wrap, but bring the fabric up to the natural waist before knotting. The extra rise is what turns a short sarong into a maxi length.
• One shoulder. Wrap under one arm and across the chest, then knot the corners over the opposite shoulder. This one holds best on a longer piece.
• Strapless dress. Wrap across the chest under both arms and knot at the center front, then tuck the knot down. Needs the widest piece of the four.

A knot slips as soon as the fabric is at all slippery. A twist before knotting, or tucking the tail under the wrap, holds far better than pulling the knot tighter.

Sarong or Pareo?

The same garment under two names, which is worth knowing because retailers file them separately and you can miss half the stock by searching one word.

Sarong comes from Southeast Asia and pareo from Tahiti, and both describe an untailored rectangle worn wrapped. Some sellers use pareo for the lighter, more decorative versions and sarong for everything else, but the distinction is not consistent anywhere. If a listing has neither word, look for wrap or beach wrap.

Length and Fabric

Two decisions, and the fabric is the one people get wrong.

Length. A short sarong reaches mid-thigh and works only as a skirt. A long one reaches the ankle and can do all four ties above, which makes it the more useful buy if you are only taking one. Width matters as much as length for the dress ties — a narrow piece will not meet around the chest.

Fabric. This decides whether it works once you are damp. A light woven fabric — cotton voile, viscose, chiffon — dries fast and falls away from the body. A heavier or clingy knit sticks to wet skin, which defeats the purpose entirely and is the most common complaint about these. Test it by how it drapes rather than how it photographs.

Color is the easy part: a plain sarong goes over any print, while a printed one needs a plain suit underneath.

Where the Pattern Ends Up

A sarong is designed flat and photographed flat, and then you wrap it. The two do not look alike, and the gap is widest on a border print.

Where the pattern is concentrated along one edge, that edge becomes the hem when the cloth is worn as a skirt, sits across the chest when it is tied as a dress, and runs diagonally over the body on the one-shoulder tie. The same piece of fabric gives three completely different results, and only one of them is the one in the photograph.

Directional prints behave the same way. Palm leaves and stripes have a right way up, and wrapping turns half the cloth over almost every time.

So decide which tie you will actually use most, then look at where the pattern sits relative to that edge. Flat appeal and worn appeal are different things here in a way they are not for a printed swimsuit.

What It Goes Over

A sarong covers from the waist down and leaves the shoulders open, which suits a day where sun is not the main concern. If it is, a kaftan or tunic covers the upper body instead, and matched sets arrive with the suit and the layer already coordinated. Underneath, a bikini works best since the sarong handles the coverage, and the swim tops range sells halves separately.