Why is all the swimwear absurdly high-cut and/or up the arse right now?!?

[ZoeTheThornyDevil]

Op.cit.: this offering from Wolf & Badger. I'll just tell you that the rear view was referred to as "minimal coverage" and leave it at that.

But literally every piece of swimwear seems to be cut ridiculously high on the leg right now. What grown-up wears this shit that you need an immediate wax for? Is this like when I was 19 and wore all thongs because I had the vague sense that they were "sexy" and therefore grown-up, even though I hated the permawedgie and no one else saw them? Is it just my algorithms? I do sometimes click on them out of sheer morbid curiosity to confirm that, yes, that entire scrap of fabric is wedged up the model's bumcrack. WHY???

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If you've found this page in search of swimwear that has been tried and tested by fellow Mumsnet users, you might find our guide to the best swimsuits for women useful. Hope this helps! MNHQ

They look great on some women, but so uncomfortable, I feel like I would be picking the costume out of my bum

try Tu at Sainsburys. I have one and SIL borrowed her MIL (my mum's) recently and was converted.

also Zoggs do normal leg swimsuits.

tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/p/Paisley-Print-Classic-Swimsuit-/136887253-MultiColoured?searchTerm=swimsuits:newArrivals&searchProduct=

tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/p/Black-Classic-Medium-Control-Swimsuit-/138822550-Black?searchTerm=swimsuits:newArrivals&searchProduct=

@ZoeTheThornyDevil

Op.cit.: this offering from Wolf & Badger. I'll just tell you that the rear view was referred to as "minimal coverage" and leave it at that.

But literally every piece of swimwear seems to be cut ridiculously high on the leg right now. What grown-up wears this shit that you need an immediate wax for? Is this like when I was 19 and wore all thongs because I had the vague sense that they were "sexy" and therefore grown-up, even though I hated the permawedgie and no one else saw them? Is it just my algorithms? I do sometimes click on them out of sheer morbid curiosity to confirm that, yes, that entire scrap of fabric is wedged up the model's bumcrack. WHY???

You can't swim in that style (unless you have zero or tiny boobs and are very slim) and it is a bloody rip off as hardly any material there.

I was discussing something similar with my dsis during last year's Love Island. We came to the conclusion that when we were late teens/early 20s, our buttocks were considered to be part of the private area of our bodies. But this is no longer the case.

So now any part of the female body can be acceptably shown (apart from the vulva and the anus). All in the name of fashion, feeling free and liberated. So young women wear less and less as this is liberating. But funnily enough, the same doesn't appear to have occurred in men's swimwear.

Yep, it's a nightmare, I bought sensible black bikini bottoms in matalan and team them with different coloured bikini tops or tankini tops

These guys! www.deakinandblue.com/

DH and I are only in our early 30s but he had a full on rant the last time we went on a beach holiday. He felt like he had to keep his head down at the beach because everywhere he looked someone had their bum/boobs/fanny out. He was so paranoid that someone was going to think he was staring at them if his eyes slipped for even a second. I have to admit I laughed at him and called him an old man but he was right.

The Wolf and Badger adverts confuse me. For a while I was being targeted with a bra for £100+. It wasn't even a bra, it was just straps that went around the boobs without any fabric where the cups should be 🤣

The Wolf and Badger adverts confuse me. For a while I was being targeted with a bra for £100+. It wasn't even a bra, it was just straps that went around the boobs without any fabric where the cups should be 🤣
I've had that one too! Like, if I wanted a boob frame I could just make one with coloured tit tape for a fiver.

I don't need my bum totally covered. I would just like something that covers at least 50% of it, and doesn't have half my mound of Venus, as it were, hanging out to boot.

It’s so annoying. I bought a lively wolf and badger bikini recently, top was great, bottom was all saggy and weird. Then I realised its supposed to go up the bum like that! Fine if you’re 18..

I know what you mean, v hard to find swimwear , even m and s had a swimsuit that was comfy but completely revealing of cleavage and kind of went down halfway to the belly button.

I second the pp who recommended Zoggs. I have a plain black one , its flattering without being revealing and I love it.

M&S is very good IMO, I bought something that suits that's not low cut or high leg last year

[quote Phrenologistsfinger]These guys! www.deakinandblue.com/[/quote]
@Phrenologistsfinger - those costumes are nice but ridiculously expensive - Zoggs go up to higher sizes and Tu at Sainsburys etc and noway near £120!

I also bought a swimming dress with built in shorts from Amazon, I had to search for modest swimwear in order to find anything that didn’t have cleavage showing, cutouts, or no bum coverage whatsoever. I did look at Modli (sp?) but they were expensive in comparison and I was a bit confused about the sizing so went for the Amazon one that looked similar.

Agree with the cleavage thing too. I don’t wear normal clothes that reveal my cleavage so why would I want swimwear that does?

I’ve bought swimsuits in the past that are low cut and stitched up the low cut neckline but why should I have to do this.

I've just bought some swimshorts from sports direct. Few pounds. I will just put them on top of my tankini or swimming costume. Then I can relax and not feel self conscious. Nobody's seeing my minge fringe.

I can't bear the up the bum look either. Just eugh on comfort and your arse cheeks on full display.

I have to confess I'm a fan of bikinis with the short board type shorts over. You don't have to worry about getting the right body length and I feel it shows the tummy area less than an all in one. Though I may be on my own here.

I've also got a tankini top I can wear with my bottoms which I realised was a safer option than my triangles on a string style top in a recent session of hydrotherapy. Eek.

Found this site when searching for the same last year: www.pourmoi.co.uk/swimwear/

Available through next as well. There loads of choice and they’re well made and don’t all flash the arse. I don’t mind in principle but I do not think my arse needs to be on display anywhere!

Matalan is good for bikini separates. The briefs have decent coverage without being massive. Might be the wrong time of year for many options there though.
I got a pair of Boden bottoms in the sale, just plain navy, excellent bum and fanny coverage, which are good for the pool with the flumes…
I like Shein tops. They do ones a bit like a pull on sports bra. Again, excellent for flumes. But not sold separately so I end up donating the bottoms to the charity shop.

I think that full bum covering costumes are less flattering than higher cut ones - they make your arse look much bigger imo. And shorts or tankinis are hugely unflattering

I completely disagree. Shorts are really flattering as long as they fit properly, and I don't care what size my arse look as long as it is wholly contained within the swim suit. Tankinis are much better as they don't drag my boobs flat and generally try to cut me in half as one pieces do.

I prefer a sporty bikini top and surf/swim shorts as I actually like to swim and move about.

I think that full bum covering costumes are less flattering than higher cut ones - they make your arse look much bigger imo.

Sure, if you’re a teenager with a tiny bum and perfect legs. Not so much if you’re pushing 50 with wobbly bits.

@SkankingMopoke

Fashions have a lot to answer for. I have also been struggling to find swimsuits that are low cut on the leg/bum, but is fit for exercise rather than lounging around a pool. I've found the Boden costumes really flattering in the past, but there is so much thick heavy fabric (presumably to make it flattering), that I might as well be swimming in a costume made of denim. I bought a Sweaty Betty costume in their sales, which is lower cut on the front, but barely covers my arse with the tiny triangle they've put on the back. I've kept it as it's the best overall I've found so far, given the top half is also a good fit and it's the right length. I have some Zoggs too, but although they are a great cut on the bottom, they are too short in the body. When I eventually find a good-all-over suit again, I will be buying multiples!

To the PP who mentioned the Decathlon costume with shorts bottom, do you find the legs ride up? I had been put off as this always happened to me with short cycling shorts (and my thighs are now considerably chubbier), and I really CBA with having to constantly having to pick them out of my groin and unroll them. I do like the idea of not needing to do my bikini line every time I swim though...

No not at all. I do a lot of swimming and it's great. Doesn't ride up. Don't need to pull it out of my bum.

www.decathlon.co.uk/p/women-s-1-piece-shorty-swimsuit-heva/_/R-p-303203?mc=8512551&c=BLUE

Great for proper swimming.

I must've tried on 20 swimsuits and ended up with one from H&M and one from Landsend. Size 20 with a voluptuous figure😊

There's certainly a divide between swimwear that is designed purely to adorn your body as you lounge by the pool (those white crochet triangle bikinis, whatever) and that which you can actually turn out some lengths, or windsurf in. My challenge is that I'd quite actually like something in the middle, a bikini that is fashionable but without being ridiculous and that I can also do twenty lengths in. And it goes without saying that I'm not doing a bikini wax for it. I wouldn't have worn this current shit even in my twenties.

In my youth, I had a couple of lovely cossies (one swimsuit, one bikini) with little shorts on the bottom. They were great as they were still quite sexy, in a vintage sort of way (but without the very high waist "vintage styles" all seem to have these days, which I don't like and don't suit) but I didn't need to wax.

Can't get anything like that nowadays - the closest I've seen are either proper long-legged swimming suits, which are great for swimming but less so for sunbathing, or surfer-style swimming shorts with rash vests, which on me just don't seem all that attractive (apologies to surfy types, I'm sure you look great).

I resent having to have my body hair removed every time I want to wear a bikini, but I'm not brave enough to just "let it all hang out", as it were. I'd love more options in swimwear.