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Where to Buy Plus Size Swimwear

by Melissa Walker Horn | Feb 14, 2020 | Where to Buy

I’m your girl when it comes to plus size swimwear. Why is that? I’m a water baby, and living in the water requires that you have something to wear. As body confident as I am, nude beaches will never be my thing. So off I go in search of swimwear that fits, works for the various uses I require it to and looks good. I’ve had success and failures and now own somewhere in the region of 15 pairs of togs (that’s swimwear in Queenslander). That makes me an expert, I think.

Where to buy plus size swimwear, shall we?

City Chic Swimwear

City Chic

My first decent swimsuit came from City Chic. It was a strapless (with removable straps) suit with a giant ruffle along the front. It was the first time I wasn’t squashing into a regular size 20 and hoping for the best. I still have that suit 3 years later, and it’s good as new. That’s got to be the best advertisement for swimwear if it holds it’s colour and shape through numerous years of use. Two enthusiastic thumbs up. PLUS, my friend Desiree has the bikini in this collage, and it’s AMAZING in real life. Sooooo good.

After a few seasons of trying them on, I’ve found that I wear the XL (I’m a 22 in swimwear normally) in the swimsuits. All the sizing is pretty consistent across the range. Try one you’ve tried ’em all is my advice, get in-store if possible and try some on, then you’ll be set for ordering online. If that’s not possible, the measurements appear to be on track.

Shop the City Chic swimwear.

Curvy Swimwear

A recent addition to my closet is the watercolour bandeau suit from Curvy Swimwear. This is a capsule luxe collection from the makers of Capriosca Swimwear. I own a number of their day-to-day and chlorine resistant swimwear and have always found them impressive. This suit, though, is something else. It lives up to the luxe price tag in the fit and quality of the material. Gorgeous.

As far as sizing goes, I found it a great fit, if not a little on the small size. This could be me with my long torso, but a size up would’ve been perfect. I own the 22, and if I weren’t so tall, it would be a great fit because it fits like a super good-looking glove elsewhere. If you’re after something special, something that you won’t see everywhere, these are the suits for you.

Shop Curvy Swimwear here.

Sequins and Sand Boutique

Sequins + Sand

This brand has been a big supporter of my blog. Technically they are stockists of the awesome Capricosca brand, and since my first advertorial style post with the brand, I have collected 5 Capricosca swimsuits. Yup. FIVE. I have a black chlorine resistant one I use for swimming, a red tankini set, the polka dot one piece in this set, an aqua one piece and the navy panelled one piece. I wear these suits week in and week out. They are my go-to suits for pool swimming, especially.

AS far as sizing goes, I have the 22 in all items. The chlorine resistant suits fit tighter than the others, so if you can size up or wiggle into them, laying down on your bed as I do. They’re worth the effort getting into them because as you swim, they don’t move. Again my long torso comes into play; shorter ladies wouldn’t have a problem in their usual size. Check out the size chart, and if you have questions, Sequins and Sand are happy to answer your questions over the phone, via email or on their social media accounts. They’ll ALL over that.

Shop the range of swimwear at Sequins and Sand here.

Swimsuits for All Plus Size

Swimsuits for All

This is the ASOS of plus-size swimwear shopping locations. This site stocks everything from size 8 to 30 in some of the styles. Amazing, right? I noticed that the bikinis and mid-kinis tend to stop at size 24, but I didn’t check them all. Well, worth a look, especially if you checked out the Curves at every size photoshoot, I featured on the blog a while back. LOTS of choices, lots of great sales and something for everyone.

Sizing wise, the best advice I can give is that, like ASOS, they stick to several brands. You MUST check the size chart for every different suit. Don’t think you have it sorted and clickety-click away; check the chart. Swimsuits for All have reviews on all their suits, and from the ones I looked at, these are some of the most comprehensive reviews on any site anywhere. And there are LOTS of them. Use them if you’re in doubt. You won’t go wrong then.

Check out the biggest range of swimwear I’ve ever seen at Swimsuits for All.

Confidence Swimwear

A recent find for me, I have two sets of swimwear from Confidence Swimwear and wanted to add them to this post. Beautifully, sustainably and ethically made and available to a US size 20 (which I am wearing in the review as an AU24), they are worth looking at. Disappointed about the size range? Well, they offer custom sizing at no extra cost, which is perfect for those requiring a large size and those with differences that require unique sizing. The team say they want all people to feel empowered in their body, and this suits that tick all the boxes might do that!

Shop the Confidence Swimwear range here.

ARTESANDS-SWIMWEAR

Artesands

I originally found this brand via the team at Hear Us Roar and love the wide range of prints, fits and styles they offer. Most pieces are available in up to ten styles, including mix and match separates and one-pieces. They describe themselves as a curvy girl swimwear brand filled with passion, persistence, and commitment to normalise the female body. They, as a team, are striving to break down the stereotypical swimwear industry ideals. Through artisans like craftsmanship, each piece is styled and sculptured with great bust support, secure contouring power mesh and luxurious fabrications to create fashionable women’s plus-sized swimwear that supports and fits our curvy body shapes.

Shop the Artesans Swimwear range online.

Plus Size Swimwear I’ve Reviewed

Over the past year or two, I’ve been lucky enough to review many of the brands featured, as I said at the start. Swimwear is just such a major feature in my life it felt weird not to include it on the blog despite my self-imposed modesty rules. While I loosened up a little on those, I knew that I couldn’t go soft on the actual review. So I didn’t. I hope they prove useful to you. Let me know how you go, and don’t hesitate to ask your questions in the comments. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Which is often fast as. Haha. Click on any of the images in this slide, and a new window will pop out to the original post.

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Where to Buy Plus Size Swimwear Online - Suger Coat It

Plus-Size fashion Shops - Melissa Walker Horn Suger Coat It Australia

Aussie Curves: Swimwear

by Melissa Walker Horn | Nov 13, 2013 | Confidence, Gifted, She Wore What

I’ve been pondering swimwear week a little more than is actually necessary. And not the reasons most are; as they debate what they will and won’t show, will and won’t do. I had what I planned to wear organised. A cute outfit and the gorgeous swimmers I was sent for this post sponsored by Sequins and Sand. Nope. I was covered. Ready.

So what I was pondering was the idea of swimwear.

The big and small of it. From bikinis to wetsuits and everything in between. It got me to thinking about my Mum and summer at the beach. Every year my family would rent a house at the Sunshine Coast for the summer season. Sometimes the same house for a year or two in the row, often not. My Mum is a beach lover and a woman who gets what she wants.

Summer’s were spent lazing on the beach, swimming in the pool or hitting the shops. We played and laughed and tanned {it was the early nineties after all}. I never once saw my mother wear anything more extreme than a sheer oversized shirt over her togs. EVER. Most of the time she was wandering around in them. it was the beach and she certainly didn’t care. She laughed when I requested board short at the age of 12. Why? Was her genuine response.

Why indeed?

WHY!?

Because being a teenager can suck. And being a teenager who towers over most grown women in height and size is hard work. No matter how confident your parents have raised you to be. My mother bought me those board shorts even though she thought they were ridiculous. How will you swim in these, she asked. Knee-length, men’s short were all that I could find in my size at the time {even though I would have barely been a size 16}. “There’s so much material? Won’t you find it hard to swim? Really swim?” she persisted. I didn’t elaborate, I just want them, I said.

I’ve been bigger and smaller than that girl who wanted board shorts.

I’ve been fitter and un-fitter. Healthier and unhealthier. I wonder now if I would have felt differently if I blended in a little better. By high school, I had girlfriends who not only got me but who were just as tall, as athletic. I wasn’t different anymore, I was the same. I was a little short by comparison in fact. At school carnivals when I was competing I would wear togs. Just togs and brave it out. Winning became more important than the concern of being called too fat.

And the years passed. After high school, I didn’t really swim like that anymore. I swam in the ocean. Strong hard strokes as I pulled myself through the waves. I floated out past the break for hours sometimes. The sun in my face watching those caught in the break struggle to find their feet. Musing about life and being caught in the tumble of it all. I pondered that this week with my swimwear pondering. It’s not about the scraps of material we wear at all. It’s about the feeling.

Swimwear, after all, if you remove all the backstory, is just what you wear to swim.

Nothing more, nothing less. It’s simple in its dullness. Why we allow it to invoke feelings of fear, doubt, shame and more is beyond me. It’s time to move on. In my opinion, you should wear whatever makes you the most comfortable while you swim. That will be something different for everyone. It’s like Dr Suess said, the people who matter don’t mind and the people who mind don’t matter.