Should you wear your bikini UPSIDE DOWN? Top fashion designer reveals clever ways to style the same swimwear
- This summer, the new question is: should you wear your bikini top upside down?
- When I was in St Tropez last week, many were wearing their bikinis upside down
- Worn this way, a bikini will reveal more cleavage because the triangles sit further
- For anyone who’s a touch flat-chested, this can trick the eye and widen cleavage
There’s been a veritable explosion in swimwear styles over the past few years. Sporty, skimpy, strappy, strapless — you name it, there’s a bikini to suit it (and as a top swimwear designer, I’ve become intimately acquainted with them all).
But this summer, there’s a whole new question to consider when it comes to beach etiquette: should you wear your bikini top upside down?
It may sound ludicrous, but bear with me. For when I was on holiday in St Tropez last week, I noticed that many women were wearing their triangle string bikinis upside down.
They had simply rotated the tops so the upper point of each triangle faced the floor, with the ruched base facing upwards, then tied the neck strap around their backs and the underbust strap around their necks to create a gathered scoop neckline. The result is amazing. It gives your bust an instant lift (always a bonus for any of us who find things don’t sit quite as high as they used to) thanks to the straps that usually sit beneath your breasts coming up around your neck like a halter.
Right way up (left). And upside down (right): Back strap becomes halterneck, halterneck becomes back strap, and ruched under-bust strap becomes side support
Bandeau halter (Model Karen Meyerhoff pictured in Odabash.com bikini top and bottoms)
Scoop cross neck (left) and bandeau (right)
Worn this way, a bikini will also reveal more of your cleavage because the triangles sit further apart. For anyone who’s a touch flat-chested, this can trick the eye and make it look as if you have more cleavage.
Then, depending on how you position the fabric and tie the straps, it can show a hint (or more, if you’re young, perky and feeling brave) of under or side-boob, too. No wonder so many British women of all ages have got in on the act. And, as they have discovered, this is a great way to get multiple wears out of the same piece — something that will speak to anyone who’s against the worrying trend for fast, disposable fashion.
As a designer, I love it when my customers are creative with my swimwear, and I already recommend they try tying their bikinis multiple ways, including the four upside-down styles detailed here. I also have a piece in my next collection based on the upside-down bikini.
Mine will make this look more accessible to women with bigger breasts. The triangles have extra fabric and I’ve added sliders to the strings so the wearer can settle on a position depending on how much skin they want to reveal, and be confident their bikini will stay in place.
So if you plan to don a bikini this summer, turn it upside down.
After all, there aren’t many ways you can be bang up to date by putting on something you already own the wrong way round!
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