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The Best Swimsuit Brands on a Budget

What’s more terrifying than trying on swimsuits surrounded by mirrors in fluorescent lights? Paying a small fortune for a piece of body-baring Spandex. But don’t worry, we got your back (seriously, we do) and have put together this list of the cheap bathing suit brands that help you look good and save a few bucks.

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Rules of Swimsuit Shopping

  1. First, it’s usually a good idea to go up a size. At least start there and then go back down if it’s too big. For most of us, that’s better than feeling discouraged when our regular size doesn’t fit — which happens most of the time.
  2. When trying on suits, give “the girls” a manual boost in the suit to make sure they’re securely in the right place.
  3. If you can’t find the perfect fit, suits can be easily tailored. Straps can be shortened and inserts can be sewn into the lining of the cups.
  4. Once you found a suit you love, make sure you take care of it by hand-washing it after every use, and never put it in the dryer (the heat melts the Spandex).
  5. Read our post on finding the best swimsuit for your body type for more swimsuit shopping strategies.

Now, on to the nitty gritty of swimsuit brands — here are our picks for the best swimsuit brands on the market today.

Best Swimsuit Brands to Wear Now

Best Trendy Swimwear: ASOS

Looking for a swimsuit with a bit of edge? Just click over to ASOS for suits that are as cutting-edge as the latest runway looks. You’ll find 3-D floral embellishments, ruffles, gold hardware and cutouts in every style for $50-60 for a one-piece. You can also take a peek at ASOS Outlet for items up to 70 percent off the regular price.

Best Swimsuits for Quality: Land’s End

Tankini swimsuit from Land's End
Women’s V-neck Halter Tankini Top Swimsuit, $64.95, Land’s End

If you don’t want to get a new suit every season, then Land’s End is your brand. The suits feature enhancements like sun protection and bust support. We like that the plus-size options feature cross-back straps for extra support.

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For the most part, tops and bottoms are sold separately, so you can find the best fit for every part of your body. But this can add to the expense of the suit.

Best Casual Swimsuits: Target

One of the reasons Target’s clothing is so popular is that it actually fits really well, and that includes swimsuits. Most of Target’s swimsuits are priced $20-40, and the retailer has a nice selection of plus-size options — so you will find a suit that works.

A piece of advice: the selection online is significantly better than the in-store options, so order online. You can return the item in-store if it doesn’t fit.

Best Swimsuits for Teens: dELiA*s

Aerie is a great place to find swimsuits if you’re a teen or petite. The swimsuit collection features tops and bottoms in the $30-35 range for each, in fashion-forward patterns like polka dots and bright stripes.

The quality is OK — the swimsuit isn’t going to last more than two or three seasons. But for the price, that’s not a bad trade-off.

Best Splurge Swimwear: Talbots

Talbots pays the same careful attention to detail in its swim line as its tailored suits. These suits are made for classy ladies — they’re not too revealing or bold in style, but they do fit and flatter most body types.

Go-to features for Talbots suits include ruching, halter tops and use of pattern to draw the eye. They’re also fully lined, so you won’t have any see-through surprises after you emerge from the water.

Best Plus-Size Swimsuits: Forever21

Plus-size swimwear has undergone a major revolution — with ugly floral prints and suits that cover every part of your body taking a back seat to plus-size bikinis and shape-enhancing suits with strategically placed cut outs.

Forever21 is leading this revolution on the budget front, with figure-flattering, plus-size swimsuits in a variety of awesome colors and styles.

Priya

Saturday 1st of August 2015

I suggest out of all of these you should buy from F21 because all their clothes are good quality and fashoinable (well most!)

shinny

Saturday 28th of June 2014

It suits me.

A&M

Saturday 17th of July 2010

What is considered curvy? Do you have to be over a certain size or else you just look like a 12 year old boy to everyone? I am not skinny skinny, but I am not bigger by any means. A size 7 in most jeans brands. I have no trouble finding bathing suits anywere, but it's like anything else you have to have an hour or two to invest in digging through the racks, especially at discount stores.

Just being "top heavy" is not the only curvy that there is! I've been told I have "baby making hips" and other not so nice remarks that I won't say on this! haha. when you have bigger hips, you want to play them up, embrace your curves because when you hide them, you just make yourself look worse instead of better.

Every body has issues when bathing suit shopping and sometimes the best thing to do is just to try on EVERYTHING, even bathing suits you would never try on before. I found my favorite suit a few years ago that way.

neutralkate

Friday 8th of February 2008

H&M;!!! Each piece is like $6.

thewavelife

Thursday 7th of February 2008

Believe it or not I got one at the dreaded Wally-World when I was in a panic one summer. Left my b-suit bottoms at home while visiting family. Otherwise I try to stick with big sales to get a good suit at a good cost. Target definitely did not cut their suits for a woman over 18 (Size or Age!).

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