The Summer Swimsuits People Are Actually Searching For
By Ana Colon. Photos: Courtesy of Brands.
As far as shopping for swimsuits go, we tend to get a little ahead of ourselves. Never mind that the opportunity to escape to the beach rarely comes before Memorial Day, we start searching for our summer suit long before the weather shows any promise of warmth.
What we've come to discover, though, is that this behavior isn't all that unique to us: Shoppers have been searching for and saving summer '17 swimwear on sites like Polyvore, Lyst, and Pinterest for some time now—and these platforms have, in turn, been collecting some pretty fascinating data about what styles you're going to see all over the beach and pool decks in the coming months. With this information, they're also trying to make the process of finding the right suit less intimating. Lyst, for one, launched a new feature dubbed SwimSeeker earlier this month, which aims to take some of the guesswork out of shopping for bathing suits online by creating a personalized, curated feed of items based on a user's answers to a short questionnaire. Pinterest, meanwhile, has put together a Top Trending Swimsuits board that details the most popular beach-going styles that users are feeling for summer '17.
Despite serving different purposes (and catering to different audiences), there's a surprising amount of overlap between the trends they're highlighting this season. Case in point: All three identified one-pieces—specifically, those with a high cut—as an early winner for summertime. “I never thought I would say this but the one-piece has officially replaced the bikini as the most searched for swimsuit on Polyvore," Amy Wicks, the site's senior fashion editor, told Glamour. In fact, all but one of the top ten swim trends for 2017 on the platform were one-pieces (that exception being the "bandage swimsuit," which came in at #5.) At Lyst, this style has benefitted from a 232% boost in popularity this year; meanwhile, Pinterest identified it as its top trending style for 2017. According to Wicks, "the one piece, formerly seen as super conservative, has done a total 180 and become the sexy summer must-have thanks to fresh style details like cutouts, mesh, crochet, tassels and zippers—and, in some cases, [it replaces] traditional bodysuits as an evening look."
We rounded up five of the standout swim silhouettes that are trending across the board, based on data provided by Polyvore, Lyst, and Pinterest, to help guide your summer '17 shopping. Scroll for the full breakdown.
High-Cut
If you've been on Instagram at any point in 2017, this trend will come as no surprise. Favored by celebrities who seem to always be on vacation (at least according to social media) like Emily Ratajkowski, Bella Hadid, and Kylie Jenner, '80s-style high-cut suits are shaping up to be the swimwear to beat this season. So far in 2017, someone has search for "high-cut one piece" on Lyst ever five minutes, the platform reports. (For some reason, it got 13,000 hits on that term on March 4, specifically.) It'll come as no surprise, then, that "high cut" and "high waist" came in first and second, respectively, on Lyst's ranking of 2017 swim trends.
"High-leg searches are also spiking [on Polyvore]," added Wicks. "I'm guessing this will be a temporary thing, especially when we all hit the beach this summer (who wants to be seen in the same swimsuit as everyone else?)” The high-leg one-piece, specifically, has seen a 70% year-over-year increase on Polyvore, ranking #1 on its top swim trends list based on user searches for 2017. "High-cut sides" were also flagged as a trending detail by the folks over at Pinterest.
Resistance appears to be futile—so lean into the nostalgia.
Same Swim Foxy top, $160, and Heartbreaker high rise, $120, Same Swim.
Sidway Swim Anderson one-piece, $138, Sidway Swim.
ASOS Crop bikini in Rib, $42, ASOS.
ACK Ana due top, $141, and Due bottom, $73, Need Supply.
Solarium Swim, Little miss dangerous, $120, Solarium Swim.
Red
We can likely credit the Baywatch revival and all the subsequent, lifeguard-inspired capsule collections (like Swimsuits for All's Ashley Graham, Teyana Taylor, and Niki Taylor-fronted campaign) with the rediscovery of the red one-piece. On Lyst, searches for "red swimsuit" have grown by 97% in the last six months alone, with Baywatch-inspired styles proving to be the most popular results in the U.S. Meanwhile, red one-pieces came in #3 on Polyvore's top trends for 2017, up from the #5 spot it occupied in 2016.
"We’ve seen color trends before, but in the swimwear category, black and other neutral colors always remained the most popular and practical," Sarah Tanner, Lyst's U.S. public relations director, told Glamour. "This is the first year we’ve seen different colors apart from neutrals begin to grasp the top search categories—red being the real standout."
Swimsuits For All Lifeguard swimsuit, $58.80, Swimsuits For All.
& Other Stories Triangle bra, $29, and Bikini hotpants, $29, & Other Stories..
Palm Elba top rouge, $91, and Lido bottom, $61, Palm.
Abercrombie & Fitch Lace up halter top, $20.40, and Grommet cheeky bottom, $13.20, Abercrombie & Fitch.
Reformation Tropicana one piece, $168, Reformation.
Textured
Although Lyst has observed a dip in interest in crochet (a swim style that took over our Instagram feeds this time last year), texture overall ranked highly on the platform's 2017 swim trends list, with alternative fabrics like ribs, jacquards, velvets, and suede rising among its audience. "Last year, we saw denim suits become a thing, but they didn’t last long," Tanner noted. She acknowledged that some of the emerging materials Lyst is seeing aren't exactly practical, either, they're proving "to be very popular among celebrities," hence why the platform has noticed an increased interest in them. (Big beachwear inspirations for the Lyst community include Emily Ratajkowski, Rihanna, Demi Lovato, Kendall and Kylie Jenner.)
Over at Polyvore, there's still interest in crochet one-pieces—that search term remained steady at the #8 spot it first nabbed on the top swim trends ranking last year. New materials, like mesh, though, are proving to be a bigger hit, coming in #4 in 2017 for the platform.
Roxana Salehoun Bandeau tie front bra, $98, and Tie front brief, $127, Roxane Salehoun.
Aerie Crop crochet bikini top, $20.97, and Crochet bikini bottom, $14.97, Aerie.
For Love and Lemons Capri scrunchy one-piece, $135, For Love and Lemons.
Boohoo Plus Laura mesh crop high waist bikini, $35, Boohoo.
Triangl Rochelle, $89, Triangl.
Striped
The search term "nautical" was #1 on Lyst's summer swimwear trends ranking last year; and although it has since been dethroned, it still made the platform's top ten for 2017. Among Polyvore's audience, the striped one-piece swimsuit has experienced a 12% year-over-year increase, coming in at #6 on the site's top 10. We still have the image of Taylor Swift and her Fourth of July squad all decked in Solid and Striped suits last year burned in our brains, which goes to show just how memorable this timeless pattern is—and how unlikely it is to go out of style anytime soon.
J.Crew Scoopback one-piece swimsuit in ombré, $110, J.Crew.
Fleur du Mal Bandeau bikini top, $145, and Lace insert high waist bikini, $165, Fleur du Mal.
Solid & Striped The Olivia, $176, Solid & Striped.
Heidi Klein Core nautical textured binding racer back one piece, $261.68, Heidi Klein.
High Dive by Modcloth Support coastal swimsuit top, $49.99, and Bottom, $44.99, Modcloth.
Ruffled
Material isn't the only way to embellish your swim game: Ruffles have emerged as a surprising new trend in this category, with searches for this frilly detail up both on Lyst and Polyvore. (The latter also dubbed it an emerging trend, as it has accrued 21% year-over-year increase on the site.)
Zara Halter neck swimsuit, $39.90, Zara.
Old Navy Plus size ruffle-trim bikini top, $36, and Ruched bikini bottoms, $30, Old Navy.
H&M Jacquard patterned bikini, $34.99, H&M.
Zimmermann Meridian striped bikini, $315, Intermix.
Midsommar Swim Lauren one piece, $195, Midsommar Swim.
This story originally appeared on Glamour.
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