The mistake is buying swimwear in the size you wear everywhere else and assuming it'll behave the same way wet, in the sun, after a week of being stuffed into a beach bag. It won't. A bikini top that sits perfectly in the changing room can ride up at the back the second you're actually swimming, and a swimsuit that looks fine dry can go see through the moment it's soaked.
A decent one earns its stretch back every single time you peel it off, even after it's been sat in a wet towel for three hours in a hot car, which is basically the national pastime. Rinse it in cold water after it's been in chlorine or salt, never wring it, lay it flat rather than hanging it by the straps unless you want two long shoulder dents by August. The fabric tells you everything early on. Cheap stuff goes baggy at the bum and chest within a couple of wears and the colour fades patchy rather than evenly. A good one keeps its density, doesn't go thin and papery, and the lining doesn't bunch up into a damp little sausage at the front. Check the gusset stitching and the hardware too, sliders and rings that are plastic and flimsy will crack or go white with salt within a season, metal ones last.
If you've got nothing decent in the drawer, start with a plain swimsuit in a mid support, nothing too structured, nothing too skimpy. It's the one piece that works for actual swimming, for standing about, for feeling fine in photos you didn't pose for. Bikinis are brilliant once you know your own shape under elastic, but they're a second purchase, not a first. A cover up is the cheat piece that makes the other two feel finished, something loose enough to pull straight over a damp suit without wrestling it.
In a normal wardrobe, swimwear isn't just for abroad. A good plain suit goes under a shirt dress for the walk back from an outdoor pool, bikini bottoms double up under shorts when you can't be bothered to change twice, and a decent cover up works as a beach cardigan one day and a dressing gown substitute the next if you're a bit skint on loungewear.
Reach for the proper one the morning you're actually getting in the water, not the one that just looks right folded in a drawer.
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