Beach Weather is Back! Sunsational Summertime Swimwear Looks

THE AVENUE
By Amanda Mayo

Summer is in full swing and stylish beach-goers will be wearing a mix of simplicity with animal prints, bright colors, feminine lace, artsy patterns and shiny material. Oversized hats and straw bags complete the perfect beach look with an effortless flair that will look like hours, instead of minutes, were spent putting the ensemble together.

Animal Prints

Animal prints are in this summer from designers like Michael Kors. Photo courtesy of Michael Kors.

Black and whites are back and better than ever this summer season. The simple two-color combo has been kicked up a notch in funky patterns on one and two-piece bathing attire. Animal prints are big, especially with designer Michael Kors this season. The designer’s styles this season include two-piece bikinis available in black-and-white zebra prints and brown snake prints. These classic patterns and colors are certainly a bathing suit staple.

Two-piece suits aren’t the only swim styles that are popular in animal prints. Bandeau tops and one-piece suits with side cutouts are also available in these popular patterns. Michael Kors offers a bandeau two-piece suit in brown zebra prints and a one-piece cutout in similar simple brown colors. For a younger twist on these patterned suits, Guess offers bikinis in brown animal prints – tiny triangle tops and bottoms that tie at the side.

Michael Kors swimsuits are available at Loehmann’s in Hewlett, online at http://www.net-a-porter.com/ and at Macy’s in the Green Acres Mall. Guess swimsuits are available at Macy’s, located at 1000 Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream. Loehmann’s is located at 1296 Broadway in Hewlett.

Brights and Neons

As with all summer clothing styles this season, neons and bright colors reign supreme amongst beachgoers from bathing suits to beach bags to sandals. XSRE in Lawrence offers a wide range of brightly colored bathing suits from $15.95 in colors like hot coral, neon yellow and bubblegum pink. Simple bikinis and one-piece suits become statement pieces in these colors.

Popular high-end bathing suit brand Vix also jumped on the bright bandwagon this season, offering two-piece suits in hot corals with gold-tone details. Bright blue suits are reminiscent of the beach water, in hues like lagoon, turquoise and seafoam. Vix accents a blue bikini with animal print details at the halter-top. Vix suits start around $80 for the bottoms and $90 for the tops.

Brightly colored bikinis like this one in turquoise from Vix are beachwear staples this year. Photo courtesy of Vix.

XSRE is located at 345 Rockaway Turnpike #7 in Lawrence. Vix bathing suits are available online at Bloomingdale’s, www.bloomingdales.com.

Feminine Looks

Flirty feminine styles are popular this year in all ranges of swimwear, from low-priced to high-end designer fashions. Marc by Marc Jacobs offers feminine suits in classic styles reminiscent of beach gear from the 1950’s and 1960’s. Bandeau tops are paired with high-waist bottoms with frills and heart-adorned patterns. Sweetheart tops and peplum bottoms are paired together with simple patterns, mixing old styles with new. Marc by Marc Jacobs swimsuits start around $80. Tops and bottoms are sold separately.

Gottex, a popular Israeli bathing suit company founded in Tel Aviv that is considered “haute couture” swimwear, has many styles this season with a feminine feel. Skirted one-piece suits with ruched tops take you back to the days of the original beach clubs and feminine one-piece tube top suits are just as flirty as their two-piece counterparts. Bikinis from Gottex are available with high-waist bottoms, another style that is reminiscent of beach days past.

Marc by Marc Jacobs swimwear is available online at Bloomingdale’s, www.bloomingdales.com. Gottex swimwear is available online at http://www.southbeachswimsuits.com/.

A high-waisted peplum bikini bottom reminiscent of 1950’s swimwear from Marc by Marc Jacobs, available at Bloomingdale’s. Photo courtesy of Marc by Marc Jacobs.

Patterns and Details

Israeli swimwear brand Gottex takes center stage this summer season with beautiful patterns that look like simple brush strokes on an artist’s palette. Both their bathing suits and bathing suit cover-ups are adorned with these patterns in feminine pinks, purples and blues. More detail-oriented patterns that look like amped-up versions of paisleys and mod designs are also popular this summer in one-piece suits, bikinis and cover-ups. Artsy florals also reign supreme amongst Gottex designs this summer. Gottex suits start around $40 and Gottex cover-ups start around $80.

Swimsuit company La Blanca also has artsy patterns covering their suits, with names like “Floral Fantasy” and offers simpler suits with details like shimmering and shiny materials. Florals look like a brush painting in bright colors, available from La Blanca in one-piece and two-piece with ruched bandeau tops. The brand also carries solid color suits in shining materials in every style from the “tankini” to an array of different two-piece shapes to halters, tubes and regular-strapped tops on one-piece suits in bright pinks, teals and turquoises.

Gottex swimwear is available online at http://www.southbeachswimsuits.com/. La Blanca swimwear is available online at Nordstrom, http://shop.nordstrom.com/.

Men’s Suits

For men, board shorts are more popular than bathing suits to swim in and surf companies like Billabong, Hurley and Quicksilver offer these men’s summer staples in solids, colors and patterns. Hawaiian prints and fluorescent colors are popular, and board shorts are a bit shorter than they have been in recent years. Morton’s in Cedarhurst carries a wide array of board shorts from these companies, starting around $45.

Another popular summer style in men’s beachwear this year is the color-changing swim trunk. Swim trunks from Del Sol come in color-changing patterns. At first, the side patterns are black and white and then, once the trunks take in enough sun, bright colors begin to appear that completely change the way the swim trunks look. Color-changing swim trunks from Del Sol cost $25.

Morton’s Army & Navy Store is located at 533 Central Avenue in Cedarhurst. Color-changing swim trunks are available from Del Sol online at http://www.delsol.com/.