If you’ve enjoyed life a bit too much, suffered and hibernated through a long winter, the next sentence is going to make you shudder…

It’s bathing suit time!!!!

We all know that shopping for a suit is a real DRAG! But it doesn’t have to be. There is a way to get a great suit that downplays what you don’t like, and highlights what you do.

It’s really pretty simple if you take note of the details. Each suit has its reason for being, a quality about it that is necessary for one of us woman looking for it.

The thickness of the straps, the color, the ruffles, the height in which the bottoms fall on the legs, the ruching, gathering, prints, patterns and embellishments. It all matters!

And now for…

Bathing Suit Shopping 101.

Rule Number 1- Print the guidelines below and pick a day to go shopping — a day just for you, and you alone.

Rule Number 2- Go to your favorite bathing suit store, whether it’s a department store or a boutique, grabbing every single suit that catches your eye. Twenty suits, 50 suits, grab them all, smile at the sales woman, and happily go to the dressing room.

Rule Number 3- Ignore all of the voices in your head. Remember this is “you” time, so be patient with yourself and how you look.

Rule Number 4- Try on EVERY suit, even those that you are squeezing into. Although you won’t be purchasing anything you have to squeeze into, you should study how they look on you, the subtle details of each suit. Where the waist band falls, how ruffles look , what the color does for you.

Guidelines to Print:

TUMMY CONTROL – If you have a tummy you don’t want to bare, work a tankini, a one-piece that has shirring on the waist, or angled stripes. Also, some prints hide the figure because they fool the eye. You see the print and not the stomach!

BROAD SHOULDERS- Go for tops that have wider straps and scoop necks. Stay away from halters, which will make you look broader since the straps are so close to the neck.

LONG WAIST /SHORT LEGS- If you want your legs to look longer (and who doesn’t?), go for high-cut bottoms. Also, low necklines paired with a high-cut bottom will shorten the torso and lengthen the legs. Stay away from bottoms that fall on the hips.

SHORT WAIST / LONG LEGS- Look for higher necklines, and if you go for a bikini, choose  bottoms that sit below the natural waist, falling on the hips. Vertical stripes also lengthen the torso, and a bottom that falls slightly lower on your legs. Stay away from anything high-waisted. That will get you in trouble!

CURVY-If you’re curvy like Jennifer Hudson, proudly look for suits that fall higher on your legs, suits with belts to emphasize the waist and make sure the suit really fits well. If you’re squeezing into it, it stays at the store!

BIG BOTTOM- Don’t we all think we have this! So what to do?

Plain bottoms paired with a brighter top, ruffled tops, and even tops with prints will bring  the eye upward, away from the derriere.

If you’re lucky enough to have a SMALL BOTTOM like Kate Hudson and want it to look as if it has a bit of volume, steer clear of the implant and go for bottoms with ruffles, ruching and patterns and prints. It saves you money and works the same!!

The same goes for a SMALL BUST .

***A few More Hints:

Use belts, prints, ruffles, and shiny fabrics where you want to highlight and more subtle colors like black, navy, browns, etc. in areas that you want to downplay. Prints are more slimming when the background is black.

For waists that are more square, like Cameron Diaz, choose  suits with side cut-outs or side panels that are a different color than the rest of the suit.

And please ladies, make nice with the three-way mirror. It’s our worst enemy but could be our best friend! ‘Good luck, and good shopping!!

For questions email me at

Lisacstyles@aol.com