Bra Sized Swimwear

Swimwear sold in bra sizes — a band number and cup letter like 34DD or 36F — instead of S, M and L. It's built like a bra too: underwire or firm seaming, cups moulded to a specific volume, a supportive hook-and-eye band, and adjustable straps.

No — they're different axes. Bra sized is about your cup; plus size is about your body. A 30F is bra-sized but not plus size; a size 20 B cup is plus size but not bra-sized. Some suits are both. Browse plus size swimwear if you need extended body sizing.

Start from your bra size rather than a letter size. If you wear a 34DD bra, buy a 34DD top — the band and cup mean the same thing. Above roughly a D cup, S/M/L sizing forces you to choose between fitting your ribcage and fitting your bust.

Above about a D cup, it makes the biggest single difference. Wire lets the band carry the weight rather than your shoulders, and it holds shape when the fabric is wet and heavy. Firm structural seaming can do a similar job on some designs.

The ones sized by bra size. Look for four things: underwire enclosing the whole breast, moulded or seamed cups, a hook-and-eye band you can tighten, and adjustable straps. An underwire one-piece or tankini gives the most support; a wired balconette bikini gives the most shape.

Yes, and you probably should — that's much of the point of bra sized swim. It's usually sold as separates precisely because a 34DD top rarely pairs with the same letter size on the bottom.

A shelf bra is a strip of elastic and a pocket for a pad — it shapes, it doesn't support. A bra sized top has wire, cups built to a volume, and a band that fastens and tightens. Above a C cup that's the difference between a suit you adjust all day and one you forget about.

Typically from around a D cup up through F, G and beyond, across a range of bands. That's the range where generic sizing stops working, which is why bra sizing exists at all.

Yes — look for wider straps, a deeper band, full cups and side support. At a G cup, an underwire one-piece or tankini often outperforms a bikini top. The same support rules apply on land; see our G cup bras.

Like a well-fitting bra: the band snug and level without riding up, the wire enclosing the breast and lying flat on the ribcage, no spillage or gaping, and straps that don't dig. Remember swim fabric relaxes when wet — snug in the fitting room is correct.

Yes, the same way they do for bras. If the cup fits but the band doesn't, go down a band and up a cup — or up a band and down a cup. A 34DD is close to a 32DDD and a 36D. It's also the best move when your size is out of stock.

An underwire tankini is one of the better options — you get wired cups and a real band plus torso coverage, and unlike a one-piece you can still size the bottom separately. Browse more coverage styles.

Because it's engineered rather than cut. Wire, moulded cups, side support panels, hook-and-eye bands and a full grade of band-and-cup combinations all cost more to make than one shape scaled up and down. It also lasts longer and fits, which is rather the point.

Ride-up means the band is too loose — the single most common fit error, in swim and in bras. Tighten it, or size down the band and up the cup. If you're loosening the straps to compensate, that's the giveaway: straps are the fine-tune, the band is the support.

Rinse in cool water immediately after swimming, hand-wash gently with the hooks fastened, never wring the cups, reshape them, and lay flat in the shade to dry. Chlorine, salt, sunscreen and heat are what kill elastane — and the wire outlives the fabric every time.