Usually after Memorial Day Weekend, I start to think about the dreaded bathing suit season. That is right, I used the word "dreaded". It is always daunting to find something to wear on the beach that both accentuates my best features (my slender top frame) and minimizes my concerns (my hips & thighs).That is why I appreciate J.Crew's swim line that allows me to mix and match tops and bottoms (which is perfect considering my pear shape). For the most part, I find the fabric to be of good quality (really lasting for several years). As for sizing... Although I am a typical "medium" for bottoms, I have found that sometimes the "large" fits better. When it comes to tops, I am normally an "extra small," but for swim wear I find that I am better off with a "small." I don't have any personal experience with the one-pieces unfortunately. (One-pieces never work for me because I am pear shaped).
I love even more the line of cover-ups like the dresses that allow me to look cute while appropriate on the shore. A great example is the Embroidered-pinwheel smocked dress (Item 93494, on sale from $118 to just $39.99). They are very light and comfortable, while providing plenty of cover to hide any "concerns." It is also nice enough to wear as a regular dress or even skirt!
What are your impressions of J.Crew swim wear line? Do you have any advice as far as fitting & sizing is concerned (especially for one-peices)? Do you have any items that you are currently lusting over?
I've bee wearing JCrew swimwear for a long time and just recently purchase my first one piece ever! I bought the Stella Deep V Neck Halter when it was on sale and I love it. I usually look terrible in one piece and was suprise how good it came out.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alexis that the material is good. I have about 3 swim tops from 5 or 6 years ago and the colors hasn't faded. As far as sizing goes for the bikinis, the top part is pretty true to size (I wear an xs) while on the bottom you could go a size bigger and the difference isn't really significant (I have bottoms both xs and s).
As for one pieces, I think most of them start at a size 2 and I was a little worry that it might be too big on top (I'm a small 32A). Luckly that wasn't a problem! The top part fitted great and overall I'm very happy with it. Also don't be discourage to try on the Padded solid underwire glamour top if you are a size A even though it saids it best fits B and C the best. It fitted good but my problem with that top were the straps. I felt it could be a little wider.
I believe one of their best tops are the bandeau styles. I have the Solid twist-front padded bandeau and the Candy-stripe seersucker bandeau.
Hi Friedwonton- Excellent review of the swim line! Thank you so much!!! I am sure that your experience will be super helpful for others considering a swim piece from J.Crew.
ReplyDeleteI also checked out the Stella Deep V Neck Halter. It really does have a super nice shape to it (besides being pretty!)
I just bought two of my first Jcrew bathing suits, the Flamenco-dot padded underwire glamour top(item 98201) and the striped french-top that is on sale. I absolutely love them both! The glamour top is definitely much more of a laying out in the sun kind of a bathing suit, but the french top one is very good for swimming and splashing around without worrying about falling out of it.
ReplyDeleteI also bought the Solid twist-front padded bandeau (item 95226)and am desperatly waiting for it to come in! It looks very good and will hopefully neutralize any other funky tan lines I might get. I've never used a bandeau top, but hopefully it will work out. I'm very glad that everyone here seems to have great experiences with the quality of the suits, that's a relief.
I've been thinking about maybe buying the Kayla dress as a cover-up. I'm not sure though how it would fit on my body and they don't sell it in stores. Does anyone have an experiences with it? Thanks for any help!
http://www.jcrew.com/catalog/product.jhtml?id=prod95036161
item 95036