I learned about “one-size-fits-most” swimsuits about a year ago, on a day trip to the Rockaway Hotel spa and pool. I was there enjoying a moms-only meet-up with my postpartum-support group — all of us less than a year out from childbirth and one of us newly pregnant again. As we floated in the heated pool, the conversation turned to body hair and then swimsuits. I was feeling self-conscious; it was the first time I’d put on a suit since giving birth, and the fit felt awkward. Two of the women were wearing crinkly-textured, one-size-fits-most swimsuits from the brand YouSwim — which were also the same swimsuits they wore throughout their respective pregnancies. Later, one of them showed me a photo of herself wearing the same suit over her beach-ball-size belly less than a week before her baby was born. Amazed, I made a mental note.
When it came time to buy a new suit, I looked up YouSwim and realized the brand is just one of many “one-size-fits-most” swimsuit-makers. I’ve also seen the suits called crinkle swimsuits, because the texture of the fabric is key to why they can fit so many body sizes (more on that below). The biggest name in this swimwear bubble is Hunza G, formerly known as Hunza. The brand famously made the minidress Julia Roberts wore in Pretty Woman (it was made of crinkle fabric and has since been reissued); now its most familiar products are a wide variety of swimsuits, from classic one-pieces to lace-edged bikinis, available in tons of colors for luxury prices.
Among Hunza G’s many competitors, there’s a vast range of styles and prices. Shopping online, it was difficult to tell how the most expensive of the bunch would look, feel, and function any differently than the under-$50 ones I was considering on Amazon. So, I decided to test several of the most compelling options to see for myself. The five suits I tried range in price from $40 to $230. Over the course of a couple months this summer, I swam, built sand castles, and generally hung out in all of them to test how the fabric felt, how well they fit, how durable they are, and how long they each took to dry.
How do one-size-fits-most swimsuits even work?
The secret is in the crinkly texture. The reason these swimsuits can fit many body sizes is that their crinkled, accordion-like fabric stretches several times beyond its original size and then returns to its original shape. It’s made from super-stretchy yarns that contain polyamide and elastane, and produced on circular knitting machines that alternate between tight and loose stitches to create the crinkle texture. The result is a seamless tube of fabric that can be stretched (and contracted) many times over in all directions. The fabric is finished with various chemical treatments and heat-setting techniques to ensure a long-lasting and flexible material.
Swimsuits made from this fabric can stretch to fit “most” sizes. But while the original crinkle swimsuit maker Hunza G sells suits in a single size that stretches to fit sizes 2-to-12, many crinkle swimsuit brands now offer two sizes. They most often break down to S/M for sizes in the 2-to-12 range, and L/XL for sizes in the 12-to-18 range. (One of the brands below, YouSwim, makes a suit that goes up to size 24, but 18 is usually the biggest size.)
The trade-off of this easy-fit technology is that crinkle swimsuits can be finicky to take care of. Because they’re more like a sweater than a pair of leggings, they are more likely to snag than traditional swimsuits; you’ll need to watch out for rough pool edges and long fingernails, whether they’re yours or your dog/child’s. The crinkle material is also more absorbent than typical swimsuit material, so it takes longer to dry, and most brands warn against wringing water out of the fabric because it could mess up the suit’s ability to recover after stretching. Only two of the five suits I tested are machine washable, and all of them must be washed in cold water and hung or laid flat to dry.
The one I’d post to main
Hunza G has been making clothing out of crinkle fabric since the 1980s. So it has had a long time to perfect the material and its fit. I chose a basic tank-style one-piece in metallic navy from the brand’s large array of colors and styles, including lots of different one-pieces, bikinis, monokinis, and tanks that can be worn with either swimsuit bottoms or with crinkle skirts. Before even putting the suit on, I could tell that it was different from my other contenders — the fabric felt heavier, with more substantial rolled edges. The style I chose also has little flecks of silver running through, which makes it seem more luxurious. Because of how tightly the columns of crinkles sit against each other, the fabric looks almost flat until you stretch it.
The Hunza G suit is the most compressive of the suits I tried. It’s more shaping and smoothing around my belly, and more supportive in the bust. However, it’s also less comfortable and casual feeling. It doesn’t feel too tight, but I can tell it is holding me in. (I usually wear a size 8.) I love the square neckline and the deep-cut back, and even though it has high-cut leg openings, it covers my entire butt and lifts it up — more than I can say for most swimsuits. At first I was disappointed that this suit didn’t feel as soft as the others; it’s actually kind of crunchy feeling. But after wearing it and the others several times in and out of a pool and at the beach, I realized the stiffer texture helps protect the material from snags and makes it dry faster. (All of the suits took several hours to dry, but this one and the Good American swimsuit below were the fastest.) Of the five suits I tried, the Hunza G is one of only two that are machine washable. I followed the instructions on the tag and washed it on cold, then laid it flat to dry. It still looks and fits exactly like it did straight out of the packaging.
This is the swimsuit I would wear to a photo shoot or a poolside media event. I look the best in it and it has a fancier, more upscale vibe. But it also feels too nice for sitting in the sand with a toddler or swimming in the types of murky swimming holes I love to frequent. It is also the most expensive suit I tried, which dings it a few points.
The one I’d wear while pregnant
The YouSwim Poise swimsuit is the suit that ignited my search for the best crinkle swimsuit and it’s the one that I have seen the most in real life, both on friends and on stylish people I follow on Instagram. It has adjustable spaghetti straps and comes in nine colors including three shades of green: sage, juniper, and fern. (Fern is basically Brat green.) YouSwim has a slightly larger size range than other brands (Stretch I is for sizes 2 to 14, and Stretch II is for sizes 14 to 24), and the Poise does feel more flexible than the other suits. It is also the lightest and the softest of the suits I tried and it has the most coverage, with a high back and full bottom. Because it’s so stretchy, you can adjust the leg openings a bit for a higher or lower cut.
This is the suit that feels most like a second skin. It moves well and gently hugs my body, making it super-comfortable. However, it has very little compression so it doesn’t do as much shaping around my belly and butt. And because the rolled edge of the neckline goes straight across my chest and is tighter than the rest of the suit fabric, it ends up pushing my boobs down. If I were to order another YouSwim suit, I would opt for the brand’s scoop-neck Aplomb one-piece or one of its bikinis, as I think they would best support my bust and look better on me. On the plus side, I liked swimming in this suit more than in the Hunza G, and I felt more comfortable chasing my son around in it too. If I were planning on wearing a swimsuit while pregnant again, I would definitely pick this brand because the material is the softest and the most flexible.
The one that’s good enough for the price
Though I set out to test one-piece styles from each brand, when I went to buy the one-piece from Kut & So, it was out of stock. So I opted for this bikini style instead, and even though it’s not perfect, I’m glad I tried it. I love how I look in the top. It’s very small, but that makes it look sporty yet sexy, and it’s just as comfortable as some of my favorite wireless bras. The bottoms, however, are tiny. Kut & So sells suits in two sizes: S/M (2-12) and L/XL (12-18). I generally wear a size 8 in swimsuits, especially on the bottom, so as with the Hunza G, I got the S/M. And while the bottom of this bikini could perhaps stretch to a size 12, there is no way the small amount of fabric would reliably cover a size-12 person’s parts. It barely covers my parts, so much so that I was too shy to wear it in public. I did swim in it, at my sister-in-law’s house with a pool, and while I didn’t worry about it falling off, I wouldn’t trust this suit through a dive or a cannonball. The fabric is clearly lower quality, in that it sheds little specks of lint onto me every time I wear it, and based on the looser crinkle pattern and thinner material, I suspect it will stretch out faster than the more expensive suits I tried. I’ll definitely continue wearing the top, just with a pair of non-crinkle J.Crew bikini bottoms that I already own. For $40, that’s still a decent enough deal, but overall this suit is more of an “it’s fine if you don’t want to spend too much” option.
The one that’s great but didn’t understand the assignment
I was so excited to try Good American’s Always Fits one-piece swimsuit until I realized that, while it is indeed a swimsuit made of crinkle fabric, it’s not actually a one-size-fits-most crinkle swimsuit. Instead, the suit is designed to stretch up or down by a single size without losing its shape. It comes in five “paired” sizes: XXS/XS, S/M, L/XL, 2XL/3XL, and 4XL/5XL. (According to the brand’s website, the 4XL/5XL will fit someone with a waist measurement of 47 to 53 inches.) I ordered a S/M, and while it is stretchier than a lot of traditional suits, it’s nowhere near as stretchy as the Hunza G or YouSwim. And, where all of the other suits I tried are seamless, this one has seams that further limit how far it can stretch.
Still, I’m impressed by the fit and how nice it looks, despite having to technically disqualify it for not understanding the assignment. The suit has a low back, high-cut legs, and a deep neckline that give it classic ’90s appeal. It has less coverage in the back than I normally prefer, but I’m surprisingly okay with that because it didn’t give me a wedgie even when I was walking up a steep hill. After wearing it a handful of times, and swimming in both a pool and salt water, I’d say I like it as much as my go-to J.Crew one-piece and would definitely recommend Good American’s suits to any friends who ask. Where it really excels is in convenience. It feels secure enough to swim and run around in without worrying about a strap falling down, and it dries faster than the other suits I tried, so I am able to pull on shorts without worrying about the back getting soggy. It’s also machine washable, which is handy if you swim a lot (you just need to hang it to dry). And because it’s not as soft and stretchy, it’s less likely to snag. If you like the look of a crinkle swimsuit and the flexibility of a suit that stretches across two sizes, without as much upkeep, this is a good bet.
The one I’d buy again and again
Before this project, I had never heard of the brand Love & Bikinis. But its crinkle swimsuit ended up being my favorite. It strikes a perfect balance between the softness and comfort of the YouSwim and the compression and sturdiness of the Hunza G. I love how it ever so slightly supports my belly and bust so that I feel lifted up while still feeling like myself. And I like that it’s less stiff than the Hunza G suit but not so soft that I worry about it getting caught on something and snagging. The main drawback is that it’s the only suit on this list that comes in just one size, which the brand says will fit sizes 2 to 14. I recently wore it to the beach with my husband’s family and our son and felt totally comfortable crouching down to play in the sand with him. I even got a compliment on the suit from our 22-year-old niece, high praise in my book. I am wearing it right now as I type and I feel great in it. As with the YouSwim, the leg openings are stretchy enough that you can adjust them to your desired height. The neckline is a deep scoop shape, and the back drops down to just above my waist. Best of all, once I kind of set my boobs in place under the fabric, they stay put, and I even get a touch of cleavage. The care instructions say you have to wash it by hand in cold water and dry it flat — but when I was able to let it dry outside it didn’t take that long. The Love & Bikinis suit is the second most expensive one on this list, but I’d say it’s worth it for the combination of fit, durability, and comfort.
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