My Review of 5 One Piece Swimsuits Made for Long Torsos
When warmer weather starts to roll around, a question that we get asked all the time is, “Where can I find a one piece swimsuit for my long torso?”
Sadly, until now, we have never been able to make recommendations for longer length swimwear. Neither Amy nor myself have ever had luck shopping for such a thing. And not without trying either!
I remember the first time I ever shopped for one was about 5 years ago when I was looking for a cute new one-piece swimsuit for my honeymoon. I found one with a fun palm print, added to cart and soon it was in my hands. I was SO excited to receive it – only to try it on and realize that the cups of it barely hit my ribcage. And so began my struggles to find swimming suits with long torsos.
After that experience, I searched and scoured the internet, read a ton of blogs, and dove into the LikeToKnowIt app to try on swimsuits that tall women and bloggers had recommended – but I still never had any success finding a one-piece for my long torso. Why did swimsuits that seemed to work well for other tall girls not work well for me? The answer: every women’s proportions are different.
I’ll be honest, about five years have passed since I’ve thought about ordering and trying another one-piece swimsuit. Me & bikinis have since become BFF’s. But I found myself extra obligated to try to take on this question in 2020 because at 5’10”, I have a pretty long torso for my height. I don’t want to label this a tall girl problem, because it’s not a negative thing by any means – but it does make something like one-piece swimsuit shopping more of a challenge.
Why do proportions matter when you are shopping women’s tall swimsuits online? Because different companies cater to different builds.
"Tall" Sizes vs. "Long"
It’s actually fairly common for tall women to have the opposite proportions of me – extra long legs with a slightly longer than average torso. I have found in my research so far that when women’s swimwear lines carry tall sizes (versus “long” sizes), more often than not they are adding just a little bit of extra length (about 1”) to their tall line.
In the regular market, when companies grade articles of clothing from a size small to a size medium (and so on), body length is added to each size increase. So in a swimwear line that markets tall sizes, they will design their size “small tall” with the length of the regular size medium, if that makes sense. If you are built more so with long legs (versus a long torso), then typically these tall one-piece swimsuits should work for you.
But for me, that extra inch just isn’t cutting it. (Spoiler alert: you'll notice this in my reviews below)
So I asked our followers on Instagram to give me their feedback and recommendations for the best long torso one-piece swimsuits, and decided to test the brands myself and give an honest review from my perspective. There were actually a lot more suggestions than I was initially expecting, but I limited my review to 5 swimsuit brands that felt age appropriate for me and truly fit my style. I’ll drop other suggestions that were given to me at the bottom of the post – although, I didn’t try any of them so I can’t say for sure whether they will work for a long torso.
My Measurements
My full torso measurement from back to front is 66” - or about 33” from my shoulder to the inside of my pant leg seam. I recommend measuring yourself at home to compare and to reference on any size charts or guides that include a torso measurement. Measuring from your shoulder to the inside of your pant leg seam is easier to do at home by yourself (my husband had to help me with my full torso measurement). For reference, if you have longer than a 30” measurement – you have what is considered a long torso my friend!
Bust - 34 // Waist - 28 // Hips - 38
The Reviews
All styles are reviewed on a 1-5 star scale, 5 being top notch!
Brand #1) Summersalt Swim // Style: The Long Torso Sidestroke
There were a couple of women over 6’ that recommended this brand, and I loved this style, so I decided to give it a shot. This was the first style that was delivered, and it actually fit pretty well so I was initially very excited! It’s worth noting that I do not have a small butt…so anything I say about coverage here, I promise you can take my word for it. It hit all the fit buckets – it was long enough, it covered my bum for the most part and was actually very comfortable. The only bummer was that it didn’t have cups, which made me feel not as confident and comfortable as I would have if it did have cups. For that reason, I decided to send it back. If that does not deter you, then I would say go full speed ahead!! I was chatting with another tall girl who loves their suits, and she recommended sizing down for this reason so that the girls feel more “secure”, if you will. But if you measure longer than 33”, my personal recommendation would be to consider sizing up just to get a little extra length. They added 1.75" length to their long length styles, for reference.
Brand #2) Athleta // Style: Seychelles One Piece
Dang it, this one pains me to say… because I really do love a lot of other products that Athleta does for tall (specifically, workout clothes) – but I could tell almost immediately pulling this one out of the box that it wasn’t going to be long enough for me. Trying it on confirmed that it wasn’t cut quite long enough. It definitely felt like I was stretching it to the max, it was pulling up my crotch and now that we’ve gone there…I also felt like a lot of my bum was hanging out. The positives were that the cups hit where they should be and I did love the cut and the fun colors available, so if you don’t measure quite as long as I do in the torso, this could be an option for you!
Brand #3) CupShe // Style: Happy Ending One Piece Swimsuit
I was actually shocked and pleasantly surprised with this style from Amazon. But I strategically ordered one from this brand in a stretchy ribbed knit fabric AND adjustable straps – the key to finding a better one-piece swimsuit fit when the brand isn’t specifically made for tall. I also decided to size up on this one for extra length. The pros were that if I adjusted the strap to the longest length, it actually was a pretty good fit for me throughout the entire body. It also had great butt coverage. The cons were because I had to size up, it was loose in the bust and upper back for me. I am not busty whatsoever so this is continually an issue for me. (I’m the girl that has to order large bikini bottoms with a small top, you feel me?) With that being said, I would recommend this style if you are a little bustier! But I will say – I don’t’ think any ‘ol CupShe swimsuit is going to work. I would stick to this style (comes in a lot of different colors) or maybe look for another one with adjustable straps. Definitely size up!
*A thought worth mentioning: I have also tried a few of the CupShe high-waisted bikini bottoms, and I have yet to find one that covers my belly button and/or hits my natural waist. I see a lot of tall gals sharing this brand as a recommendation on social media, so I thought I would add my two cents. If you are looking for a true high-waisted style that hits your natural waist, I would pursue other options. Maybe I should also blog about this?
Brand #4) Aerie Swim // Style: V One Piece Swimsuit
Shoot. This is another one that saddens me because I love this brand and how they empower women – but this was a swing and a miss for me. I had high hopes because A) it was probably the most recommended in our DM's and B) they sell 'long' sizes. I ordered one with an adjustable tie to try to make it work, but it still wasn’t great. This was another one I could tell wasn’t super duper long in the torso when I opened the package. My eyes are always right ;) I tried it on and had to wear the adjustable tie straps on their last inches, which made for a very scandalous fit. I feel like it was cleavage central with a lot of side boob action. I was also stretching the suit to its limits length wise, which did not make me feel comfortable in any way. It did have cups and great butt coverage, though. I love the style concept here and the cut, so I’m bummed it wasn’t a winner. Because this had an adjustable tie and still didn’t work, I don’t have a lot of faith that their other long torso suits would fit me either.
(For what it's worth, I have several bikinis from Aerie and I do love those!)
Brand #5) Andie Swim // Style: The Malibu One Piece
I had to save the best for last. You guys – THIS.IS IT. This brand is the winner for me! Andie has a long torso swimsuit that is actually long in the torso. I was shocked when I pulled it out of the box – you can visibly see the difference when compared to the other swimsuits mentioned above! I even tried a style from their site that didn’t have adjustable straps because I was feeling risky, apparently. But I was NOT disappointed!! It fit incredibly well, didn’t feel like it was pulling at all and had good butt coverage! Oh, and it had cups, too – score!! Overall, it’s by far the greatest option I have found.
I have to admit, I was so excited after I tried on this swimsuit that I sent Andie a personal DM on Instagram. I was lucky enough to connect with another tall gal on their team, and she graciously offered us a discount code to share with you guys! You can use the code 'AmalliTalli20' at checkout to save 20% off your order (code expires June 30, 2020). I was so thrilled to be able to share this with you, because long torso options are available in many cute styles and colors on their site! If you see something you like and it's sold out, be sure to sign up for their restock alerts - I did this myself, because I'm hoping to snag another one in the future.
I hope you found my honest reviews helpful on your quest to find yourself a one-piece swimsuit for your long torso! Here are some other suggestions for swimwear for tall women I was given by our community that I didn’t try out myself – but maybe you would want to take a peek with your own eyes:
If you have any more suggestions, email us and we can add it to the list!
Thanks for reading! - Alli