OK ladies, bikini season is upon us and we all know how hard it is to find the perfect swimsuit! And we’re not talking about color, brand or price! No, it’s all about finding the perfect swimsuit for your body shape. Women come in all shapes and sizes and it is very important that you choose a swimsuit that flatters your silhouette. If the swimsuit is flattering, you’ll feel and look great in it!

Here are some very useful tips on how to choose the perfect swimsuit for your body shape:

1. First of all, determine your body shape. Are you a pear, an hourglass,etc.?

2. Now that you have determined your body type, here’s what swimwear works for each body shape:

1. Swimsuit for the Pear Shaped Body

Celebrities with pear-shaped bodies: Beyonce, Rihanna, Shakira and Tyra Banks.

Pear-shaped women must keep this in mind when shopping for the perfect swimsuit:

- Since your bottom half is bigger than your top, you must try to balance the two.

- The best way to balance your look is by minimizing your hips and thighs and emphasizing the top.

- Choose color and pattern to balance your body visually. We all know that bold patterns draw attention, while solids minimize attention. For these reasons, opt for a colorful, patterned bikini top and a basic black bikini bottom.

- Mix and Match! Pear shaped women often have to look for separates so they can get different sizes for top and bottom which gives them the perfect opportunity to get creative and come up with the ideal swimsuit.

- If you have a pear-shaped body means you have a flat tummy so make sure you flaunt it! Choose a two-piece bikini!

- The ideal bikini tops for pear-shaped bodies are: strapless bandeau and halter top.

Here are some suggestions:

Women’s Americana Bandeau Bikinis Top $16.50 and Women’s Mix & Match Bikini Bottoms $15.50 from Old Navy, Women’s Ruffled Bandeau Swim Top $22.50 and Women’s One-Shoulder Bandeau Bikinis $16.50 from Old Navy, HOBIE Tigerlily Womens Swimsuit Top and HOBIE Tigerlily Womens Swimsuit Bottoms from Tilly’s, GUESS Steppnout Womens Swimsuit Top and GUESS Steppnout Womens Swimsuit Bottoms from Tilly’s

2. Swimsuit for the Hourglass Body Shape

Celebrities with hourglass shaped bodies: Salma Hayek, Kate Winslet Scarlett Johansson and Kim Kardashian.

Hourglass women can pull of pretty much any type of swimsuit. Talk about being lucky!

However, there is one thing you have to be careful when buying your swimsuit: do not mismatch! A mismatched swimsuit will make your body look disproportionate and that’s exactly what you don’t what it to look like.

Here are a few swimsuit suggestions that flatter hourglass bodies:

Coral Heart Bandeau Bikini $42.28, Black Parrot Triangle Bikini $43.09, Blue Stripe Padded Bikini $42.28, Navy Polka Dot Ruched Padded Bandeau Bikini $48.79 all from Top Shop

3. Swimsuit for the Rectangular Body Shape

Celebrities with rectangular body shape: Cameron Diaz, Natalie Portman, Eva Longoria and Kylie Minogue.

If you have a rectangular body shame it means you are an athletic looking woman, with the bust and hips of almost the same width. Another main characteristic of the rectangular body shape is that you have very little no waist definition.

Your main goal: define your waist and add width to your top and lower body.

Here are our swimsuit suggestions for you:

Purple Meadow Print Bikini $45.54, Coral Frill Spot Bandeau Bikini $43.09 and Purple Frill Bandeau Bikini $45.54, all from Top Shop

4. Swimsuit for the Inverted Triangle Body Shape

Celebrities with inverted triangle body shape: Victoria Beckham, Jessica Simpson, Demi Moore and Angelina Jolie.

The main characteristics to an inverted triangle body shape are: wide shoulders, large chest and small hips. Long story short, if you are more top-heave than bottom heavy, you are an inverted triangle.

The main thing you have to avoid when shopping for a swimsuit: strapless tops! The reason: instead of provide support for your upper half it will only squish it down.

The best tops for your body shape are halter shapes, tops with thick straps and tops with underwire and thick fabric.

The inverted triangle is exactly the opposite of the pear shaped body. So when it comes to buying the perfect swimsuit, you ca do exactly the opposite of what pear-shaped ladies do. That means: tdraw attention to your bottom half with a colored and patterned bikini bottom and try to minimize your upper half with a solid or dark colored top.

The similarity between you and the pear-shaped: you will also need to shop for separates as you will be needing a bigger bikini top.

Here are some suggestions:

 

Women’s Mix & Match Knotted Halter Bikini Top $19.50 and Women’s Mix & Match String Bikini Bottoms $17.50, Women’s Mix & Match Knotted Halter Bikini Top $19.50 and Women’s Mix & Match Bikini Bottoms $15.50, Women’s Zebra-Print Bikinis: Top and Bottom 19.50 each, Women’s Ruched Halter Swimsuits $29.50 all from Old Navy

5. And just in case you don’t feel ready to wear a bikini, you can always opt for a cute cover-up, a wrap or a one piece swimsuit.

 

Blue Strappy Aysmmetric Cover Up($39) from Top Shop, Jane jacquard halterneck swimsuit ($120.92) from The Outnet, Cuba bandeau swimsuit ($175) from Net A Porter, Light weight Metallic Silver Dots Scarf($18.95) from La Purse and Coral Panelled Cape Cover Up($42.29) from Top Shop

Happy swimsuit shopping ladies!