Bring in the Bikinis!

CEBU, Philippines - I can’t believe it. Summer is officially over. The rains have come and the sun is about to make a graceful exit to goodness-knows-where. Summer passed us by without any of us realizing it. In fact, I’m still in the anticipating-summer-season mode and that makes summer’s exit even more painful.

This year, there were no tan lines. No sunburns. No nothing. It’s that sad. Okay so maybe it’s not really that sad, considering that we are in a tropical country where we can hit the beach at practically any time given that there are no big-time typhoons wreaking havoc on the weather.

If you’re the chick who’s not letting summer finally slip by without so much as hitting the beach, here’s the official end-of-summer bible to give you a brief recap of the summer season’s bikini and monokini trends just in case you’re thinking of a final summer hurrah.

Swimsuit trends, to begin with, are unlike other fashion trends considering that designers don’t exactly have the liberty of recreating these small pieces of clothing into something that’s utterly different. The most that designers have been able to do is to simply hinge the swimwear trends on bigger trends for the simple goal of making this beach staple more chic, more up-to-date, more sizzling.

Here are the hottest bikinis that have rocked summer and sent temperatures shooting.

Vintage Vixen

This has been fashion’s gift to the playful, the curvaceous, and to those steeped in sex appeal. Vintage swimsuits made it exceptionally big in Summer 2011 with its high-waist cuts and figure flattering cinches, covering just the right imperfections and highlighting just the right curves. 1950s-inspired swimsuits brought out the best in the Marilyn Monroes and Jane Mansfields of our time. 

The vintage bikini doesn’t necessarily have to be a dead ringer of the pin-up girl costumes nor does it have to be an entirely strawberry cheesecake cliché. Key to pulling off this style is to choose the right pieces whether you’re as bombshell as Monroe can get or as sophisticated as Grace Kelly in her while halter swimsuit in the movie High Society. 

The vintage bikini is all about infusing vintage prints and details into modern pieces, making the results perfect for the zeitgeist. Think of one pieces with cinched waists, sweetheart necklines and halters, high-waist bottoms, gingham checks, Hawaiian prints, nautical themes, shirred sides, full-cupped tops, and boyleg bottoms.

Ruffled Up

Okay, maybe some women are just looking for ultra feminine ways to flaunt their swim suits at the pool side or at the beach. Whatever the reason may be, ruffled swimsuits have sure grabbed the fashioniser’s attention for the summer season that has passed. The best thing about the ruffled swimsuit trend is that there are no distinct style rules whatever. 

Instead, ruffled swimwear has been cut in so many different ways, making it versatile enough to work with other bikini trends that have emerged this year.

Crocheted To Perfection

Crochet bikinis are the must-have bikini pieces of the year. Hands down. These are the most challenging to pull off but one that also leaves the imagination of the viewer running high on the wild side. Crochet bikinis are an offshoot of the 1970s trend. When worn right, it can offer an elusive cocktail of sex appeal that every woman wants from her own pair swimsuit.

The magic of crochet swimwear lies in the knots and stitches which draw the viewer in, distracting the viewer from any flaws—real or otherwise.

Crochet swimwear is perfect for pairing with wide legged pants for a resort feel or with denim cut-offs for an afternoon party at the streets of Rio.

Single Shoulder Sensation

This trend may have faded off way back in 2009 but that’s not to say that the one-shoulder trend has never been a great look. In fact, never has the swimsuit looked more elegant and sophisticated than with the one-shoulder trend.

Whilst the one shoulder trend featured a thin, single shoulder strap with the same color as the entire piece circa 2009-2010, the opposite is completely true for the updated one-shoulder trend that’s making waves this year and in the year after. For 2011-2012, the single shoulder strap trend will have a thick, single shoulder strap that comes in a contrasting color with the rest of the bikini.

The Statement Strap

Sexiness is the most desired quality of the bikini. When people talk about string bikinis, they talk about an entirely new level of sexiness that’s only for beach goddesses to don. String bikinis aren’t exactly out of the picture this year but a strange cousin of the string bikini has managed to nab the spotlight from its sexier sister. 

Instead of a teeny tiny string, we’re talking about the statement strap that’s a mixture of both string thin and wider cuts crisscrossed, piled up, or put together any way you may have it.

Digitally Daring

Either fashion designers are just overwhelmed by the technology at hand or some of them are just being a little bit lazy (which isn’t a bad thing, by the way), digitally printed swimsuits have been making it big vis a vis their counterparts which have been painstakingly made through age old crafts. 

The popularity of digitally printed swim suits rose from the sports-as-fashion street wear trend that makes print on the swimwear functional more than fashionable.