This summer, the one-piece is no longer reserved for swimming lanes in the public pool or sprawling out on a sun lounger. As versatile as it is flattering, the fashion set encourages you to wear your one-piece with pretty much anything. It’s no wonder this styling trick works. Usually made from sculpting stretch fabrics and double-lined for support, swimsuits offer the kind of built-in compression usually associated with shapewear. Perfect for heatwaves when the fewer layers, the better.
Last summer, key styling references came from Miu Miu’s spring/summer 2025 show, where models wore swimming costumes in bright red, sky blue, navy and hot pink, all with contrast hems and daring cut-outs. Tory Burch dedicated its entire show to sportswear, with swimsuits bedecked with sequin embellishments and worn with tie-up tailored trousers. Meanwhile, the Zimmerman show opened with snippets from a ’70s Aussie surf film, with the collection featuring plunging swimsuits styled with everything from floor-sweeping organza skirts to jorts and butter-yellow trench coats.
Since then, wearing swimsuits as tops has become a recurring conversation among the Vogue shopping team, and we’ve spotted more stylish folk embracing the look as temperatures rise. Shopping editor Joy Montgomery recently packed a chocolate-brown one-piece from Free People for a trip to Mallorca, styling it with relaxed fold-over fisherman trousers and simple sandals. Naomi Smart, meanwhile, has long championed the styling formula, regularly pairing her favourite swimsuits with everything from linen trousers to denim jorts.
“I’ve been wearing swimsuits as the perfect summer underpinning to trousers and skirts since the 2010s – it was the era of American Apparel after all,” says Smart. “Swimsuit fabric is particularly sculpting and supportive and so, as someone with a bigger bust, it enables me to really experiment with amazing cuts and interesting necklines. It also eliminates the need for a strapless bra, meaning I can wear one-shouldered, or otherwise unconventional silhouettes, without worrying about visible lines or cumbersome layers underneath.”
