This month, Glamour Magazine picks swim suits for a variety of body types, one of those being “petite and busty”. The model, Rachel, who is 5’2″ with a 32DD bust, looks great after Glamour stylists got their hands on her!
Glamour’s advice:
Shop for bottoms with higher-cut legs – this appears to have lengthened Rachel’s leg line, for a flattering, leggy silhouette, which is advice petites of all sizes can gain from. They also switched out her tie-side bottoms for something with a little more fabric, which I’m a big fan of. Those tie-side bottoms do weird things visually to a lot of women’s figures. I was appalled when I tried on an old (from college days) tie-side bikini of mine not too long ago. It’s much more flattering boy-short bottoms for me from now on!
Shop for underwire tops with cup sizes – this did amazing things for Rachel’s bust! The underwire top lifted and supported, helping her look polished and even a little bit thinner. Being busty often makes a woman look heavier than she really is (a well-endowed family member of mine has this issue), so reining in the “girls” helps to show off her lean figure.
Successful makeover, Glamour! Of course, the styled hair and sexy pose helps too. ;)
What do you think of the swim suit makeover Glamour gave petite and busty Rachel?
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A little change goes a long LONG way. She looks amazing! And yes, the sexy pose also adds to her look too!
The second top fits her so much better than the first; I'm 100% agreed about buying bikini tops in bra sizes! For anyone with a proportionately large cup and small band (or the other way around), fitting into standard XS/S/M/L or numerically-sized bikinis can be a nightmare.
I agree, great makeover and just small changes! Hope there will be a feature on really small busts soon :P
She looks amazing! And it's great that for once, they're not using someone who is "typically petite" – i.e. people with bra sizes B cup or smaller.
Nice, she looks much better! Especially the boobs. ;) I wonder why she looks so funny in the tie-side bottoms. I actually look good in those. I think maybe it's 'cause she has a long rise (dunno if it's the right word, distance between belly button and crotch), whereas mine is short, since I have a short torso. But then again, Kelly you have a short torso, and you said tie-side looks weird on you.
The other thing is I'm very pear-shaped, whereas Rachel is the inverse of that, being busty on top, so the skimpy bottom doesn't really balance her very well. Whereas I'm always trying to get a swimsuit that's small on the bottom and has tons of frilly crap and padding on the top to cover up the fact that I don't have boobs. >_<
I'm a 32D, so a bit smaller than the model, but I'd like to add:
The unflattering chest gap she has in the before pictures can be created by more supportive kinds of bathing suit tops, too, when they're put on a petite frame. Whenever I try on tops that have beading/any kind of embellishment or extra fabric between the cups that pushes the cups farther apart, then the top will also push my breasts farther apart then they are naturally, and it's generally unflattering and kind of uncomfortable. I think this is because the average petite has a narrower torso/smaller band size than the average shopper, so extra spacing between the cups that wouldn't look unusual on a most shoppers is exaggerated on a narrower petite build.
I'd also like to add that tops with underwires are great but watch out for the plainer ones that have something of a basic bra shape to them. From a distance it's hard to tell the difference between bathing suit fabric and bra fabric, and I had one top that people were always thinking was my bra until they saw it up close. These tops already have a bra-like underwire, so it helps if they don't resemble a bra in any other way.
Did anyone else notice that the tops mentioned do not actually cover the model's size? Frustrating…
@socogrl: I did notice that! Those particular tops don't come in 32s, much less 30s or below, which a lot of petites need.
i love this, thank you for posting :) i'm 4'11 and a 32/34 D, and finding bathing suit tops is a nighmare! I have an incredibly narrow torso and need all the support I can get, but i shy away from underwire in fear of looking like i'm wearing a bra, and the end result is I still don't feel that great. (much like our model's first picture). I have hopes now of finding a good, supporting, cute, and BIKINI-looking bathing suit top. I'm so giddy right now :)
@La Petite Gabi
gabi
I have the same vision. Bras from VS are very nice,although the "body" straps had to be cut a little to shorten them so the fit was correct.
i think those bathing suits bra would work well for us, 34 D cups.
marion
i love this, thank you for posting :) i'm 4'11 and a 32/34 D, and finding bathing suit tops is a nighmare! I have an incredibly narrow torso and need all the support I can get, but i shy away from underwire in fear of looking like i'm wearing a bra, and the end result is I still don't feel that great. (much like our model's first picture). I have hopes now of finding a good, supporting, cute, and BIKINI-looking bathing suit top. I'm so giddy right now :)
The second top fits her so much better than the first; I'm 100% agreed about buying bikini tops in bra sizes! For anyone with a proportionately large cup and small band (or the other way around), fitting into standard XS/S/M/L or numerically-sized bikinis can be a nightmare.
I agree, great makeover and just small changes! Hope there will be a feature on really small busts soon :P