Swimming in Style Essences (Esp. Romantic)
Do Romantics get the most swimwear options?
Should your swimsuit match your body or your face (or both)? And what do Dramatics wear to the beach??
Here’s swimwear inspiration for every essence!
Dramatic Swimsuits
Dramatic fashion often has ultra-long hemlines.
So people with a lot of Dramatic might worry that this is their perfect swimsuit:
But while Dramatic faces can rock a scuba suit, you definitely have other options!
The easiest way to do Dramatic swimwear: choose a one-piece with a straight, narrow plunge neckline:
A bold Dramatic suit. The knot detail feels casual, adding a little Natural.
And while this suit is skin-tight and sexy, it doesn’t have Romantic.
(Tight clothes aren’t automatically Romantic, even if you have a very curvy body. To have Romantic, there usually needs to be very curvy shapes built into the garment itself.)
Narrow straps also flatter Dramatic:
A highly Dramatic suit, thanks to the deep, angular neckline.
And here the sexy lace-up detail does add Romantic.
You can also look for one-piece suits with straight asymmetrical necklines or high necklines.
Of all the essences, Dramatics might have the hardest time finding summery clothing.
But they really can rock many swimsuits! The key is to search for shapes that are striking, elongated, and sharp.
Ingenue Swimsuits
“Ingenue swimsuit” might feel like a contradiction, since Ingenue fashion is iconically modest.
So to look harmonious as an Ingenue, should you resort to covering up with some sort of ruffled pink scuba suit?
No! Ingenues actually have lots of great two-piece options:
A very Ingenue suit with delicate ruffles and high-waist bottoms, plus Gamine from the playful cut outs and blue-orange color contrast.
How can a highly Ingenue face can rock such a revealing outfit?
It’s because compared to typical settings, the beach has different style rules.
Specifically, people perceive a swimsuit’s modesty relative to other swimsuits, not to clothing in general.
So, Ingenues can wear revealing clothes on the beach because:
In most settings, swimsuits appear out-of-place—for every style type. It probably won’t go over well if you wear a swimsuit to your law office or dental office or other office job. Even a Romantic, the type who gets the most conventionally sexy clothing, can’t make swimwear work in most public places.
But on the beach or at the pool, it is acceptable to wear highly revealing clothing—for every style type. Wearing minimal clothing doesn’t feel jarring on the beach, because it’s so expected and sensible for the setting (it makes sense to wear little clothing when it’s hot)—no matter your essences.
So high-waisted bottoms and cleavage-concealing ruffles actually look pretty modest—and thus perfect for Ingenue—relative to other types of swimsuits.
More Ingenue Swimwear
Another great Ingenue suit option involves lettuce-edge hems:
This bikini also has detail resembling delicate eyelet lace—perfect for Ingenue.
The one way this suit isn’t ideal for Ingenue: the plunging scoop neckline adds Romantic.
Let’s explore another essence whose vibe seems contradictory with skimpy clothing:
Classic Swimsuits
On the surface, Classic outfits have nothing in common with swimwear.
Classic fashion is conservative, tailored, and proper, the type of clothes that will never get you a dress code violation.
Wearing this suit in a professional setting would probably get a dress code violation.
And yet it’s fully Classic, since it has:
A conventional one-piece silhouette
Simple pinstripe pattern
Basic straps that aren’t especially narrow or thick
Standard, not extremely revealing neckline
As we covered with Ingenue, swimsuits have different guidelines than other types of fashion:
Compared to everyday clothing, that pinstripe swimsuit is scandalous.
Compared to other swimsuits, the pinstripe swimsuit is conservative—perfect for Classic!
Another highly Classic option:
This suit embodies Classic with its conventional one-piece silhouette combined with the solid neutral color.
The deep, curving wrap-neckline adds Romantic.
Romantic Swimsuits
We’ve already noted that Romantics are great in sexy swimwear—specifically in:
Plunging scoop-necks
Sensual lace-up detail
Wrap-style necklines
Do they get other suit styles? Yes, lots!
Romantic is probably the most well-represented essence in swimwear (more on that toward the end of this post).
Other Romantic suit elements include very narrow straps, sweetheart necklines, and fabric strips that wrap across the torso:
A highly Romantic suit (though the simple, conventional bikini bottoms bring in Classic).
For Romantic bottoms, look for string bikinis (especially with very narrow ties looped into large bows) or ring bikinis:
A very Romantic suit, with sexy rings and an overall sensual feel.
The asymmetrical neckline and cutout add Ethereal.
(Asymmetry is awesome for Ethereal when it creates long, diagonal, gently curving lines.)
Ethereal Swimsuits
Ethereal fashion is characterized by extra-long, flowy fabric.
So a fully Ethereal swimsuit might seem like an impossibility. Can it be done?
Yes!
This suit is fully Ethereal with its:
Curving one-shoulder neckline
One-piece silhouette
Gentle blue hues
Profuse, shimmery, layered detail
Ethereal’s vibe is all about complexity, illumination, and seeing through layers of reality. Thus, complicated detail (especially when it’s delicate, light-reflective, and curving) is often Ethereal
So there’s at least one purely Ethereal swimsuit in existence… any others?
Yes!
This suit is Ethereal because of the:
Narrow oval neckline
One-piece silhouette
Pale neutral color
Long, narrow, transparent cutout
One-piece suits tend to especially flatter Ethereal. Is an Ethereal two-piece possible?
In theory, absolutely! But since Ethereal (and Dramatic) are characterized by elongated shapes, their best suits tend to be one-pieces.
Gamine Swimsuits
In contrast to Ethereal and Dramatic, the ideal Gamine suit is a two-piece, since cropped silhouettes are iconically Gamine:
Short straight straps, angular necklines, and playful color-blocking amp up the fun Gamine feel.
Gamines are also flattered by short-style bottoms:
Gamine swim shorts. The plunging, curving neckline top is Romantic.
If your two-piece doesn’t include color-blocking, you can easily create a Gamine impression by mixing and matching bikini bottoms and tops of contrasting colors: orange and blue, purple and yellow, pink and lime green, etc.
Natural Swimsuits
Naturals have endless fashion options in the modern world, especially for outdoors.
But surprisingly, fully Natural swimsuits may not be too common!
This is probably because Natural clothes tend to have:
Wide, relaxed fits
Breathable fabric
In contrast, swimsuits tend to have:
Skin-tight silhouettes
Shiny, synthetic fabric
But Natural swimwear does exist!:
This wide, open-but-not-plunging neckline is great for Natural. So is the earthy color and one-piece style that’s fairly low-cut at the sides, helping to create a long Natural silhouette.
This fabric texture also works well: it appears more casual—almost like T-shirt fabric—than typical shiny swimsuit material.
You can also look for wide straps and knot detail made from wide ties:
Wide straps and large knots tend to feel casual and carefree, perfect for Natural.
The very deep curvy neckline brings in Romantic.
Another way to add Natural to your beach look: accessories!
Straw hats, which are peppered throughout this post, are often Natural. So are large straw totes or any other straw-based accessory you can procure.
You can also create a cool and casual cover-up by layering a long flannel or other unbuttoned top over your suit:
This simple button-down also has Classic, but the oversized fit and rolled sleeves add a lot of Natural. (The suit beneath is very Romantic!)
Natural might even be the essence most represented in non-swimsuit beach attire, like cutoffs, loose tank-tops, and long roomy dresses.
As to the essence most highly represented in swimsuits, that title probably goes to Romantic—more on that below!
But first:
Should you dress for your body or face? (Or both?)
Your choice! You should dress however makes sense to you.
Personally, I’m biased toward dressing mostly for your face, for a few reasons:
People tend to spend more time looking at our faces than our bodies (at least hopefully! Probably something we want of the people we interact with)
We have a whole brain region (The Fusiform Face Area) dedicated to processing faces
We don’t have a brain region solely dedicated to processing bodies. Humans seem wired to be magnetized to faces, and to focus more on faces than bodies
It probably makes sense to match your makeup and hair to your face, rather than your body, since your makeup goes directly on top of your face without obscuring your facial features. Similarly, your hair is directly adjacent to and primarily frames your face
So if you match your makeup and hair to your face, but match your fashion only to your body, this may look disjointed
Faces are extremely psychological (they’re emotional and emotive), arguably more so than bodies. And fashion is also extremely psychological and emotional
Body-typing systems sometimes suffer from being overly literal. They focus primarily on the literal shapes of the body. But for creating visual harmony, it can actually be more important to consider VIBES than literal shapes, since fashion is so highly emotional and psychological
“The perfect body” is overrated (and not a thing). Cultures may idealize certain body shapes and sizes, but ultimately, just like faces, what constitutes a beautiful body is opinion-based
It’s also healthier (physically and psychologically) to focus more on having a healthy body, rather than a body that matches fluctuating beauty standards
BUT, it’s also totally reasonable to consider your body shape when wearing a swimsuit (or anything else).
Sometimes, you might find that you’re able to fully honor your style type while simultaneously wearing clothes that flatter your body.
Most people have at least two or three essences, and some have four.
So there’s a decent chance that at least one of your essences will permit silhouettes that flatter your body.
Then you can bring in your other essences in colors, fabrics, details, accessories, hair, makeup, etc.
And sometimes you might want to compromise and wear something that doesn’t fully flatter your style type, because it does flatter your body. Or vice-versa.
That’s ok, too.
Additionally, there’s a lot of flexibility for how you express your essences with silhouette.
For instance, the Romantic essence is associated with fitted, sexy styles. But being skin-tight or sexy typically isn’t sufficient for fashion to have Romantic, even if you have a very curvy body.
As just one example, a striped crew neck Tee will likely be too casual to have any Romantic—even if it’s ultra-tight and shows off your curves. Romantic clothes are typically sexy and form-fitting, but they also typically need to have curves built into the garment itself, or contain elaborate detail.
The point: if you don’t have Romantic but do have a curvy body, it’s often possible to wear outfits that represent the essences you do have and simultaneously emphasize and flatter your curves.
Speaking of Romantic…
The Romantic Essence and Swimwear
I didn’t intend to include a ton of Romantic-blend swimsuits in this post. But as I searched through images, that was what I most frequently found.
This leads me to speculate that Romantic might be the most well-represented essence in swimsuits.
And this makes sense, because:
Swimsuits are one of the most revealing, sexiest clothing items
Romantic is arguably the most conventionally sexy essence
The fact that it’s so easy to find highly Romantic swimsuits, and tends to be tricky to find highly Romantic T-shirts, jeans, and sneakers, also makes me reflect on one of the things I love about Romantics:
Romantics tend to look their most authentic and natural in very unnatural, glamorous, and showy fashion.
There’s something amazing about that contradiction, and about the ability to pull off fashion—in fact to look your best in fashion—that on many people would appear far too contrived or overdone.
That’s one of Romantics’ superpowers.
Amazing Romantic Qualities
Here are just a few other amazing traits that Romantics embody:
Passion—with its curvy shapes, deep colors, and shiny textures, Romantic fashion communicates the passion of love and other deep emotions.
Sometimes we may be afraid of showing emotion, because it can be intimidating to appear vulnerable and to reveal that you really care about something or someone. The Romantic essence embodies passionate boldness: showing that you put effort into your appearance, that you care, and that you’re ok with letting people see you care.
Allure—with its elaborate detail and curvy shapes, Romantic fashion can have a mesmerizing, swirling, and hypnotic quality. High levels of detail also motivate the eye to linger, taking it all in.
Fantasy—Romantic isn’t as much associated with magic as some other essences. But in many ways, Romantic’s elaborateness and dressiness embodies escapism from everyday reality.
Aliveness—with Romantic’s passion, allure, and fantastical nature, the essence also feels exciting and alive—even dopamine-inducing or pulse-racing.
Romantic’s Color Season Connection
Like Gamine, Romantic’s vibe has conceptual overlap with the passion and aliveness of the Spring color season.
The Romantic essence also has a more serious vibe, which gives it a connection to the deep, formal-feeling colors of the Winter season.
Another connection between Romantic and Winter is the idea of needing “more” to look more like yourself: it’s sometimes said that Winter color seasons tend to be able to pull off the heaviest makeup, because Winter’s depth and intensity of color tends to permit bold hues and applications.
Similar to Romantics, Winters can actually look more authentic, more natural, and more like themselves the more makeup they put on (up to a point!)
There’s a lot of beauty in looking your very best in little to no makeup. That’s definitely an impressive feat.
And so is being able to look your best in a high amount of makeup, or in elaborate makeup that could easily appear “too much” on others.
I love that style analysis allows us to recognize and celebrate different types of beauty.
