Dressing Room Diaries: Target Swimwear 2017

Pssst! Read the latest version of Target swimsuit reviews here: The Official Guide To Target Swimwear 2018. By now you’ve probably figured out that I’m in overdrive when it comes to sorting out where I’m going to get my swimsuits this year. Last week I talked about the best places to buy swimwear for 2017 and Target was nowhere to be found on that list. Here’s the deal – their suits always fit me just a little bit weird. I’m not entirely sure why this is, but I’ve never had great luck with Target swimwear.

But then I was browsing the interwebs and got sucked into the current promotion they are doing – buy one, get one 50% all swim. That, my friends, is a deal. It’s running until March 4th, for anyone else in the same predicament as me. I wear swimsuits enough that I blow through them pretty darn quickly. I can’t justify more than one or two $100+ swimsuits, particularly for adventures such as the dog beach. I just can’t. So, I thought…“Well, let me just go and look. I probably won’t even see any styles I like.”

This is the part where I tell you that I was wrong about not finding styles I liked. It turns out, Target has seriously upped the swimsuit ante! Bright colors, multiple styles of bottoms, one piece, cheeky, conservative…they’ve got it all. Color me impressed. For whatever reason, I seemingly had the store to myself (does no one shop after work?) and time to kill (THIS NEVER HAPPENS), so I took about 500 styles to the dressing room and tried every single one on. It was like a perfect storm, so I felt compelled to try each and every style I liked on in the store, in a slightly sweaty and very poorly lit dressing room.

But! Here is the part where it’s going to work in your favor…I’ve done the trying on for you and I’m going to roll through every brand and give you a little straight talk so you can make some informed shopping choices. #yourewelcome I’ll start by saying I have a very average body type and usually run a size 4-6 or medium in stores. I have a long torso and muscular legs, which sometimes makes bottoms tricky. Swimsuits are always a crapshoot for me, because staring at a size 0 model online literally tells me NOTHING about how it will look on me. So, trying everything on is a MUST. Always. Which leads me to today.

First up?

Xhilaration Lace Up Bralette Bikini Top and Cheeky Hipster Bottom

You can’t really tell in either photo, but this swimsuit is navy and white striped – super cute! It also laces up the back, which I wasn’t initially wild about, but the more I looked at it the more I liked it. It’s adorable and rivals the style of brands like L*SPACE and San Lorenzo. I thought for sure I would love the bralette style and I think that had I been patient enough to finagle the straps – it could have worked. What I didn’t like is that the style of both the top and bottom are VERY snug. I am wearing a size large in both the top and bottom and you can see that it’s pretty tight. Even though I loved the print, I took a hard pass on this.

Next, I tried the Xhilaration Strappy Back Bralette Bikini Top and Tabside Bottoms. There are matching strappy bottoms, but all I could envision was hip and butt fat busting out of those straps, so that was an immediate no-go for me. I suppose if you don’t have hips or cellulite, they might be a good option. The 2018 version is available online now – top + bottom.

I’ll be honest, I wanted this top to work SO BADLY. It covered was exactly what I was looking for and there was really nothing too fancy about it. In fact, it looks exactly like a swimsuit I had been eyeing at a local boutique for a fraction of the cost. Sadly, I think the Xhilaration brand is just not for me. It was tight ALL OVER in the top (you can see my back skin busting out of those straps in the back) and the bottoms made me feel like I had a load in my pants and not just because my underwear was bunching up in there. I contemplated going up to an extra large in the top, but they didn’t have the top in that size and I wasn’t going to be playing some wild cat-and-mouse game with Targets all over the island trying to track down a suit that may or may not work out. Sad day, but a hard pass on this one as well. I will say, though, that for my fellow Itty Bitty Titty Committee members, this style does wonders for the chest! I felt like I had boobs!

After all of this, I took the remaining Xhilaration suits that I had in my stockpile and put them on the other side of the dressing room in a pile. It was becoming apparent that that brand was made for people with a different body type than I.

So onward I went in an entirely different direction…a one piece! Specifically, the Shore Halter One Piece. The 2018 version of this suit is here.

Now, I have to be honest, this one piece looked ROCKING on one of the mannequins, but it left much to be desired on my frame. I was initially really excited, because it comes in sizes to match your bust, but…good luck finding a swimsuit for a long torso in a 36A. I ended up trying on a 34B and all I could do was laugh. I think my face says it all. Between the wedgie and the camel toe…I think I’ll stick to all black one pieces or something that is a bit less…trendy? I don’t even know. There is a lot going on in this suit and it did NOT work in my favor.

After that I tossed the rest of the one pieces I had brought back, realizing once in my dressing room that one of them was maternity anyhow. Hey – I thought it was cute! Anyway, Shade & Shore has really cute designs that are quite similar to those that you used to find at Victoria’s Secret, so I opted to try on their Vacay Midi Bandeau Bikini Top and Beach String Hipster Bottoms. The 2018 version can be found here.

I’ll be honest – I really liked this one and the fit seemed very true-to-size. I tried on a medium in the top and a medium in the bottom. The bottoms are ruched in the back, so they have a more snug feeling to your butt (see also: no load-in-your-pants look) and the top is snug, but not overly tight. The only drawback to this suit, for me, is the tie sides on the bottoms. That’s literally the only reason I didn’t take this suit home with me. Tie sides have a way of constantly needing adjusted for me and that is just plain annoying. If you don’t have this problem (I’m jealous), then I would DEFINITELY snatch this style up!

The final two suits that I tried on were both prints that I just LOVED, so even though they were Xhilaration, I wanted to give them a go. I still had time so I figured…why not?

People…I LOVED THEM BOTH!

Let’s talk about the Strappy Triangle Bikini Top and Strappy Bottoms first.

I am wearing a size medium in both the top and bottom and even though the bottoms are strappy, there is no skin bulge! The top fits snug, but not tight, and would be perfect for water sports or high energy activity (beach volleyball, dog beach, etc). Also of note, the straps didn’t dig into my body and were soft, not cheap elastic like some of the others I tried on.

The second suit was the Xhilaration Push Up Bikini Top and Cheeky Bikini Bottom.

I’m wearing a size medium in both the top and the bottom. The happy palm print caught my eye immediately and what’s not to love about a fun pom pom trim up top? I have to admit, I’m typically not drawn to push-up style suits, because I’ll be real…there’s nothing to push up! But as soon as I put this suit on, it didn’t feel like a traditional push-up at all. There’s not a ton of padding, nor is the underwire prominent. I also felt that the bottoms fit me the best of any of the suits I had tried on. I’m not sure why they called it a cheeky bottom, as they really have pretty great coverage, and the sides are not a tie..win!

I had decided before I even got to the store that if I found a suit I liked, I would only be buying one. I was really torn between the last two suits I tried on, but ultimately decided to go with the last suit – the Xhilaration Push Up. With the sale,  I got both pieces for $28, which is a hell of a deal when it comes to swimsuits. I haven’t lost hope yet on finding the perfect one piece, but I’m probably going to steer clear of the ones from Target for the time being, LOL!

What are your thoughts on Target’s collection of swimwear? Keep or sweep?

If you liked this, don’t miss the latest: The Official Guide To Target Swimwear 2018