I have never owned, nor wanted to own, a tankini.  I’ve always gone for the 2 piece swimsuits. As I’ve said before, I’m a very short girl… my ribs seriously almost touch my hip bones so I have like no torso whatsoever. A one piece makes me look like an egg and the very few tankinis I ever did try on, oh-so-many-years ago, would just show a strip of belly between the bottom of the tankini top and the top of the bottoms… so not flattering!  Not on me, anyway.  So, 2 pieces it would be.

Unfortunately, this year, I’m just not comfortable wearing a bikini.  I wasn’t very comfortable in one last year and this year is even worse.  So, when I was given the opportunity to sample any swimsuit of my choosing from Old Navy through Crowdtap hosted party, I was excited for the great opportunity but not very hopeful about finding a suit that I would feel comfortable in.

My bestest friend ever (those of you who have a bestest friend ever know that bestest totally IS a word!) just so happened to be making a 3-hour drive to see me last weekend so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for us to get in some girl time with shopping for free at Old Navy!  So, off we went!

We must have grabbed nearly every style they had in inventory to take with us to the dressing room.  I found several styles, colors and patterns I liked.  I also really like the idea of mix & matching (especially since I’m two different sizes from top to bottom) but we found this also made it more difficult to find the sizes we needed.  It may just be our local store but the swimsuits seem to get picked over very quickly here and they had already been out on the racks for at least a week or two.  We would find a top in our size but not a bottom or vice versa.  Oh, and they didn’t have my favorite cherry print swimsuit that I had scoped out online before.  However, we did get plenty to try on and we both were able to find a suit we really liked but she will have to check her local store when she gets home to do an exchange on the bottoms for the correct size.

I started with a two-piece since that is what I’m accustomed to but didn’t feel like it really covered enough of me.  I guess that’s the 34-yr old mom coming out in me!

The ruffles are tiered on the top and go across the top of the bikini bottoms on both the front and the back.  The bottoms have side ties so they’re easily adjustable.  The top also ties around the neck and around the back for perfect sizing.  I really liked this green color, too.

Women’s Ruffled String Bikinis (top) Regular Price$14.94
Women’s Ruffled String Bikinis (bottom) Regular Price$14.94

Nicole tried this one on first and almost went with it!  It looked great and has gold accents that she loved.

Women’s Printed Triangle-Halter Tab Bikinis Regular Price$19.94
Women’s Printed Triangle-Halter Tab Bikinis Regular Price$19.94

Next, we both tried on this open-back tankini.  I loved it the open back because it still covered my midsection but wasn’t really a tankini, in my mind.  As I said, tankinis were something I tried to avoid completely because of a few bad fittings.  I was thinking about possibly getting this one but there were still a lot to try on!

Women’s Ombre-Striped Tankinis Regular Price$24.94
Women’s Ombre-Striped Bikinis Regular Price$19.94

Nicole tried on the boy-short bikini next.  This one was cute, too.  But, we didn’t like the way the bottoms “hugged” the front and thought it would probably do that even if we weren’t wearing undergarments.  Plus, the top had a clasp in the back and it was too big around her rib cage.  So, while cute, this one was a no-go.

Women’s Striped Boy-Short Bikinis Regular Price$19.94
Women’s Striped Boy-Short Bikinis Regular Price$19.94

After more than an hour of trying on different sizes, styles, colors and patterns.  Here are our final selections:

Nicole went with the Women’s Splash-Print Bandeau Bikinis (Regular Price$19.94) & Women’s Splash-Print Bandeau Bikinis (Regular Price$19.94).

The top and bottoms both appear to have fabric that is twisted and we thought that was a fun touch.  This top also had the clasp at the back but she liked it enough that she decided she would have it professionally altered.  And, as I said, the bottoms, she thought might be better in a different size so she’s hoping to find an exchange for those.

And, finally… my first-ever tankini!

Women’s Mix & Match Tankini Tops Regular Price$19.94
Women’s Mix & Match Bikini Bottoms Regular Price$14.94

It ties behind the neck, hugs were it should and doesn’t squeeze where it shouldn’t.  And, it fully covers my torso, unlike those ones that had marred my opinion of a tankini so long ago!  I am really happy with this suit and in fact, wore it out to the public pool for the first time this afternoon with my kids!  I felt so much less self-conscience in this than a two-piece or a one piece and loved that I was able to just relax and have fun with the kids instead of worrying about what might be showing or looking unattractive (well, worrying less anyway!)

If you’d like to join Crowdtap for the possibility of hosting events such as this or other fun opportunities, sign up here.  Or, you can read more about the program first here.

Do you have a certain style of swimsuit that you’ve sworn off?  What is it and why?  Maybe it’s time to give it another try!  You might be as surprised as I was!  I hope you’ll tell me about it in the comments section.