UK Women Reveal Secrets to Swimwear

WAKEFIELD, England, July 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Swimwear is a hot topic among UK women; 25% are planning what to wear, 20% have already suited up and 9% are still undecided whether to brave a bikini or a swimsuit.

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According to a recent survey by UK womenswear brand Bonmarché, women are more relaxed than you might think about wearing swimwear suggesting that the style and cut affects women's willingness to buy swimwear more so than age, with women 45+ the most confident on the beach.

Swimsuits beat bikinis in which styles women felt most confident wearing. The swimming costume was the most favoured style (49%), followed by the swimdress (42%) and tankini (35%). The least favourable were string bikinis (12 per cent), swimming costumes with cut outs (10%) and high leg bikini (9%), proving women prefer a classic costume.

Full swimsuits are women's go to by the fact that 53% want to cover their tummy, followed by thighs (36%) and bottom (21%). There was a massive drop when exposing legs, especially those 55+ (74%), who are actually pretty confident in comparison to 16-24 (58%). Over 55s are happy with their behinds (84%), beating 16-24 in confidence (79%).

Cardiff proved the least confident city with 29% unhappy exposing their body. The most confident city was Southampton (24%), followed by Leeds (20%). Size 10 also came out as the most confident size (19%).

It's a common perception that age affects the type of swimsuit you choose and British women agreed (53%). However, confidence soared among surveyed women aged 45+ while younger women 16-34 were more conscious of problem areas, particularly cleavage (16%).

Adrian Marter, Head of Design at Bonmarché, said: "We believe it's important for every woman to feel comfortable, so it was a very pleasant surprise to see that many women are planning on, or already have, worn swimwear this year.

"However, 19% told us that they don't wear swimwear and we wanted to change that. At Bonmarché, we have designed swimwear to suit styles that fits any age, shape or holiday, in the hope to give these women the clothing they need to feel comfortable and glamorous."

Interestingly, the 16-24 age group most favoured the one piece swimming costume (55%) over bikini styles (30%), as did the over 55s.

Bonmarché is one of the UK's largest womenswear retailers and the brand is famed for the swim dress.