Take Your Swimwear Measurements With a tape measure, you can quickly figure out your swimsuit size. While standing in your underwear (don't wear your normal clothes, or you won't get accurate figures), wrap the tape measure around the fullest part of your bust and jot down how large it is.
“Swim fabrics stretch a bit when wet, so sizing down or staying true to size is better when you're spending most of your time in actual water,” she says. “If you're staying dry most of the time, sizing up could help you feel more comfortable since the natural stretching won't happen when the suit stays dry.
How did bikini get its name?
Two French designers, Jacques Heim and Louis Réard, developed competing prototypes of the bikini. Made out of a scant 30 inches of fabric, Réard promoted his creation as “smaller than the world's smallest bathing suit.” Réard called his creation the bikini, named after the Bikini Atoll.
What is the bottom of a bikini called?
In American English we have the phrase "bikini pants/panties". We would not understand "bikini" to refer to the bottom alone. The style of the swimsuit bottom is used to make underwear called bikini briefs as well.