CULTURE

The Most Inventive Celebrity Swimsuits of the Summer

Starring Bella Hadid’s cut-out one-piece and $11,875 worth of diamonds.

July 30, 2019

Courtesy of @fannybourdettedonon

It’s hot girl summer, and swimsuit-wearing celebrities are not about to let you forget it. Thanks to the wonders of technology, all that’s required to join the Hadids and Kardashian-Jenners on their stressfully over-the-top vacations is a simple scroll, which will instantly transport you to everywhere from Turks and Caicos to Mykonos—not that you’ll get to take in much scenery. The majority of the Instagram dispatches that Kylie Jenner, Bella Hadid and the rest have been posting since May feature one of two things: themselves wearing a one-piece, or themselves wearing a bikini.

With the entire month of August left, summer is far from over. But there’s a good chance that Bella Hadid’s latest one-piece Instagram will take the swimsuit cake. While her sister Gigi Hadid has so far stuck to a simple black bikini on their trip to Mykonos, Bella and her BFF Fanny Bourdette-Donon have seized the opportunity to rep the recent Central Saint Martins grad Louisa Ballou, whose swimwear is all about metal rings and cut-outs. And the pair decided to take things up yet another notch: Bourdette-Donon accessorized her suit with an Hermès scarf, whereas Hadid casually topped hers off with $11,875 worth of diamonds.

Kali Uchis has also been repping Ballou’s designs. Needless to say, she had quite a different approach to wearing hers.

Of course, the Ballou one-piece isn’t the only suit that Hadid packed. On Monday, she kicked off the week in a bikini, putting the elasticity of its strings to the test but hoisting the bottom up all the way past her belly button.

Hadid might be giving her a run for her money, but it’s still impossible to broach the topic of extravagant swimwear photo ops without mention of Emily Ratajkowski. This summer, the burgeoning location scout has taken her strappy swimwear designs everywhere from Bermuda to the bodega.

A quick scroll through Ratajkowski’s Instagram gives the impression that she’s never not wearing a thong bikini or one-piece bottom.

The model Winnie Harlow has also opted for minimal lower body coverage, while maxing out on top. Behold the long-sleeved bikini:

Rita Ora, on the other hand, has found an Instagram-friendly way to go topless, taking Kylie Jenner’s vintage Jean Paul Gaultier suit one step further.

Luckily, Kylie doesn’t appear to have worn another of her tops, by Dior, in the water, seeing as its dangling leather straps might pose the risk of strangulation.

But the most thought-provoking lewk of all belongs to Kourtney Kardashian and Stephanie Shepherd. Is the swimwear item that they’re wearing below a bikini, or a one-piece? It’s up to you to decide.