A sporty, one-piece swimsuit is the top of the season

This edition of The Cereal Aisle is brought to you by Tory Burch.

There are a lot of reasons it could make sense to wear a swimsuit as a top.

Tory Burch sequined “swimsuit” and purple trousers, Bottega Veneta ‘dot sock’ mules

• It is basically a bodysuit, technically speaking. Won’t snap at the crotch but when you go to the bathroom, you could, if you wanted to, just sideline it.

• Practically speaking, it makes packing for a trip where you plan to immerse yourself in a body of water easier in that the suit you choose could be worn to swim or to wear out to dinner.

• And stylistically, it accommodates some of the changing shape of trends in 2025. A very pervasive one piggybacks off the attention to sport that high fashion has paid over the last 5 years. You could take it further back to the establishment of athleisure and its subsequent embrace by luxury brands (least not our sponsor today), but I’m focusing mainly here on organized sport: what started with tennis (c/o Miu Miu) has evolved into swim.

This version of the pants still have some purple baked in, but they’re a bit more subdued

Some of the subtle expressions within this trend are concerned with literal shape. This is where the technical how-to comes in. So like, if, for example, you are into crop tops or low rise pants but want a bit more support, the ‘suit will give that to you —

Tory Burch crop top and black body suit, Alex Mill Cargo pants (maybe these low rise bermudas could be a good alt; it’s the khaki that’s important), Khaite sandals, Alighieri fish necklace

The low rise is essential to help play with the shape of the ‘suit

• Within another pervasive trend of the moment, if you still find yourself unfolding into the vast corners of the sheer clothing trend, layering one of your suits under the range of tops, skirts, dresses and perhaps most recently, the pants you’ve accrued could become a new way to style an old thing. A more dynamic way, too, if it’s a printed suit —

Tory Burch white ruffle blouse, Lido tie-dye suit (no longer avail, but these shorts are!), Amir Taghi pants

Phoebe Philo sandals; I’d try this with this tunic too

Although the reverse works too: solid suit, printed sheer thing —

Tory Burch sequined suit, Pucci mesh top, Dries van Noten surf pants (from the same collection as these, but these aren’t so far off), Ancient Greek Sandals flip flops

The sheer overlayer helps so you can see the shape of the suit underneath it

Styled here with Tory’s jacquard coat that plays off the same color scheme on the pants and top, but adds a new print to the whole

But, still on the theme of styling sheer clothes, it’s just as interesting if you opt for double solids —

Tory Burch suede jacket (the cotton version could carry you further into a new season and might look better with khaki — arguably the foil of the season!) styled over a mesh dress and the same black swimmer suit, with sequined hot pants (viable alt; see also: these), and the shoes are The Row’s canal moccasin

The white beaded swimmer breaks up all the black; kind of wish I had called in this bracelet

If you’re trying to go this route (sheer dress over suit) for an occasion that will, at some point in the day, require you to be dressed for work (professionally), you might need a carry all (and a bit more coverage) to make it work —

Tory dress, suit, bag, Kachorovska mary-janes

Granted, your legs are still full out, but maybe a coat can help distract the authorities?

This is my best pass at the “working mom who hasn’t lost herself” look thanks to the dress, thanks to the choice under-suit, but esp because of the bag (big enough for a laptop, a pair of comfortable shoes, a diaper, rash cream and wipes —)

Have it all, do it all!

Right now at market, you will also find bikini tops and tween-style bralettes masquerading themselves as viable alternatives to a full length blouse for spring/summer, but I’m focusing on the sport-adjacent full-piece pass specifically because it’s the most approachable and versatile shape.

Still on the theme of work, you could make a case for the suit inside a more proper “business” pairing —

See: jacket and pants. Over our swimmer this go around is Kallmeyer’s navy single breast jacket, Argent’s seasonless wool pants, Gucci boots

A black belt with white stitching will catch the swimmer, but an elaborate silver buckle could be enough to complete the look

Or just the same swap, out trousers (but keep on the blazer!) to wear them out to disco —

She’s back, this time with Ciao Lucia’s black shorts (another good pair), a black instead of navy blazer, Phoebe Philo’s heavy sole shoes (would you give these a go?), and a vintage tassel clutch

The jewelry makes a difference too. See also —

A wild necklace like this, but I must also show you this

You can wear the suit modestly, with a knee length skirt and multiple upper layers —

LMND button down, Tory Burch suit, Pucci mesh top, House of Dagmar denim pencil skirt, Tory Burch heels

Would go for regular size in the skirt, it will fit low rise. The shoes come like this too, and look great with white tights.

Or you can run your errands in it, wearing the kind of outfit that demands you look appropriate in a diverse myriad of settings —

Tory Burch monogram barn jacket, swim suit, cork basket bag and monk strap shoes

The belts are Dehanche (gold buckle) and Kallmeyer (brown); the ‘donut’ bracelet is also Tory Burch

But I’m most drawn to using the suit to throw wrenches into different, established trends. If, for example, you’ve aligned yourself with the art deco-era, housecoat-as-duster, fetch-me-my-feathers trend that’s been unfolding online (in large part, in my opinion, because of the Instagram account, Merci C’est Vintage), you might try something like this —

Bobkova duster, Deiji Studios white cotton wrap skirt, Massimo Dutti suede pants (here they are in brown; Leset’s ‘Yoko’ pant in black would be great here too), Proenza Schouler sandals

But only because the suit is like a modern anchor that brings the trend into the 2020’s —

You could alternatively try this suit, with the clip detailing

I like the swimsuit trend more broadly (made popular on the spring 25 runways of: Tory Burch, Dior, Bode, more loosely, Dries) because of what it represents to me — a sort of expanding on what Miu Miu’s Spring 24 collection brought: more reverence for the process of getting dressed around beach/surf culture.

You’ll notice I folded the shorts over here so they would hang a bit lower rise without compromising the integrity of the crotch length. I kind of like the bit of white they give to the broader look. The flip flops are Christopher Esber

Sweater, suit, bag

Here’s the skirt (Tory), the boat shoes (Gianvito Rossi), and another kind of bomber

Revisit Letter of Rec #095 here

Dif, dif but same, with a lurex cardigan over the sequined suit and some old Rosie Assoulin surf pants

Which you could find like this on TRR; there is a skirt hanging around too; the mesh shoes are Tory’s pass on the glove flat. I thought I was good on the silhouette, turns out it just needed some hardware to create new desire.

In this way, it conceptually reminds me of dressing cue many of us return to each summer where delicate cotton nightgowns or boxers become an adequate excuse for clothing (see: in-between dressing).

In that instance, the ‘in-between’ nature of the clothes — the getting dressed to look like you’re staying home but then in fact, going out — is what contains their magic. Here, I think it’s the sportiness that has me most intrigued. It’s the next phase of tennis-clothes-as-fashion-statement mania.

The dressing into an active lifestyle that prioritizes movement, but not at the expense of style.

Here we are, back where we started.

If clothes are indeed a reflection of our inner worlds, if we use them to predict what the culture is craving, to understand how we fit in to that — to speak to not-yet-met curiosities and desires, to convey our own shifting priorities, I suspect that these sporty expressions may reveal how eager we are to connect to our bodies, with our strength and our agility and with the endorphins they release to get us through whatever the next stretch of time asks of us.

Plus, they give 💪🏻good arms.💪🏻

Have a great day,

Leandra