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Choosing a bikini When choosing a bodybuilding/figure bikini it is very important to understand that EVERY BODY is UNIQUE. While having a picture of the style of bikini you would like to have made may work well for some, it may in fact not be quite right for your own body shape - so it is best to keep an open mind when sourcing a bikini as to what may or may not suit your body type. |
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Often I have girls come to see me armed with pics they have found on the internet of their dream bikini and while this is great to have an idea of what you would like its also not always the most suitable cut/style to bring out the best in your body. Many of these pics are of American pro figure athletes and I'm sure you will agree with me that not many of us have this type of body! Hence why that particular bikini will not look exactly the same on us as it does on the girl in the picture. Most girls come to me with absolutely no idea what they need (and lets face it being our first comp none of us have any idea what we are doing!) and this is where we can start from scratch and create what is right for them. |
| Ideally, get your bikini made by someone who has good experience in specifically designing and making bikinis for bodybuilding competition, then you should be dealing with someone that appreciates that we all have different aspects of our bodies to enhance and to disguise as best we can. They should be able to suggest to you what would suit your body shape and what is going to help to make you look the best you can on the day of your competition. |
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Adornments (bling) In regards to adorments (bling) on your bikini - an experienced designer should be working within your budget on this, so if you have set a budget in mind discuss this at the time of your first meeting/fitting. My rule of thumb for decorating a bikini is to always make sure the adornments compliment the figure by following the 'v' taper, which I will talk about in a following paragraph. |
| Decoration on a bikini is often where you can express more of your personality. If you like the full-on bling look then go for it! If you are not really a bling girl talk with your designer to come up with suggestions as to what would suit you and make you feel great about the design you are going to wear on stage. |
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Color My advice when choosing a color for your bikini would be to stay with the darker colors - particularly when it is your first competition. Any of you who have competed before or helped a friend on their comp day prep will know exactly what I am talking about when I say that tan can go EVERYWHERE. Light colored fabric will show any bit of tan that has accidently strayed onto the bikini, and more often than not as careful as we may try to be backstage whilst tanning, we inevitably get a bit of tan on our bikinis at some stage during the day or night show. If you are more experienced and know what the tanning product is like (or you may be using one of the dyer tan options which are less likely to get on the fabric) there is no reason why you cant go for a lighter color. |
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Keep in mind that pastel colors can, and often do, lose their color under the harsh stage lights and quite often appear washed out or even white. If unsure as to what color to choose I would say go for a color that you like, a color that you feel good in, or gets compliments when you wear it. ie dont go for that 'awesome bright purple' because you watched a bodybuilding show and that girl looked amazing in it - be individual and select what you feel would be right for you and make you feel good. |
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Style/cut The bikini designer/maker should be advising you as to what cut/style bikini would suit your body. It is most important that the cut of the bikini works well to enhance the 'v' taper that every judge is looking for the minute you set foot on stage. The wide shoulders and lats, sitting on top of a narrow waist, then those well developed glute, hammys and quads. You can definately help enhance these features with a well cut bikini! |
You will see this in the example photos to follow Tops should not cover you up so much that they hide any of the pecs muscularity or the lat width when doing your front poses and symmetry. But they should not be so small that its indecent and all we are really covering is nipples and not much else! Other considerations... Do the tops need padding? Do they need to be gathered or fitted? How much support do they need? |
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Just want to mention here that in regards to g-strings... for the federations that allow g-strings it is not compulsory to wear them - it is entirely YOUR choice. If you are really keen to wear a g-string talk about this with your bikini designer and let them help you to decide if this is in fact the best option for you. |
Whilst I have nothing against g-strings I have found, over the years, that there are very few girls who really have that right shape butt to carry this off and in some cases the girls coming to me asking for g's dont really want them but have been influenced by others to take this option. A certain style of pants that may look great on one girl may look really bad on another. The examples in part 2 are of me and my body type (thick waist, flat chested, skinny legs) but a bikini designer should be starting afresh when looking at the fitting of a bikini for each individual girl to design what is going to make her look the best on the day. |
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Our bodies Stretch marks, loose skin, excess skin, saggy skin, flat butt, thick waist, boobs that have almost dissapeared to a AAA minus, implants that have a hollow between, scars, tattoos, piercings, the list goes on... Girls NONE of us are perfect! We ALL have bits of our body that we dont think are 'perfect' but I have learnt over the years that as long as we are comfortable with our own skin then thats all that really matters. I have seen many different bodies to know that we are all so unique and this journey that takes us onto the bodybuilding stage is always a different journey for us all - but I have made it my passion to make us all look as best as we can on the day! Big boobs, no boobs, saggy butt, stretchmarks from having the children, etc, etc, we all have our flaws (or as I like to see them our uniqueness!) a good bikini should help hide those flaws and enhance our positives Ali Gascoine Ali GZ bikinis February 2012 Watch out for part 2 next week! where we show the difference between a good and bad fitting bikini. |
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