The Best Bikinis to Wear this Summer

Tanning oil not included.

10 Bikinis to Put on Your Summer Wish List
(Image credit: Future)

Welcome to The Essentials (opens in new tab), our weekly series highlighting a must-have classic, key to building a timeless, pulled-together closet.

The bikini first came about in 1946 when French designer, Louis Reard, showcased the daring suit at a swimming pool in Paris. The timing could not have been more opportune: World War II had just ended about a year earlier, and before that time, women were restricted to one-pieces. When the bikini came about, women found freedom in this new two-piece swim, and as we all know, the bikini, is nothing, if not liberating. 

Fun fact: Micheline Bernardini, the Parisian showgirl who was the lucky lady to model that first suit, received about 50,000  (opens in new tab)pieces of fan mail after donning the two-piece—unsurprisingly, the majority of those letters were from men. 

And while my 50,000+ letters from eligible bachelors must have gotten lost in the mail, I continue to rock a bikini throughout the balmy summer months. Below, the coolest and most flattering bikinis that you need for summer 2020. 

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Katie Attardo

Katie Attardo is the Accessories Editor at Marie Claire, covering all things fashion and jewelry-related.