It seems women have finally had enough of the micro bikini trend after a new itsy bitsy swimwear style emerged that has been labelled “unrealistic”.
The “high rise bikini” trend – which sees their bottoms yanked up above their waist, both front and back – has exploded in popularity recently.
Huge stars including Kendall Jenner and Emily Ratajkowski, to well-known Australians such as model Steph Claire Smith and bikini influencer Karina Irby, have been spotted rocking their swimmers in this risque manner.
But as it becomes more commonplace, even being sighted on a string of Aussie beaches this summer, it’s left many wondering just how realistic – and painful – it must be to pull off the same look.
Jenner, 28, recently shared a holiday snap in which she can be seen pulling the string of her orange bikini even higher up on her waist, prompting many to share their thoughts on the daring style.
“Why bother with the bikini?” one fan lambasted.
“You leave NOTHING to the imagination,” another scoffed.
“That itsy bitsy teeny bikini isn’t hiding much,” someone else added.
Lalla Bronshtein, a celebrity stylist based in London, described the trend as “totally unrealistic”.
“The high rise trend is the new celebrity style of 2024,” she told The Sun.
“Instead of celebrities wearing their bikini bottoms around their waist, they are pulling them as high as possible, which is allowing a lot of skin to be on show.
“But there’s a lot of background work in these photos to make them appear to be so picture perfect.
“A-listers and reality stars are lucky enough to have access to a whole team of professional photographers, extremely good lighting, makeup artists, a fashion team and editing softwares.
“This is ultimately why the celebrities don’t have their hair in the wrong place, or are spilling out in places you’d never want to be spilling out from.”
Bronshtein stressed that while anyone could give the trend a go, she recommended having a cover up to hand.
“For these types of bikinis you’ll need different styles of cover ups to make it work, such as a kimono, sarong, crochet shorts or a lace dress.
“Otherwise I fear you might fall out of it.”
But if you think the trend hasn’t landed in Australia yet, you’d be mistaken.
Steph Claire Smith, who co-owns the fitness brand KIC with best friend Laura Henshaw, recently shared a selfie on Instagram wearing a pink and orange bikini.
In the pic, she can be seen pulling the string higher on her waist, in a similar pose to Jenner’s.
While Karina Irby, who owns the Moana bikini brand, revealed a while ago she prefers to wear the waistband higher on her cossies because she believes it looks better.
The Gold Coast woman shared side-by-side pictures of herself wearing the same pink bikini back in 2021.
In one snap she wore her bottoms low around her hips while the other saw them pulled high to accentuate her waist.
“Notice how by changing the styling of your bikini bottom it can dramatically change the appearance of your body?” Karina said in the caption.
“Keep that in mind next time you’re looking at other Queens showing off their bikini bodies.”
The bikini designer said there was “no right or wrong way to wear your bikini” and it was up to you to decide how you preferred it.
“Personally … I’m a high-waisted gal!” Karina said.
Pictures taken at Bondi Beach recently show that regular women are rocking the bikini style too.