Stylest began in a pool. In the summer of 2020, co-founder Chrissy McCurdy mentioned that she wore a bra under her swimsuit, and that small confession turned into a company. Joyann King Michael, a former executive editor at Harper's Bazaar, and Alia Yahia-Bosworth, a former chief style director who also worked as an ELLE editor, joined her, and McCurdy had been a buyer. Between them they know how women actually shop for swimwear. The label launched in March 2022 with a Summer 2022 Swim System, and the suits are made in a compression fabric the brand calls BOOST. The DreamSculpt one pieces are the core of this edit. The Square Neck Tank is the most repeated shape, and it comes with a clean line that does not need explaining. The Plunge and the Push Up Plunge are the deeper cuts, the Piped Square Neck Tank adds a contrast trim, and the Lace-Up is the one with a little drama at the front. A simple fit test is to sit down in it and reach overhead; a suit made for support should stay put. If you are weighing shapes, one piece or bikini and bright or neutral are good places to settle the question first.

The founders describe Stylest as a solutions-based wardrobe system rather than a set of single pieces, and this group shows what they mean. Aqualingerie is the brand's own category between shapewear, swimwear and lingerie, and it covers a convertible swim bra, a smoothing panty and a sculpting bodysuit. Here you will find the DreamSculpt Swim Belt, including a striped version, and the Tankini Top and Tummy Control Bottom for anyone who prefers two pieces. The rest is AquaLace, all quick dry: the Beach Shirt and Shorts, the Beach Shorts, a Sarong, and the Shift Dress and Beach Shirt cover-ups from the first group. What I would skip is wearing the sarong over the Lace-Up one piece if you want the front detail to show; choose the shorts or the beach shirt instead. For more ideas on what goes over the suit, cover-ups that do more work than the swimsuit underneath is a good read, and resort dressing beyond the kaftan widens it.

The thing I like about Stylest is that the founders started with a real problem and then built a set of answers rather than a single hero product. I would pick one DreamSculpt one piece in the cut I like best, then add a belt for variety and one AquaLace cover-up to wear to lunch. The AquaLace pieces are quick dry, so the same bag can hold the whole trip. For another swim label with its own origin story, Monday Swimwear is a good companion read.

To round out the look, see PEIXOTO Swimwear and Shoshanna Dresses and Swimwear.