Plus Size Bikini Bottoms from M&Co

Being the proud owner of a rather generous posterior, I often find that bikini bottoms which are comfortable and provide sufficient coverage can be quite tricky to find. For many years now, I have bought bikini tops and bottoms from separate places as although bra-size swimwear options are growing year on year the choices for briefs are usually not. Of course, there are always exceptions to this and brands such as Curvy Kate and Panache continue to strive to extend their swimwear ranges, but the point I want to get across here is that we shouldn't give up if the matching bottoms are not available in our size or if they are not in a style we like. 

A collage of beach snaps from my holiday in Zakynthos in September 2015

Earlier this year I was on the lookout for some bikini bottoms to take on my holidays. Actually, I was looking for tops as well but I tried a few non bra-sized options and it was pretty disastrous. I live in hope that the cool styles seen at places like Forever 21 and H&M might one day be made to fit me, but in the meantime I will stick to more sturdy and well-constructed bikini tops.

Enjoying the Zakynthian beach

I ordered a number of bikini bottoms from UK high street and online retailer M&Co and was pleasantly surprised with the items I received. So much so, that several of them came on holiday with me and have become firm favourites in my swimwear collection. I wanted to share them here on my blog - worn with a plain black bikini top from Ewa Michalak (no longer available to purchase) - to show you some of the options available, all at reasonable prices and made to last.

First up, we have the Leopard Print HIgh Waist Bikini Bottom (was £16.00, now £11.20, UK sizes 10-20). I am wearing these in a size 20. These are possibly the most comfortable bottoms of the lot, and I am partial to a bit of leopard print so they are perfect! 

Wearing the leopard print bottoms on holiday in Zakynthos

On holiday I've tended to pair them with my Curvy Kate Luau Love bikini top as the bright pink looks even more vibrant with the leopard print briefs, as you can see from the picture above. They are described as high waisted but as you can see on me they are not overly high, however this may be because of my generous butt!

The Plus Spot Print High Waist Bikini Bottom (was £18.00, now £12.60, UK sizes 22-28) are a classic print. I am wearing a size 22 here, and although they are the same cut as the leopard print pants that I wear in a 20, they fit very similarly. As with the leopard print briefs, the ruching at the sides helps to camouflage any lumps and bumps, and the front of the bottoms is reinforced for support and light smoothing.

Next we have the Plus Tropical Print High Waist Bikini Bottom (was £18.00, now £12.60, UK sizes 22-28), and I am wearing them in a size 22. These briefs have a clever sash going across the tummy, which helps to disguise a VBO (visible belly outline), and there is a pretty metal embellishment in the middle. This helps to create a central point, which again can be flattering. The cut across the backside is fractionally higher than the two previous briefs, but it's not massively different. I love the colours in this print - so vibrant and pretty, and the black background makes them perfect for wearing with this plain black bikini top, as you can see from my beach snaps above.

The Plus Animal Print High Waist Bikini Bottom (£18.00, UK sizes 22-28) are unfortunately no longer available on the M&Co website. They are identical to the previous pair, however, and are a great monotone option. They work well with my black top here, but also look fantastic with a plain top in any colour, especially something bright.

These three Twist Front High Waist Bikini Bottoms all feature the same design but in different colours, and I'm afraid that only the black option is available on the M&Co website. Priced at £11.20 (was £16.00) it comes in two sizing options: UK sizes 10-20 here, and UK sizes 22-28 in the Plus option here.

I love the design of these pants - they are very similar to the previous ones, but the difference is that the sash across the tummy has more looseness to it and so can be positioned higher or lower on the abdomen as preferred. I did find the gold trim centrepiece would move from side to side sometimes, which might work for anyone wanting to place it at a jaunty angle, but for me it was annoying and so I intend to sew it in place for future vacations.

The black bottoms became my go-to bikini briefs on holiday because of their versatility. Black is such a classic colour for a bikini and the plain colourway went with so many of my patterned bikini tops (especially the Curvy Kate Moonflower bikini, as seen above!). I bought the other two colours as they look great with black and will no doubt match with bikini tops I will buy in the future.

You can barely see them because of how I'm sitting but I am wearing the black Twist Front High Waist Bikini Bottoms in this pic

M&Co do sell tops to match all of these bottoms, both in bikini styles as well as tankinis (and they sell regular swimsuits, too), but unfortunately they come nowhere near fitting me as my boobs are too big. Although I am a little disappointed at that, I've found it's much more fun to be able to mix and match these bottoms with my bra-sized tops so that I can look stylish on the beach, whilst being completely comfortable at the same time. 

I hope you have found this post useful and that it'll give you the confidence to try thinking laterally about your own swimwear and clothing conundrums. Which of these bikini bottoms are you favourite? Let me know in the comments below!

This is not a sponsored post.