The thing nobody mentions about a black bikini is what chlorine and salt water do to it after the fourth or fifth proper swim, not the first photogenic dip. A cheap black fades to a flat, slightly greenish grey along the inside of the cups and the crease of the bottoms, while a good one stays genuinely black, the sort of black that still looks like a considered choice rather than a faded one by the end of a fortnight away.
Black is forgiving on its own but less so in combination. Pair it with anything that has a sheen to it, a shiny gold hardware ring or a glossy coated fabric, and the whole thing can tip from simple to try-hard rather quickly, because matte black and glossy black sitting next to each other read as a mistake rather than a style. A plain cotton cover up or a worn linen shirt does more for a black bikini than anything with its own metallic finish, which only competes with it. The fabric itself is where the real difference lives. A nylon and elastane blend with a decent percentage of elastane, seventeen or eighteen per cent rather than the bare minimum, keeps its recovery after stretching over a towel or a car seat, while the thin, cheap ones go baggy at the leg openings by the second wear and never properly snap back. Check the lining too. A proper one has a separate lining in the gusset and cups, not just the one layer of fabric doing both jobs, and the stitching round the edges should sit flat rather than puckering the moment it gets wet.
Among blacks there's more variation than you'd expect standing in front of a rail. A true, slightly blue toned black is the easiest to live with over years, because it fades evenly and still looks black rather than brownish when it's had some sun on it. Avoid anything described as "jet" or "deep" black with a very high sheen finish, since that's often a sign of a heavier coating that cracks at the fold lines after repeated folding into a bag. A black with a touch of texture, a ribbed finish or a fine crinkle, hides the fade better than a completely smooth one and also tends to disguise water marks and sun cream smears, which a flat matte black shows up without mercy.
Where it falls short is anywhere you actually want to be seen in a crowd, a pool party, a beach where everyone else is in colour, because black photographs as a dark shape rather than a shape with any detail, and from a distance one black bikini looks much like another. It's also not the one to reach for if you tan easily, since against deeper skin a true black can read as slightly flat rather than flattering, where a very dark brown or navy would do the same job with more warmth.
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