The one thing that catches people out with a swimsuit is sizing it by your normal clothes size and hoping for the best, when the cut across the bust and the leg does completely different things to different bodies. Try it on properly before you commit, because a good one is still worth the faff, it does more for your shape in thirty seconds than most dresses manage in a full evening.
Where it falls short is obvious once you've lived with a few. If you're after support for actual swimming, lengths rather than floating about, a flimsy one with no structure across the chest will let you down by the second length, and you'll spend the whole time hauling it back into place instead of counting laps. Cheap linings pill and go see through faster than the fabric itself does, which nobody tells you until it's happened in a public pool under fluorescent lights. They're also not forgiving of a hot wash or a tumble dryer, chlorine and heat age the elastic quicker than anything else in your drawer, so if you want one to survive a whole summer, cold rinse after every swim and let it dry flat, not slung over a radiator. Do that and a decent one will easily see you through two or three seasons without the fabric going slack around the legs, which is usually the first thing to go.
As for colour, black is the obvious safe choice and it earns that reputation, it hides chlorine fade and doesn't go patchy the way bright colours can after a summer of sun cream and salt water. Navy and deep green behave almost as well and are a bit more interesting without being a commitment. Anything very pale or a print with a white background shows every mark and goes slightly grey after a few washes, so I'd save those for a holiday rather than a swimsuit you want to rely on for years. Textured fabrics and ribbing tend to hide a multitude and hold their shape better than flat, shiny finishes, which can look lovely on day one and baggy by week three.
This is a warm weather, holiday and poolside piece more than an everyday one, it earns its keep on a beach trip, a hotel pool, a hen do with a pool party attached, rather than being something you reach for casually. Ask yourself in the shop whether you'd actually swim in it, properly swim, not just float, because that's the test that tells you if it's worth the money.
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