Comp Prep Guide

Kelsey's step by step guide to choosing a competition bikini, stage shoes and competition jewelry.

Today I'm going to be talking about how to choose your competition bikini and what you have to do when choosing a bikini.

Any competitions, whether you’re in Figure, Wellness or Bikini, your suit has a lot to do with your judging. You’re getting judged on your suit, the fitting, the color and how it compliments your skin and your hair. That's why I wanted to start out with talking about your bikini as it is equally as important as your physique, how well you've trained yourself and the whole package that you bring to the show. 

When you are picking out your bikini, you can go a couple of different ways. You can go with a custom bikini or you can get a ready made one, off the rack. 

There are a couple of competition bikini stores. I didn't know of any around me so I asked a couple of friends who have competed before and they suggested a couple of different websites. 

They all suggested to get a custom made suit, that way you know it is custom to your size and it will fit you perfectly. It will be noticeable on stage if your suit doesn't fit you well and the judges will be able to tell and judge you accordingly. 

It was my first competition and I wanted my first bikini to fit me well. I wanted to be able to wear it for a long time and just wanted it to be very special. I ended up buying from ‘Ravish Sands’, they specialize in competition bikinis and they also have regular swimsuits. 

I went to a seamstress near me and I got my waist, bust size and hips measured because that's what Ravish Sands required when you're getting a custom made suit from them. 

I ordered by suit really late. It was at 7 weeks out which is considered pretty late. You want to order it much sooner because it takes about 4 to 6 weeks for them to make it. I ended up putting a rush order on it so I got it a lot sooner than what I normally would have gotten.

Then I went to pick out the suit’s color. I already had an idea of the color I wanted. Since I am blonde and a pretty bright blonde, I think darker suit colors would look better on me. Blue is my favorite color, so I wanted to go with a deep royal blue color. 

Initially I thought  it would come out more of a navy blue color but it ended up being like a deep royal blue color and it ended up being so pretty. I remember the day I got the package it was like Christmas, the suit was so sparkly. 

I personally think for blondes, darker colors look better. Colors like black, dark blue, dark green, dark purple and red are really popular. Although I feel like red and pink suits are so common, I've seen that a lot of people have those. I wanted something that would really stand out. 

I decided to go with the dark blue. You can choose your color online by going through their swatches. I've always been told, the more flashy the better but you don't want to go over-the-top. I opted for the diamond package that did not have full diamond coverage but had just enough bling to really sparkle on stage. 

You're going to pay a lot more money to have them actually customize this and put the beads on for you. 

You can buy just the suit without any beads on it and you can actually put the beads and the diamonds on there yourself. I personally just didn't trust myself doing that so I wanted to go ahead and fork out the extra money just to have someone professionally do it for me.

After picking the color and pattern, you then choose your connectors. There's all kinds of connectors that you can choose from. I wanted something sparkly but I didn't want anything too big or over-the-top. I’m a small frame person and am short so I wanted really clean, thin looking connectors. 

You'll see a lot of girls with big bulky connectors that have 2 or more tiers, which i think is absolutely beautiful. I've thought about going with that but I've always heard that you don't want that for short girls just because it takes away from your body shape. 

I don't really have big hips and I have shorter legs and a short torso therefore, having that much material on my hip area would be distracting and almost take away from my physique. 

You'll then have different cuts of bottom to choose from. I got the Brazilian bikini cut, that's the one they suggest for bikini competitors. There are other cuts that are wider and narrower than Brazilian. You can choose the cut depending on the Federation you are competing with. 

I just got the normal Brazilian cut as that's what everyone says they get so I figured they can't all be wrong and that's what Ravish Sands suggested for bikini competitors as well. 

It ended up fitting my butt perfectly so I would suggest Brazilian cut unless you have wider glutes and need wider coverage. You do want to have something that is going to show off and accentuate your butt so that's what I went with. 

So, that is how I ended up choosing my suit and I paid a pretty penny for it. It is going to be the same suit that I'm going to wear for my upcoming state competition. 

Again, you do want to find something that you think is going to be flattering for yourself.

Stage Stuff Accessories Prep Guide For Beginners Jewelry Competition Bikinis