AFTER YEARS OF being relegated to secondary status, one-piece swimwear is having a moment. Designers are paying the silhouette a lot of flattering attention this season, lavishing it with dramatic cutouts and inventive crisscross straps. Elle Strauss, the fashion director of online retailer Shopbop reports that sales of one-piece suits on the site have been on the rise.
多年来退居二线的连体泳衣如今要大放异彩了。设计师们本季开始把心思放在这种款式上，大胆运用夸张的剪裁和别出心裁的交叉带，打造出各种衬人的样式。在线零售网站Shopbop时尚总监埃勒・施特劳斯(Elle Strauss)表示，该网站上连体泳衣的销售一直呈上升状态。
Standing out amid all that singular splashiness is the scoop-back tank suit-a piece as nostalgic as it is flattering. It can evoke a summer spent as a lifeguard, a beloved swim-team Speedo or a favorite episode of 'Baywatch.' 'All I think of when I see one is Cindy Crawford's video workout from the 1990s with her trainer, Radu,' said Ms. Strauss.
在这些连体泳衣中最突出的是露背背心式泳装――既怀旧又衬人。它会让人想起某个当救生员的夏天，参加游泳队时某件很喜欢的Speedo，或者最爱的一集《海滩救护队》(Baywatch)。施特劳斯说：“我看到这样的泳衣会想到辛迪・克劳馥(Cindy Crawford)在90年代和她的教练拉杜(Radu)一起锻炼的视频。”
The classic design-thick straps, a round neckline and a low, scooped back-is now available from a number of labels, including Eres, Tomas Maier, Orlebar Brown and Lisa Marie Fernandez. The only real variable in the style is where it ends on the hip. In the 1980s, the suits were cut daringly high (think: Jane Fonda aerobicizing), but they now land at a more modest point just under the hipbone.
厚肩带、圆领口、U形低腰――这种经典设计现在很多品牌都有，包括Eres、托马斯・迈尔(Tomas Maier)、Orlebar Brown和丽萨・玛丽・费尔南德斯(Lisa Marie Fernandez)。这种款式唯一真正的可变元素是臀部开衩的高度。上世纪80年代，连体泳衣开衩很大胆（想想简・方达(Jane Fonda)做有氧体操的样子），但现在收敛了很多，只到胯骨下方。
Given the fashion world's current obsession with all things sporty, the tank suit is very much on-trend. 'There is a return to the sportif spirit,' said Eres artistic director Valérie Delafosse. 'If you look at the Chanel runway show, [there are] models with the tennis shoes in tweed, a sporty racerback. We are mixing sporty with refined.'
鉴于时装界目前对运动款式的迷恋，这种背心式泳衣无疑会受到追捧。Eres艺术总监瓦莱丽・德拉福斯(Valerie Delafosse)说：“有一种运动精神回归的趋势。在香奈儿(Chanel)时装秀上，你会看到模特穿着花呢网球鞋和动感十足的工字背心。我们是在把运动和优雅进行混搭。”
For Ms. Delafosse, the tank calls to mind images shot by fashion photographer Hans Feurer in the '80s of athletic and Amazonian models like Ms. Crawford and Claudia Schiffer. '[The suit] is very iconic,' she added.
在德拉福斯看来，背心式连体泳衣会让人想到80年代时尚摄影师汉斯・弗尔(Hans Feurer)为克劳馥和克劳迪娅・希弗(Claudia Schiffer)等健美型模特所拍摄的照片。她说：“这是极具标志性的泳衣款式。”
In August of last year, writer Jenni Avins (a former Wall Street Journal contributor) published an open letter to J.Crew's fashion director, Jenna Lyons, on New York magazine's fashion blog, the Cut. She asked Ms. Lyons to resurrect her favorite classic suit from the '90s. Ms. Avins had owned several in a variety of colors, and had for years been on the hunt for a replacement-to no avail. She found that the tank suit had been claimed by the slimming-garment category, which replaced the traditional sleek swim fabric with compression material meant to tuck tummies and nip waists.
去年8月，曾为《华尔街日报》撰稿人的作家詹尼・阿文斯(Jenni Avins)在《纽约杂志》(New York magazine)时尚博客the Cut上发表了一封致J.Crew时尚总监詹娜・莱恩兹(Jenna Lyons)的公开信。她请求莱恩兹让她最喜欢的90年代经典泳衣重回现代。阿文斯有好几件不同颜色的连体泳衣，多年来都在寻找替代款式，但是一直没有找到。她发现背心式泳衣已被归到了塑身衣类别，采用压缩面料替代传统的光滑泳衣面料，目的是隐藏小肚子和缩小腰围。
This year, however, J.Crew announced the return of the scoop-back tank suit, in an ad spread crafted as a response to Ms. Avins's letter. The new suit is almost identical to the original. 'We pulled up the pattern, and at first we thought we might alter it a little,' said J.Crew's vice president of women's design Tom Mora. 'The look was so timeless, though, that we left it as it was.' The suit is available, however, in a new palette that includes a vibrant grassy green and azure.
不过在今年，J.Crew在一则通栏广告中宣布了露背连体泳衣的回归，这可算是对阿文斯公开信的回应。这款新的泳衣几乎和经典款式一模一样。J.Crew女装设计副总裁汤姆・莫拉(Tom Mora)说：“我们对这种款式进行了研究，起初觉得可能会稍作修改。但是由于这个款式太经典了，最后我们什么也没改。”不过颜色多了很多，包括活力四射的草绿色和天蓝色。
In general, color is a critical element to this frill-free style. Orlebar Brown, a men's line that recently introduced women's swim- and beachwear, complements classic black and white with less expected shades of aubergine and taupe. 'It's always about the tone of the color,' said Adam Brown, who founded and designs the London-based line. 'It's especially important to get [that] right when you're on the beach in that light.'
总的来说，颜色是这种简洁款式的关键元素。近期推出了女士泳装和沙滩装的伦敦男士品牌Orlebar Brown在经典的黑色和白色之外增加了出人意料的紫红色和灰褐色。该品牌创始人及设计师亚当・布朗(Adam Brown)说：“颜色的色调永远是最关键的。在沙滩那种光线下把握好颜色尤其重要。”
Some of the best current one-piece swim options come from U.K.-based designers. 'The British can be quite timid about their swimwear choices,' said Ursula Lake, who designs the five-year-old, London-based line Violet Lake.
目前几款最佳的连体泳衣都出自英国设计师的手笔。Violet Lake是创立已五年的一个伦敦品牌，其设计师厄休拉・莱克(Ursula Lake)说：“英国人在泳衣选择上相当谨慎。”
For Ms. Lake, however, the tank suit is less about modesty and more about feeling unencumbered. 'The [origin] of the tank suit is in the '20s when women were liberated from wearing full-length dresses to swim,' she said. 'Then by the '70s, it had become very sexy, if you think of Farrah in that famous poster. To me, the simplicity makes it so timeless.' Ms. Lake would recommend the style to a savvy 20-year-old, but thinks it could be exquisite on a 60-year-old, worn with a men's shirt and a beaten-up Panama hat. One factor to consider, though, is linings. Eres suits, which employ a double layer of its luxurious, lightly supportive fabric, are ideal for older women or those who prefer more support. Styles from tank-suit pioneer Norma Kamali, who often forgoes linings to reveal the more natural shape of the wearer's body, are better for the young and taut.
不过在莱克看来，连体泳衣的优点更多地体现在无拘无束而非端庄稳重上。她说：“连体泳衣的出现最早是在20年代，当时女性刚刚从长裙中解放出来穿泳装。到了70年代变得很性感，从费拉(Farrah)那张著名海报就能看出来。对我来说，它的经典来自简洁的设计。”莱克会推荐聪明的20岁年轻女孩穿这种款式，但她认为它同样也适合60多岁的女士，搭配上男士衬衫和破旧的巴拿马帽子会很优雅。不过需要考虑的一个因素是衬里。Eres泳衣采用有轻微支撑力的双层奢华面料，很适合年纪较大的女性或喜欢多一些支撑力的女性。连体泳衣先锋诺玛・卡玛丽(Norma Kamali)常常会放弃衬里，从而展示穿着者更自然的体型，她设计的款式更适合身材结实的年轻人。
No matter which brand or style you choose, a tank suit always has the advantage of excellent off-beach reach. 'You can wear it with a skirt or a pair of shorts and it's suitable for lunch,' Ms Lake added. 'I use it like a body suit. If I were going away for a long weekend, I'd pack one because of its versatility.'
无论选择哪个品牌或款式，连体泳衣都具有不仅限于沙滩穿着的优势。莱克说：“连体泳衣搭配一条半身裙或者一条短裤，就可以去吃午餐了。我把它当紧身衣穿。如果长周末要外出，我就会带一件，因为它的用途很多。”