The Resort Edit
The Best Resort Wear & Beach Cover-Ups
By The Swim Edit · June 2026
A swimsuit may be the headline, but the cover-up is the whole story — the piece that carries you from a sun lounger to a long lunch without so much as a costume change. The very best resort wear does the quiet work of looking effortless while being anything but, and after a season of testing kaftans in the heat and crinkle maxis in the salt air, these are the brands we keep reaching for. Consider this your packing list, edited down to only the things worth the suitcase space.
The Silk Kaftan: Melissa Odabash
If resort wear had a patron saint, it would be Melissa Odabash. The British designer practically invented the modern poolside uniform, and her kaftans remain the gold standard — featherweight silk and chiffon in prints that photograph beautifully and somehow never date. A black Odabash kaftan is the resort equivalent of a little black dress: throw it over a bikini at noon, cinch it with a gold belt by eight, and you are dressed for anything the Riviera can throw at you.
The Crinkle Cover-Up: Hunza G
You already know Hunza G for the one-size crinkle swimsuit that flatters absolutely everyone — but the brand's cover-ups deserve the same devotion. The signature seersucker stretches across an entire range of dresses, shorts and shirts, all in that nostalgic, slightly retro palette. The beauty is the matching: a crinkle bandeau under a crinkle maxi reads as a considered two-piece set rather than an afterthought, and it survives a bag-stuffing with zero fuss.
The Effortless Maxi: Zimmermann
For the days when the beach bleeds into a beach club, Zimmermann is the name to know. The Australian house does romantic, broderie-anglaise maxis and floaty floral dresses with a sun-drenched, slightly bohemian confidence that suits a long Mediterranean afternoon. These are the pieces that earn the second glance — beautifully made, generously cut, and entirely happy to be worn well beyond the sand.
The Cool-Girl Set: Frankies Bikinis
Frankies Bikinis brings the California-girl ease to the cover-up conversation, and it does it with charm. Think crochet midi dresses, ruffled sarongs and knit two-pieces in sherbet shades — the sort of thing that looks gloriously undone but has clearly been chosen with intent. It is the most playful brand in this edit, and the one most likely to end up in your holiday photos for all the right reasons.
The Boutique-Hotel Robe: Heidi Klein
Heidi Klein understands the grown-up end of resort dressing — the swim-to-suite wardrobe of someone who treats a holiday like a small, well-curated production. Their kaftans, tunics and tie-front cover-ups arrive in refined prints and a palette of sand, ivory and ink, the kind of thing that looks expensive precisely because it is so restrained. This is the cover-up you keep for years, and the one that makes a £40 hotel breakfast feel like a fashion moment.
The Sculptural Statement: Eres
And for the purists — those who believe resort wear should be as architectural as the swimsuit beneath it — there is Eres. The French maison treats jersey and fine knit like couture, producing pareos, draped dresses and beach trousers with a clean, sculptural minimalism that feels almost intimidatingly chic. Nothing here shouts. It simply, quietly, looks magnificent, and pairs especially well with a good pair of sunglasses and an air of having somewhere better to be.
How to Style It: A Note on Fit
The trick to resort wear is balance. If your swimsuit is doing the talking — a bold print, a cut-out, a vivid colour — let the cover-up recede into something sheer and quiet. If your costume is a simple black maillot, this is your licence to bring on the drama: the crochet, the ruffle, the high-shine silk. For length, a midi or maxi reads more polished than a mini and travels far better into dinner, while a shorter tunic keeps things easy for the pool. Buy one size up rather than down — cover-ups are meant to skim, not cling — and lean into natural fibres that breathe in the heat and forgive a damp swimsuit underneath. One genuinely good piece will out-earn three impulse buys; for more on building a wardrobe that lasts, browse the edit.