Sandhya Garg — The Cover-Up Guide
The Best Beach Outfits for Before and After the Swim
5 Silhouettes · What Actually Blocks the Sun · Sand to Lunch · 10 Picks · XS–3XL
Quick Answer
A beach outfit has to do two things a normal outfit never does: go on over damp skin, and still look like a real outfit an hour later at lunch. Five silhouettes handle it — a loose kaftan, an oversized kimono wrap, wide palazzo trousers, a cotton throw-on dress, and a long strappy maxi. All five share the same three qualities: loose, densely woven, and strongly coloured. That is not only a style preference. Loose, dense, vivid fabric is also what blocks the most UV, which is why a printed kaftan outperforms the damp white t-shirt most people reach for.
The swimsuit is the easy decision. What goes over it is where most beach days come undone — because the thing you throw on at eleven has to survive being pulled over a wet body, sat on in sand, and then walked into a restaurant at one without anyone thinking you have come straight from the water.
This is the cover-up guide: five silhouettes that manage all of it, and ten pieces that do it well. Written by Sandhya Garg, Project Runway designer, whose label has made swim cover-ups and kaftans for over a decade. If you want the category defined first, start with what resort wear actually is.
The Five Silhouettes, and What Each One Is Actually For
| The piece | Best for | Over a wet swimsuit? | Reads right at lunch? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loose kaftan | The whole day, start to finish | Yes — the best of the five | Yes, belt it |
| Oversized kimono wrap | Shoulders, breeze, packing light | Yes, and dries fastest | Over something, not alone |
| Palazzo trousers | Heat, and anyone who'd rather not wear a dress | Change first | Yes — the dressiest option |
| Cotton throw-on dress | Walking, towns, boardwalks | Yes, if it's cut loose | Yes |
| Strappy maxi | Late afternoon into evening | Better dry | Yes, and at dinner too |
If you only take one, take the kaftan. It is the only piece on this list that is genuinely correct at every hour of a beach day, and it is the reason the silhouette has survived several thousand years without meaningful change.
Why a Damp White T-Shirt Is the Worst Cover-Up There Is
Most people's default beach cover-up is a thin white t-shirt pulled over a wet swimsuit. It is, by some distance, the least protective thing you could have chosen — and the reasoning is worth knowing because it also explains why good cover-ups look the way they do.
According to The Skin Cancer Foundation, four things determine how much ultraviolet light a fabric stops. Colour: dark and vivid shades absorb UV, while pale ones let it through. Construction: densely woven cloth protects far better than sheer or loosely woven. Content: unbleached cotton contains natural lignins that act as UV absorbers, and even lightweight silks can be protective because they reflect radiation. Fit: loose is better, because tight clothing stretches and the fibres pull apart.
A thin white cotton t-shirt scores badly on all four — it is pale, loosely knitted, bleached and worn close. Clinical guidance puts it at roughly UPF 5. And the moment it gets wet, it protects less still, because damp fabric pulls apart and opens the weave. Meanwhile a garment rated UPF 50 blocks around 98% of UV.
Loose, densely woven, strongly coloured, and covering more skin. That is the sun-protection brief — and it is also, exactly, the description of a good kaftan.
Being Straight With You About This
Our pieces are not UPF-rated, and we are not going to imply that they are. UPF is a laboratory test, and none of our fabrics have been through it. What we can tell you is that the principles above — loose cut, dense weave, saturated print, real coverage — describe how our kaftans and kimonos are made, because those are also the qualities that make a cover-up wearable in heat. If sun protection is a medical priority for you, buy a certified UPF garment and read the Foundation's guidance directly. Sunscreen on everything not covered, either way.
Before, During, After
Before the swim
You are dry, you have walked from a car or a hotel, and you want something you could stop for coffee in. A throw-on dress or a belted kaftan. The test is whether you would be comfortable being seen in it away from the sand — because you will be, on the walk down.
The hours in between
This is when the sun does its damage and when most people are wearing the least. A loose kimono over the shoulders costs nothing in heat and covers the area that burns first. Sitting up on a lounger for three hours with bare shoulders is the classic mistake.
After the swim
The hardest moment, and the one this whole guide is built around. Damp skin, sandy feet, and a lunch reservation. You need something that goes on over wet without clinging and reads as deliberate the second you sit down. Loose weave, dark or vivid colour, and a hem that moves.
Five Rules for Choosing a Cover-Up
1. If it only works over a swimsuit, don't buy it. A cover-up that cannot also be a dress is taking up the same space as one that can. There is no reason to accept that trade.
2. Print hides everything. Sand, water marks, sunscreen, a day of wear. A solid pale fabric shows all four within an hour.
3. Buy it a size looser than feels natural. Fabric needs to clear damp skin without gripping, and loose fabric shades better than tight fabric.
4. Check the hem length sitting down. Most cover-ups are chosen standing at a mirror and worn sitting on a lounger, a boat, a bar stool.
5. One belt changes everything. The single cheapest way to take a kaftan from pool to restaurant is to bring a belt. It costs nothing and it is the whole trick.
The Beach Edit · Artisanal · XS to 3XL
Sand to Lunch, Without Changing
Ten pieces, all in stock, covering all five silhouettes — including the palazzo trousers everybody forgets.
One · The Loose Kaftan
Two · The Oversized Kimono Wrap
Three · Palazzo Trousers — The One Everyone Forgets
Four · The Cotton Throw-On Dress
Five · The Long Maxi — Late Afternoon Onward
All pieces XS · S · M · L · XL · XXL · XXXL (select styles) and one-size options · Custom sizing available · Free US shipping over $250
Salt, Sand and Sunscreen
Three things destroy beach clothes, and all three are avoidable. Salt crystallises in fibres and abrades them from the inside, so rinse in fresh water the same day rather than at the end of the trip. Sunscreen — particularly the mineral kind — stains pale fabric permanently and is the main reason to buy print. And sand should be shaken out completely dry, never brushed off wet, because wet sand grinds. Full instructions by fabric are in our garment care guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best swimsuit cover-up?
A loose printed kaftan, for one reason: it is the only cover-up that is genuinely correct over a swimsuit at noon and as a dress at lunch. Look for a loose cut, a dense weave, a strong print and a length you are comfortable sitting down in. A belt turns it into an evening piece.
Does a t-shirt protect you from the sun at the beach?
Barely. A thin white cotton t-shirt is generally cited at around UPF 5, because it is pale, loosely knitted and bleached — and it protects even less once wet, since damp fabric stretches and opens the weave. The Skin Cancer Foundation's guidance favours dark or vivid colours, dense weaves and loose fits, all of which describe a kaftan rather than a tee.
What can I wear from the beach straight to lunch?
A belted kaftan, a shirt dress buttoned up, or wide palazzo trousers with a simple top. The trick is print rather than solid pale colour — print hides sand, water marks and sunscreen, which is what actually gives away that you have come from the water.
What should I wear to the beach if I don't want to wear a dress?
Wide-leg palazzo trousers in cotton with a loose top or a kimono over your swimsuit. Wide legs move air around you rather than trapping it, cover the legs fully, and read as considerably more dressed than shorts at a beach bar.
What colours are best for the beach?
Saturated colour and print, for two separate reasons. Visually, hard sun and reflected water bleach out pale neutrals, so beige-heavy holiday wardrobes photograph flatly. Practically, darker and more vivid shades absorb more UV than pale ones — so the more interesting choice is also the more protective one.
How do I stop sunscreen ruining my beach clothes?
Let it absorb for a few minutes before dressing, buy print rather than pale solids, and rinse in fresh water the same day rather than at the end of the trip. Mineral sunscreens stain worst, and the marks set permanently if left through a hot week in a suitcase.
Which beach cover-ups work best in sizes XL to 3XL?
The same ones that work in every size — kaftans and kimonos, which skim rather than grip, and wide-leg trousers with a proper waistband. Loose cuts are the point of beachwear rather than a concession. Most pieces here run XS–3XL, and this collection filters to what is in stock in larger sizes.
Keep Reading
Start Here
What Is Resort Wear?
The category this wardrobe belongs to.
Where To Go
Best US Beach Destinations
Eight coastlines, and what each evening asks for.
Dress Codes
What Is Resort Casual?
For the restaurant after the beach.
Make It Last
Garment Care Guide
Salt, sunscreen and hand-worked detail.
About the Writer
Sandhya Garg is a Project Runway Season 13 designer who won two challenges on the show and presented her collection at Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week. She studied womenswear at London College of Fashion and worked at Alexander McQueen, Gucci, Liberty London, and Alice Temperley. Her Los Angeles label creates limited-edition artisanal kaftans, kimonos and swim cover-ups — featured in Marie Claire, Elle, Cosmopolitan, and Vogue online — in sizes XS–3XL with custom sizing available.
Project Runway · Vogue · Marie Claire · XS–3XL
Straight from the water to the table.
Sandhya Garg is a Los Angeles boutique creating limited-edition artisanal kaftans, kimonos, cover-ups and resort wear in original prints. Sizes XS–3XL, custom sizing available, shipped from Scottsdale within 1–3 days.
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