You may have noted the rather tasty bright orange bikini that I wore in my “Model’s Guide to Tanning” Video, which is a superb little number from newly-launched swimwear range Violet Lake. The black bikini on the right is from there too, and you’ll be seeing a lot more of both as you watch my Bikini Blitz guides and features.

Things that I love about Violet Lake bikinis (a shortened list, because otherwise we’d be here all night):

1. They are truly flattering. The tops and bottoms are bought individually, and so you can mix and match on sizes. This is the nearest you’re going to get (unless you’re ridiculously wealthy) to having a tailor-made bikini – you can choose the perfect size for your bottoms, (the styles I chose aren’t even adjustable and they fit perfectly!), and then buy for your top half completely independently, rather like shopping for lingerie. (Why is this not a standard concept? Why would we not want to look as good in our bikini as we do in our lingerie?!)

2. There are four different styles of top to choose from, four bottoms, and everything is available in eight different colours. That’s a lot of possible combinations, but choosing isn’t in the least overwhelming; there’s an online ‘bikini mixer’ that makes decision-making really easy. It took me all of five minutes to pick out mine – the photos show you  how the finished set will look, even in your selected colours. All of the styles work together too, although personally, I think that my styling choices (left) are the work of a genius!

3. They’re very simple and unfussy, but the pieces are totally luxurious. The fabric is gorgeously soft jersey, and all of the pieces are lined. In terms of quality and design, I’d say that they give my Melissa Odabash bikinis a HUGE run for their money, yet they come in oodles cheaper at around £85 for a set.

4. Shallow, I know, but I love the way that the bikinis are named after Bond Girls: I’m wearing Domino, and Galore! Oh, the glamour of it all Mish Moneypenny!

These bikinis aren’t supposed to be your ‘throwaway’ fashion buy that you pick up for your holidays and chuck out the next year; they’re solid investment pieces that you can rely on to make you look good. Ample coverage and support, but sexily cut, they’re like the equivalent of your staple LBD. Worth spending a little more on, methinks, and will last for years. All we need now is for Violet Lake to come up with “007” swimming trunks that’ll make our men look like Daniel Craig!

Bikinis available online at Net-a-Porter