The Big Cover-Up

Used to be you could just wrap a towel around your waist and call it a beach cover-up. But these days fashion is walking right off the runway and onto the beach. Making a big splash surfside this summer will mean having the right wrap--or wraps. The choices range from sporty board shorts and skirts to beaded chiffon tunics.

"It's not really about beach clothes--it's about beach dressing now," says Stefani Greenfield, owner of Scoop, a trendy specialty store with outposts in Manhattan, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. "It's all about this ethnic-inspired, nouveau-bohemian look. Think Mykonos or Santorini with those colors, coral and turquoise."

Brands like J. Crew and Gap are turning out plenty of board skirts, pajama pants and sarongs, but this summer's blockbuster trend in cover-ups is the tunic, a variation--beaded, embroidered or printed--on the Indian kurta. It's a look that started on high-fashion runways for spring 2005. Designers as diverse as Dolce & Gabbana, Michael Kors and Narciso Rodriguez all showed embroidered tunics inspired by favorite destinations like Santorini or St. Bart's.

"Tunics have become almost a staple in the fashion-designer vocabulary," says Robert Burke, fashion director of the high-end emporium Bergdorf Goodman. Indeed, hip beach separates--especially tunics by designers like TRB by Tory Burch and Lilly Pulitzer--have migrated from the beach to the street and now even show up as evening wear at cocktail hour.

"One of the reasons I love the tunic look is that it's more forgiving than a tight little T shirt or tank top," says Pam Fink, owner of Gatsby's, a popular specialty store in Great Barrington, Mass. "Especially if you have a bit of a stomach, it's a great alternative. And they're cut longer, so you can wear them over low-cut jeans."

Savvy shoppers know that you don't have to pay big bucks to get in on the tunic trend. Brands such as H&M, Banana Republic and Liz Claiborne offer stylish versions at affordable prices. But nothing beats the real thing. At Gatsby's, Fink stocks up on Indian kurtas from labels like Royal Sari and Lotta ($39 to $169). She even travels annually to Bali to select her own line of beachwear--printed cotton pants and tunics. "The Balinese have an amazing sense of color and pattern," says Fink. "So when it's too hot to wear jeans but you still want to look sexy, these lightweight cotton pants are a great find"--on or off the beach. --With reporting by Betsy Kroll