Designer helping women cover their butts

One of the most popular columns I wrote this year was when I observed the trend of butt cleavage at hotel pool dayclubs. A lot of women flash the slash.

So I explored the butt cleavage topic this week with a real live expert -- Juliana Renz. She's founder and creative director of Le Doux Swimwear, and she designs female outfits for some Vegas dayclubs.

And Renz, a native of Brazil, thinks butt cleavage is usually just a physics problem.

"Americans have the habit -- when they put a bathing suit on -- they pull it to the side, because Americans like covering their behind."

And when women pull their bikini bottoms sideways to cover more cheek area, this pulls the bikini downward, thus exposing too much up top.

"If you're Brazilian, it's the opposite. You pull it up. You want it in," she says.

That's "in," as in: Brazilian women want their bikini bottoms to go inward toward the human envelope, thus exposing more cheek and less top cleavage.

Renz says many American women are worried their cheeks aren't perfect, but their cover-more-butt solution is making matters worse.

"Women think they have flaws in the back," Renz says. "The truth is, the more fabric they have, the bigger it makes (the backside) look, especially if it's a red or a white or a bright color. It's crazy!"

Another piece of Renz advice: Cast a bikini illusion by wearing a scrunchy bikini bottom.

"It makes the butt look perkier," she says.

Where Renz and I disagree is regarding high heels. She's for them. I'm against them. She likes high heels for the usual female reasons. Heels lift butts and make leg muscles pop.

I contend men often prefer women to be shorter than them, just as women prefer tall men (generally speaking). A little heel goes a long way. Too much heel creates a wobbly stilt walker, I think.

But I'm onboard with Renz's central thesis: "I'm all about glam by the pool. Body shimmer ... hair done. I like all that. Swimming's not about function anymore. Looking frumpy by the pool is not cute."

Renz also is a fan of Bumpits, that trick dayclub women use to poof up the backs of their hair. But she doesn't use Bumpits herself, because a certain reality star corrupted this invention.

"Snooki ruined the Bumpit for everybody," she says.

Renz has observed dayclubs since she bought a house in Vegas in 2003, which she sold a few years ago to live only in L.A. She still visits Vegas a lot.

And she has noticed women have become more seductively aggressive in public.

"Younger girls behave much differently. Rubbing themselves on a pole in their bikini is something I wasn't doing when I was 20-something," she says.

But it's not as if Renz is a nun or a hater.

"I love it that people come and take risks they don't take at home," she says.

Renz has done some redesign work for cocktail and bartend outfits for women who work at Surrender, XS and Club Nikki. Nikki's dresses are now younger, shorter and glammier.

She has a Vegas-themed collection of resort wear (bikinis, kaftans, pants) called Sin City Glitz, inspired by Vegas' sunset colors and sparkling lights. It's available at Encore and other spots on the Strip.

She wanted Sin City Glitz to be Vegas-y but not cheesy, contemporary but mindful of vintage Vegas.

A legitimate question swam through her head during the creative process: "How do I put out a Vegas collection without being ridiculously slutty?"

"Leaving a little to the imagination is sexier," she says.

That's true, I tell her, but it's not as if she's making granny panties.

"No, I'm not!" she says. "I wouldn't say, 'You want some granny panties? I'll put all your girls in your nightclub in granny panties.' You'd call and say, 'Uh, what are you doing?' "

You got that right, bikini butt expert.

Doug Elfman's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Contact him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.