She Sells Sea Shells By The Seychelles

Well, not really. But if she were selling, she'd be doing a land-office business. The Seychelles islands, aptly called the Pearls of the Indian Ocean, offer a lot more than cowries and conchs. For this week only, they are decorated with young ladies wearing this year's sculptured, pared-away swimsuits—the most glamorous fashions to hit the water since a sequined Esther Williams plunged into all those Hollywood pools back in the '40s. Many of these suits can go swimming by day and—add skirt or pants—disco dancing by night. On the cover, Christie Brinkley shimmers in a stretch-lace suit by Giorgio Sant' Angelo that goes for $300. Don't despair. A moderately priced version is now on the way.

Christie wraps up the day at L'Union on La Digue in an intriguing suit that ties at the hip and is cut out for swimming and sunning by Monika Tilley for Elon ($39).

Reclining in a seaside grotto on La Digue, Christie has it made in the shade in her licorice-striped suit from Elon ($35). Stretching like a cat, Nicaraguan-born actress Barbara Carrera makes a splash in a leopard print by Gail Simms for Catalina Jrs ($23).

Apollonia Van Ravenstein of The Netherlands checks out the action in downtown Victoria. Back in the swim, "Apples," as her friends call her, cools off on the island of Praslin in the most recent version of Monika Tilley's fishnet swimsuit for Elon ($33).

As dusk descends on Bird Island, a pensive Christie (left) sifts through her thoughts in a bright magenta suit ($31), while Apples invites a maximum tan in a minimal shell-trimmed maillot ($39). Both swimsuits were designed by Monika Tilley for Elon.

Clad in a Lycra-and-nylon tank suit from AMF Head Sports Wear ($30), which features the inserts, slinkiness and glamour that characterize Head's new racing suits, Apples appropriately poses with a platter of fruit on the steps of a house on Praslin.

Like a swimmer on the mark (well, sort of), the well-balanced Apollonia prepares for a plunge into a placid lagoon near the spectacular Anse Lazio beach on Praslin. She is almost wearing a strapless, permanently pleated suit by Monika Tilley for Elon ($49).

Two sculptured forms, a wind-worn granite outcropping and La Brinkley, are warmed by the morning sun on La Digue. Her suit is by Elon ($29).

At sunrise, Barbara reaches for the drawstring ribbons of her adjustable neckline as she emerges from a pool at a secluded hillside villa at Glacis on the northwest coast of Mah�. The Lycra-and-nylon watercolor design is by Monika Tilley for Elon ($37).

In the dappled light of the Vall�e de Mai on Praslin, Apples, camouflaged by a leaf-print suit from Elisabeth Stewart ($30), gets back to nature. The heavily forested Vall�e is the main habitat of the celebrated coco-de-mer palm, a symbol of the Seychelles.