Is there a difference between regular women's sizes and swimsuit sizes? Because I pretty much can't find swimsuits in under size 8, even in stores that sell other clothing in sizes smaller than that.
I'm quite petite, so for me, size 8 is just ridiculously huge. My current suit is a size 6, though, which should have been way too big three years ago, when I bought it, but it isn't. Is it an anomaly, or is this just how swimwear is?
Or is the assumption that anyone smaller than a size 8 wants to wear a bikini? I'm sure there are enough shy/Mormon girls in the world that there's at least a bit of a market for small one-piece swimsuits. Isn't there?
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Hmm. Checked Lands' End , and they don't go smaller than size 6. They do have mix and match seperates that include tankini options (I wear a Land's End skirted tankini, and it's more modest than most regular tanks. Plus, bathroom breaks are a cinch!) I bet if you called, they'd give you advice on what might work for you.
Remember that suits are stretchy, so I put my daughter in a size 18 month suit when she was wearing size 9 month clothes, and it fit just fine. Now that she's in size 18 month clothes, it still fits. ('Twas my hope when I bought it that she'd be able to wear it for two summers, and it paid off.) So a size 6 swimsuit may hug you to fit, where non-stretchy clothes might not. If that makes any sense.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Actually, I (very, um, well endowed) am quite happy with the "shelf bra" in my Land's End Skirted Sport Tankini. It's as good as a sports bra-- actually, better than most sports bras work on me.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Hm. For me it's the whole "uncomfortable with my nippliness being visible to anyone and everyone" thing. Maybe I just need to get over that.
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I just don't swim. All the "Moby Dick" jokes I heard as a child still cause me to bristle at the thought of wearing a pair of swimming trunks.
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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Brinestone, I had the exact same problem a few weeks ago. I'm ridiculously small and I did not want a bikini, because that's not me at all. I had a Land's End one before, but I didn't want to go the Land's End route end because I turned out not wearing it much.
I ended up with a size six. Because swimsuits are stretchy, it's okay, but if I could find a single size four, or (god forbid) a two, that would be great. They simply don't exist in regular stores.
So yeah, they don't exist.
Good luck!
EDIT: The suit I got does have an extra bit that seems to perform the extra-piece of material duty more adequately- so they do exist, at least.
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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What do you mean by competative? Mine is a sports swimsuit because I found it would actually stand up to things like diving.
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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quote: Also, what's up with the whole "support" thing in swimsuits? Since when is another layer of fabric support?
I have small breasts, and I demand more. What must more endowed women think?
That I don't wear the darn things long enough to pay the over $100 it takes to buy one with decent support. Anyway, buoyancy is helpful. I manage with a $20-40 Kmart suit, usually.
quote:Actually, I (very, um, well endowed) am quite happy with the "shelf bra" in my Land's End Skirted Sport Tankini. It's as good as a sports bra-- actually, better than most sports bras work on me.
You're young, and have one child. Talk to me after a few more pregnancies. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Speedo, Tyr, etc. I know they make the smaller sizes. If you can find an outlet, they're decent prices (otherwise, they're on the expensive side). swimoutlet.com I think is one place.
Trying sports stores--I know you have Galyans in your area, that'd be a place to look.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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Anyone else think this thread was going to be a political statement?
There's a shop on the North Shore of Oahu that will custom-make you a swimsuit. You pick the size and the style from samples, then the material from a book, and they mail it to you. I love mine, and they have all sizes.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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swimoutlet.com does seem to have some small sizes-- I found a cute suit, about $30, in size "XXS". But there doesn't seem to be a way to search by size, you have to wade through a bunch of suits to find out what's available in small sizes.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Tankinis are awesome. I'm never looking back!
Amen to that! I have two regular suits and a tankini, and it is by far my favorite of the three. (I'm not counting my bikini, which only gets worn when my husband and I are having a private swim somewhere where no one is going to look at me.)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I love tankinis because my waist is so long. I am tall, and a lot of the height in is my very long waist. That means all one pieces end up looking like Paris Hilton's. There is often a small strip of skin around my waist, but that's much more modest than 8 miles of décolletage one pieces give me.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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Katie, have you looked into long torso tankini pieces? My dad's fiance has a very long torso, and they're the only things that fit just right.
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There are many things I love about my tankini, but I think nothing, nothing beats the potty-trip convenience. Potty-trip convenience *with* modesty! What a concept!
Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Hm. I'll have to look into this whole tankini thing.
I don't go swimming very often, but I am moving to an apartment complex with a pool, and I'd like to change that.
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
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You don't go swimming a lot in Utah? Man, I can't imagine a state more suited to a dip in a nice, cool swimming pool.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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Oh, yes, on those 104-degree days, it is really nice to have a pool we can swim in. Especially since our air conditioner doesn't work so swell.
Emma loves the pool. Thank goodness for disposable swim diapers! She knows when we put her swimsuit on now where we're going to go, and gets excited. If she's hot and wants to swim, she'll find her floaty, and point and ask, "Dat? Dat?" Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Ah, nothing quite like an apartment complex swimming pool. Enjoy heading down for a dip only to find little turds floating around because someone was too cheap to buy some Little Swimmer's.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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quote:Ah, nothing quite like an apartment complex swimming pool. Enjoy heading down for a dip only to find little turds floating around because someone was too cheap to buy some Little Swimmer's.
Our pool isn't like that. No regular diapers are allowed, only swim diapers (disposable or otherwise), and children under 2 are required to wear them. Also, this is the "kids allowed pool". The pool on the other side of the complex is reserved for those over 14 only.
The pools are also very well-maintained; the chlorine is enough to kill germs but not enough to kill your skin, it's actually balanced (unlike the last place we lived, where I think they just dumped bleach in the pool. ) I hardly ever even see a leaf floating in the pool, much less a BM.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I don't wear swinsuits. Nope. Never. Ain't gonna happen.
But I did just go shopping with my little sister (16) for one, and share your grief.
First of all, she was using her own money from her very first paycheck and thus was not even close to being able to spend $70. So that limited our options from the get go. Secondly, she was definitely not going for a two piece. So that weeded out 97% of the remaining suits for sale.
She's rather skinny (well, athletic) - she's probably 5' 6" and wears size 6 or 7 pants. However, she's rather well endowed - wears a 38C. There are No Swimsuits Existing That Fit My Sister. All of the one pieces had plunging necklines and, well, let's just say, she gets plenty of attention fully clothed - these were not going to simplify her life.
However - there is a happy ending to this story. We went to Bob Ward's (a sporting goods store) on the third day of searching, and found that they had a huge selection of plain black athletic swimsuits on sale that were not only practical, non-garish, and slightly cheaper than the ridiculously expensive fashion suits at Dillard's, but they were comfortable! She bought a Speedo, and is most pleased.
This whole "swimwear as a fashion statement" bit has got to come to an end.
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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All of my swimsuits are Speedo or Nike that I bought at an outlet (I think TJ Maxx). I'm short, very well endowed (36DD), and a size 8 pants, so it's hard. But these have either racer backs or some sort of thing going on in the back to keep the shoulders from gapping apart, and the chests aren't so low cut that I just fall out of them. I think they have most sizes that high school swimmers would wear, so lots of 4s and 6s you might look them up. And I only paid in the $20-30 range.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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I think suits are just sized bigger. (Maybe I'm fooling myself.) But I wear 4s and 6es (sometimes 8s) in regular clothes, and there was no WAY I was squeezing into a size 6 tank suit. I managed to find a 10 that I liked.
I thought tankinis would be the way to go, but I'm a short- and thick-waisted hourglass. Tankinis make me look like I have an enormous pair of breasts resting directly on top of an enormous set of hips. It was tremendously sad. I lost a lot of weight and was looking forward to wearing cuter swimsuits -- and I'm still in a black tank suit. (I do seem to have somehow gotten over the disappointment.)
Posts: 834 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Is there a swimsuit that can give me noticeable abs, biceps and pectorals? Cause I'll totally buy that!
I tend to avoid wearing a swimsuit now, for lack of those things. Especially since the guys and women I tend to go to the beach with are all pretty good looking, and fairly fit. I look like a fitness reject next to them.
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) I hardly ever even see a leaf floating in the pool, much less a BM.
