Portland Monthly Bathing Suit photo shoot featured two suits from Popina Swim

Jantzen Vamp Suit

And the Popina Swimwear Retro Halter

Quite an honor as the primary Portland Swimwear store featured in the article.  Popina is Portland’s year round Swimwear Store featuring Jantzen, Jag, Perry Ellis, Kechika, Sunsets, Swim Systsems, Speedo, Havaianas, Oka B shoes and many, many more brands.  Every couple of months we introduce new fabrics into our store and new styles.

Sunday Parkways is happening today Sunday July 19th in Northeast Portland.  The route is a loop that goes as from NE 17th to NE Ainsworth to NE 47th and hits Alameda.  Part of the route will cross NE 42nd Avenue at NE Going, one block from Popina Swim the Portland Swimwear Boutique.

To celebrate Sunday Parkways Popina will offer 20% off for anyone making a purchase who rides on their bike and mentions this blog posting or twitter posting.  Be forewarned we do not have a lot of opportunities to lock up bikes yet (we are due to get new bike racks within the next couple of weeks).  However my husband Will said that he will be available for look out duty to keep an eye on all bikes parked in front of the shop that can not find a suitable lock up space.

Look for the Popina A-Frame sign that points you to the left when you cross NE 42nd Avenue!

Here is a picture of the front of Popina.

Portland Swimear Shop Popina Swimwear is your year round Swimwear Boutique.  We are located in NE PDX about one mile from the Beaumont Wilshire Neighborhood and the Alberta Arts District.  Now is a great time to get a Bathing Suit before the summer is over!

Featuring Jantzen Swimwear, JAG, Perry Ellis, L*Space, Tommy Bahama, Havaianas and many, many more brands.

Portland Swimsuit Boutique - Customer Testimonial

Gratitude

Best Bathing Suit shopping experience I’ve ever had and the only one in the last few years that didn’t involve crying. Thank you!

Jantzen Swimwear will be featured on the upcoming season’s credits of Mad Men.  Jantzen Swimwear, one of the oldest and most recognized brands in swimwear will celebrate their 100th anniversary 2010, marking a century as a leader in style, innovation, fit and design with Swimwear made for the glamorous and modern beauty.

Jantzen Swimsuitscreative inspiration comes from their archives.  Whether it’s using an Art Deco 1930s image from Jantzen Beach Theme Park where you could “Dance, Swim, and Play” or their successful 1960s “Just Wear a Smile and a Jantzen” campaign, promoting a form of “happiness” reflects today’s marketing pitch to consumers who are responding to old fashioned values.  Images from the Jantzen Archives have been seen in the last two seasons of Emmy Award winning Mad Men on AMC and will again be featured in opening credits this fall with images from the 1960s Smile campaign. 

To honor their 100th year, Jantzen will explore their archival garment treasures, launching the Heritage Collection by Jantzen – classic Jantzen reinterpreted for the modern woman. The design team pays homage to each Jantzen decade as a milestone in fashion history with a collection reminiscent of the 1920s through today, evoking the signature style and decadence of eras gone by.  Jantzen will showcase their 100 years of fashion in partnership with The Wolfsonian–Florida International University beginning July 10th during a thirteen-week exhibition entitled, Beauty on the Beach: A Centennial Celebration of Swimwear. The exhibition will highlight materials such as original artwork by noted artists, advertisements, packaging and bathing suits, and celebrity swim suits. Jantzen, always a leader in international exhibits, looks forward to sharing their treasures with a whole new generation. A kick off reception on Saturday, July 18th, 2009 sponsored by Elle magazine will take place in conjunction with the SAF show for retail partners and local media.

With the trend of nostalgia surging, Jantzen has re-launched Curvallure by Jantzen replacing TrimSwim swimwear line. Curvallure’s clever copy and unique advertising illustrations originated in 1940 with Jantzen’s intimate apparel and “the foundation of Natural Beauty.” In the 1950s Swimwearour Curvallure bras created glamour by changing the shape of America. Today, Curvallure by Jantzen swimsuits are targeted to women who seek all the fit attributes, of contouring and slimming design, including tummy control and lifting features….without sacrificing style.

Empowering women by providing them with confidence to flaunt their curves and taking empowerment to the next level, Curvallure by Jantzen swimsuits will partner with the IFW Go Red for Women Red Dress show event in October to help combat Heart Disease.

As Jantzen commemorates this centennial celebration, the future appears bright. Jantzen, led by its iconic Diving Girl, remains one of the most recognizable brands in swimwear and will continue to provide innovation, style, quality and design in years to come.

–jantzen.com

Pamela Levenson designer of the Popina Swimwear brand offers five tips for Swimsuit shopping.  Pamela is based in Portland, Oregon, she sells her bathing suits on line, Wholesale at approximately 50 retailers in twelve states and from her brick and mortar Portland Swimwear boutique.

Tip #1 - Pick colors and prints that suit your skin and hair colors and then - “Just Try it On”!

Said so well by the housekeeper in the Movie Spanglish, it is surprising how many women come into my Swimwear Boutique with pre-conceived ideas of what is the best Bathing Suit for them.  There is no substitute for your own opinion and comfort level, try on a few things you think would never suit you, break all the conventional rules, you might just be surprised.  I always encourage the customers in my store to try on as much Swimwear as they have time for if they are not sure.  It is not uncommon that my customers will spend 1-2 hours trying on Swimwear, but why not, it should be fun!

#2 Go Retro

Personally I love Retro Swimwear styles, before the march to make Swimsuits smaller and smaller, there was a time that mystery and modesty had value.  1940’s-1950’s Bathing Suits are my favorite era, these Vintage Swimsuits did a great job of covering up the right stuff and still having a great sense of style.  Interestingly Retro Swimsuitsare now fashion forward, if you want to have a fun, unique look from the crowd, retro is a great way to set yourself apart and have a great fun look!

# 3 Care for your Suit

Chlorine and Spandex have a very tenuous relationship.  It makes me very optimistic that there has been a trend toward converting skin drying, swimsuit destroying chlorine pools into saline which is way less harmful to swimwear.  If you are using your suit in a pool, be sure to wash it out with a mild detergent and hang it to d.  I have heard stories that if the chlorine is strong enough (like you can smell it - yuck!) and a suit has been left in a ball un-rinsed, a suit will literally disintegrate in days.

#4 Try a Tankini rather than a One Piece

Our most popular Swimwear style is the Tankini.  My Tankini styles are designed with “Meet and Greet” Sizing which means for an averaged woman’s body, the bottom of the Tankini meets the top of the Swimwear Bottoms so that it has the look of a One Piece Bathing Suit.  There are many advantages to a Tankini from a One Piece Bathing Suit first off the convenience of…….well let’s just say it, going to the bathroom.  With a One Piece Swimsuit you basically need to undress, a Tankini is much more bathroom friendly.  Second, with Tankinis you can mix and match tops and Swimwear Bottoms.  A great way to stretch a budget is to buy one top and two bottoms or two bottoms and one top that coordinate.  One extra piece gives you a whole new outfit!  Finally, for those with longer torsos who have difficulty finding a One Piece Swimsuit that fits right, a Tankini will provide most of the coverage of a One Piece Swimsuit.

#5 Try to have fun

Swimwear buying for many women is an experience of dread.  My Portland Swimwear Store is located next door to a Dentist, if I polled some of my shoppers I think some would rather have their teeth drilled than to try on Swimwear; in fact my very first store customer cried when she tried on a swimsuit.  Many women are way too hard on themselves.  I am sensitive to these feelings and that is a big part of why I created my line and when designing my Portland Swimwear Store I took great lengths to try to make it a fun and comfortable place to try on Swimsuits.  I strive to create swimwear that allows women to feel good about themselves and create an environment that makes the process fun.  But lets face it some of us do not have perfect bodies, in fact probably 5% of women have the to die for bod, and believe it or not, the women with the perfect bodies can often be the hardest on themselves!  So remember, you are buying Swimwear because you love to have fun and when you put on your suit you will be in the water.  Life is too short lets swim!

Retro Swimsuits by Jantzen are on the way to the Portland Swimwear Boutique Popina Swim.  Jantzen is the innovator of swimwear and used to have their headquarters in Portland, Oregon.  A couple years ago Jantzen moved their operations from Portland to Miami when they were purchased by Perry Ellis. 

Alas, not a Portland company any longer but the good news is that since Perry Ellis purchased Jantzen there has been some reinvigoration of the Jantzen brand.  Jantzen has looked back to their roots and their innovation of the past to reinvent retro.  Earlier this week we placed an order for the Jantzen Vamp suit shown below.

A picture can say 1,000 words, but as you can see Jantzen does get it, not only a great retro flavored suit with all the stylings such as a modified privacy panel and the classic strapless look but a great piece of art work with the contracting colors and the vintage boat.

Although Jantzen is manufacturing Swimwear in Portland any longer, Popina is very excited to bring Jantzen Swimwear back to Oregon and are proud to offer Portland’s largest selection of Women’s Swimwear.

Portland Swimwear Boutique Popina now has Jantzen!  Once upon a time Swimsuits Portland Oregon went hand in hand with Jantzen the great innovator of women’s swimsuits and the original Portland Swimsuit source.  A few years ago Perry Ellis bought Jantzen and moved a majority of Jantzen’s bathing suit operations to Miami, Florida.  So we are thrilled to reintroduce this important swim suit brand back to Portland as it has such a rich history in the northwest.

Jantzen created the now “retro” style, at the time it was just the fashionable thing to wear.  Going back to its roots, Jantzen has re-introduced retro swimwear styles and prints and we can not wait to roll it back out in Portland.  For our first batch of bathing suit styles we purchased a number of one piece with great vintage swimwear styling.

Tri-Met Line #75 is a great north south bus route in Portland. So how about a shout out for the bus line that goes right in front of our Portland Swimwear shop Popina. From Woodstock to Hawthorne through Hollywood all the way to Popina Swim. Some personal highlights of the 75 line starting in Hawthorne:

Popina Swim is an easy 20 minute bus drive from the Hawthorne business district, home of the Bagdad Theater and Dosha Salon. The Bagdad is an awesome historic restoration, owned by McMenamins Portland’s hero’s of preservation served with their home brew a movie and a slice of pizza. If you really want to treat yourself to escape your worries without getting out of town, try getting a massage at Dosha. Their massages are very reasonably priced, be sure to show up early (at least 45 minutes) to enjoy their second floor soaking pool and steam room, it is transporting. As you cruise North out of Hawthorn you will pass Laurelhurst Park which has a beautiful duck pond and lots of room for running your doggie.

Bagdad Theater

Next you will arrive at the Hollywood Transit Center, across the street is Trader Joe’s an awesome new supermarket, adjecent to the Hollywood Transit Center is 24 Hour Fitness, also pretty darn new. 24 Hour Fitness is a brutal process to sign up, sort of like your worst used car nightmare, but once you make it through the process the gym is very nice, the instructors for the classes are great. Huge downside is parking - but if your on the ol’ 75 you get front door service. If you crane your neck towards downtown as you cross Sandy Boulevard you may catch a glimpse of the Hollywood Theater. Where Bagdad shows popular second run movies, The Hollywood shows first run indie flicks, I have seen many movies at the Hollywood and have only been disappointed once by a very flat comedy, anyway, this historic theater was chopped up into three theaters I believe in the 1960’s which is very unfortunate, but the upside is more movie selection. The theater is owned by the not for profit Film Action Oregon which helps promote independent film and education in Oregon.

Then up the Alameda Ridge into the Beaumont Wilshire Neighborhood, if you get off right at the Fremont stop you can get a killer coffee at Ristretto Roasters for some micro brew coffee (they roast their own beans). The other must visit is Jim and Patty’s coffee for some great baking including their unreal calorie busting breakfast sandwiches, try the sausage and egg biscuit the first time you visit then try the bacon and egg the next, if you ever move past the breakfast sandwiches try the pastries then hit 24 hour fitness.

Back on the bus heading north you are almost at your destination Popina. On 42nd Avenue be sure to visit Delphina’s for great freshly baked breads, Roses Ice Cream for homemade ice cream and Rocket Pizza for some awesome pie, all within a block of Popina Swim.

Why not take the bus to Popina, take your time, and enjoy the ride!

Portland Swimwear Boutique Popina Swim is listed on Insider Pages, a great way to give feedback on our swimsuit business. 

Want to talk about your great Portland Swimsuit shopping experience at Popina Swim? Go to Yelp and let people know that Popina is the place for PDX Bathing Suit Shopping.

Thank you!