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!
