If you identify as a woman, I bet you just let out an audible sigh reading that title. Like most women out there, shopping for swimwear ranks among my least favorite activities – right up there with doing taxes and getting lime juice in a fresh cut. However, living ten minutes away from the beach means I spend a significant amount more time in suits than I used to in the chilly north, so I’ve had to to put some work into this topic.

My uncomfort manifests from many factors, but I’ll highlight my top two:

Performance

As a curvy but also moderately athletic person, most suits don’t tend to perform very well in the ocean. I don’t know how many times I’ve inadvertently flashed someone because a boob, cheek or crack has been freed by a particularly rapey wave. Usually this is because the suit is too loose in the wrong places. So, get a size smaller you’d think, right? For me, typically sizing down results in uncomfortable cutting into places and overflow – which exacerbates the wardrobe malfunctions. Not effective or pleasant and really didn’t solve my problem. Who wants to spend most of their time in the ocean adjusting their suit? Not me.

Surrealism

Not the art movement, but the feeling that you’ve entered a surrealist world when looking at bathing suit ads. The model bodies are so unrealistic and touched up, there is really no way to know what a suit would look like on a normal body. Not only does this tank the self esteem, but it makes it REALLY difficult to find anything that fits – especially when shopping online.

Now, I’m certainly not single handedly going to solve this issue, but I did come across a company that has come a long way in these departments: Fused Hawaii. I first saw their ad on social media in a dark moment. I had just tested a suit that I bought at Athleta which had failed the wave test even with what I thought was a very athletic design.

The ads for Fused pulled me in, they looked like they would perform and I also saw women that looked like me. After buying at least 5 bottoms and a few tops, I’m totally sold. Their signature suit (Kona) is comfortable, flattering (cheeky!) and stays in place for me even when bodysurfing. Handmade in Hawaii by a woman owned business, they tout their product as “perfectly imperfect” – high-quality, but not identical due to the fact that they are individually hand-made. They double the fabric which makes the suits strong but eliminates the intense cutting and uncomfort that seams often produce. I also love their gorgeous models. Brava ladies! I will definitely be purchasing more in the future.