The struggle is real.
I’m abnormally small for an American woman. That is not a terrible problem to have, but finding clothes of any kind that fit takes a ridiculous amount of leg work. When that clothing needs to be functional the difficulty level goes up exponentially. It had been so many years since I had bought a swimsuit that I had forgotten how difficult it was to find a petite bikini.
My husband has started teaching me to surf and trying to find a two-piece with bottoms small enough not to get yanked off by waves has proven to be almost an exercise in futility. One-pieces have never fit me well either. I’m very narrow, especially in the hips, but have enough of a butt that you can generally see straight down the back of them.
Tops are not nearly as much of a problem since there are many styles that adjust in multiple directions. Bottoms, however, are another story. I went to all the normal surf brands first and they all start out about 2 inches too wide at the hips to do me any good. That is waaaay too loose when you are dealing with waves that will shuck them off you in the blink of an eye. Awkward!! I checked out brands from other countries that tend to have smaller people, but they were marketing to Americans so I ran into the same problem with them. The smallest size I usually found was a 2 and those were rare or out of stock.
Usually, the best fit for me is a 00 depending on the brand so a 2 will not stay on. This led me to the realization that I was going to have to fall back on Amazon. This is where the negative reviews have a positive side. I found a brand called The Mesh King in a few styles that I liked. The sizing info was vague so I dug through the questions and reviews. Most were complaining about how small these ran. Then there were a few reviews that were ecstatic BECAUSE they were small. Specifically, one husband mentioned he bought it for his wife that is 5’2″ and about 100lbs. That is really close to my measurements so I got excited. In his review, he mentioned that they fit her so well she made him order them in every color available.
I was looking for a thong style because when you are surfing, they will end up there anyway. My philosophy is to just go with it and not worry about it. Be sure to go heavy on the sunblock until you have a base tan or OUCH!
Then the hunt was on for a top in the same color. THAT is the difficult part about shopping for swim separates on Amazon. It tried going to this brand’s storefront on Amazon, but it turned out to be much faster and easier to just use the main search bar with the “brand, color, item description” format to find what I was looking for. Here was my first option.
I actually ordered two tops and three bottoms in different styles, but all the same color. I’ve had them for about three months now and have been very happy with the quality and fit. The reviews are right they are very small and may even fit my thirteen-year-old daughter who is almost my size. She prefers full coverage everywhere, thankfully, and since they have multiple styles in most of their colors it makes it easy to find the right setup for each of us.
I hope this helps if you have also had a difficult time finding small suits that actually fit.
Aloha Y’all!