Okay, I purchased a tankini top and boy short bottoms. I tried it on a million times at home before deciding to keep it. Of course, I tried it on with underwear on under it. Today I cut the tags and took it to my sister's to swim. I was shocked and dismayed to realize that because I had always had underwear on under it, I never noticed that the boy shorts do NOT have any kind of 'interior flat panel' or anything....the shorts just have a center seam and that center seam...um...settles into the female anatomy in a most uncomfortable and unflattering and embarrassing manner....

Are they all like this?? It FEELS icky and I feel exposed in it. Shouldn't it have an interior tight, flat section to cover up that anatomy I was talking about?? All men's bathing suit shorts I've seen have that nice little interior thing going...why doesn't my suit have such a thing???

By Pamt on Monday, July 11, 2005 - 05:16 pm:

Same thing here! Not only does the seam make things look a little more obvious, but there is not extra elastic at the leg openings either, so I'd get more booty hanging out the bottom. Not the look I'm going for. I've gone back to regular bottoms. At least you were at your sister's and not a public pool.

By Trina~moderator on Monday, July 11, 2005 - 05:20 pm:

LOL! I've never tried boyshorts because I didn't think they'd be flattering on me. What about a skirted bottom? They're in this year and are very cute!

By Eve on Monday, July 11, 2005 - 08:32 pm:

I've been a HUGE fan of a skirted bottom for years now! I'm not in love with the boy bottoms either for the reason you described. Although, some do have a liner now, but you have to really look! Bummer! I wonder if you could have one put in? Maybe you can buy another bottom? Is it easy to match?

By Kate on Monday, July 11, 2005 - 09:06 pm:

Sigh...to COMMIT and CUT THE TAGS OFF is so huge!!! And then to put them on sans underwear and instantly have a problem.

I've not tried on a skirted bottom...I can't get past the matronly idea of it. Anyone want to post a pic of their skirted suit? Do you feel matronly OR babyish in them? How long is the skirt normally?

I can't believe this is typical of boy shorts! I thought for sure I'd just purchased a low quality suit!

By Eve on Monday, July 11, 2005 - 09:26 pm:

No, I don't feel matronly. I like to feel like I can walk around and feel a little more covered. I love the Lands End ones as well. I've seen some at the beach and they are adorable. I like prints usually.

Ok, I'll be brave and post:

By Happynerdmom on Monday, July 11, 2005 - 09:43 pm:

Well, I have a swimdress, similar to the brown one in this picture, except a much cuter color...blue with purple polka-dots! Although, I really like the black one pictured here!
Swimdress
I must say, I don't exactly feel sexy in it, but I feel comfortable, which at 38 and a size 12, is what I'm going for, LOL!

By Mommmie on Monday, July 11, 2005 - 09:58 pm:

Oh, a subject near and dear to my heart. I wear the tankini's bec I'm so *over* the big shave if you know what I mean.

I've found if you're going to wear swimshorts they need to be shorts with a built in panty. The boyshorts besides having the issue you described also doesn't help hold in curly hair made straight by the water if you know what I mean and you're hanging out. If I wanted to hang out like that I'd buy a regular suit.

The skirts with the built in panty are very *in* around here and not matronly at all. I did wonder if the skirt floated up in the water though.

By Trina~moderator on Monday, July 11, 2005 - 10:06 pm:

Cute suits, Eve! You look great!

I have this swimsuit and love it. Not matronly at all. Swimskirts are IN now.

By Kate on Monday, July 11, 2005 - 10:09 pm:

That black one is adorable, Happynerdmom! And Eve, I guess I didn't realize they made skirted bikinis! That certainly spices it up a bit! Mommmie, how does a tankini help with 'the big shave'? Don't they have normal bottoms that reveal a lot?

By Kate on Monday, July 11, 2005 - 10:11 pm:

Trina, we were posting at the same time. Very cute!! What brand? Where do I find these skirted things?

By Trina~moderator on Monday, July 11, 2005 - 10:19 pm:

The one I posted above is made by Jantzen. I bought it at JCPenney.com with a 30% off coupon. I found pink and blue versions of it at
Boscovs.com in the separates section.

Other places to check:
Chadwicks.com - Their swimsuits run small.
LandsEnd.com
LLBean.com
VenusSwimwear.com
EddieBauer.com
Boscovs.com

Have fun shopping!

By Kate on Monday, July 11, 2005 - 10:22 pm:

Have fun shopping?!?! Um, I kinda doubt it...but thanks for the encouragement!!

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 - 12:59 am:

My 15yo daughter looks cute in her swim skirt and tankini top! No pic, though.

By Cat on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 - 01:03 pm:

I have a skirted tankini from Lands End and I love it! It covers everything I want it to. The skirt does float up at times, especially in a hot tub. lol My mom has one and we spent time in it at her house. The kids loved it! Anyway, she does have an extra tankini that has the boy short bottoms and I wore it once. I hated it for the exact reason you're stating. Dh says it's called "taco." (yuck!!! lol) It was gross. Besides that it showed every little bump, lump and dimple I had. NOT cool. I'll stick with my skirted tankini.

By Eve on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 - 02:15 pm:

TACO?! Oh goodness, well, after hearing that I'll never wear boy short bottoms again. LOL! Eeew!

By Debbie on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 - 02:54 pm:

My bathing suit has a skirted bottom and a halter top. I like the skirt because it is more fitted(if that makes sense) The very top of my thighs is my worst area, so this covers it and I feel good wearing it. We have been going to the pool a lot lately and I would say about a forth of the woman have some type of skirted bottom.

I hope I did this right. Here is the link.
bathing suit

By Bemerry84 on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 - 03:09 pm:

Kate, check out Walmart. You can buy just the bottoms and they have 5 different styles, made by Catalina and are a good quality. They come in different colors. I bought a black bottom and a print top with black in it. Since you like the top maybe you could just get a new bottom.

By Mommmie on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 - 09:15 pm:

With the shorts and built in panty it doesn't float up and, of course, when you're walking around it lays down, so you don't have to have your bikini line professionally taken care of, if you know what I mean. You can do a half-a$$ed shaving job on the ones that grow on your legs (I am a furry brunette afterall) and that's good enough. (I know how to do it right, but at 41, I'm just tired of doing it.)

My fear with the cute skirts is it floats up in water and kids with goggles get a good view of the stragglers underwater.

I get my suits at Lands End.

And the term we use is Smiley cr0tch.

By Crystal915 on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 - 09:53 pm:

I bought one from Victoria's Secret that had "hotshort" bottoms, more coverage than regluar bottoms, but not as long as boyshorts in the thighs. It didn't have a noticable seam or bunching in that area, but I KWYM.
hot short suit
This isn't the one I bought, but you get the idea.

By Feona on Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - 07:03 am:

Can you wear the boy shorts over another swim suit? I bought a slim dark blue pair to wear over a red swim suit. They are more like slim swim trucks. (Wish I could find another pair but I got them at marshalls and they only had one pair)

You should be able to get some bottoms you like at the marshalls or tj max or kohls or macys.

By Pamt on Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - 03:54 pm:

The term the girls in the youth group taught me is "camel toe." Gross!

By Bellajoe on Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - 04:41 pm:

OH gross, I won't be buying any of those "boy shorts" !

You can buy bathing suit separates at Kohl's too. They did have the skirts too. They are in now, and I see A LOT of women wearing them at the city pool. They are pretty cute.