A few years back, my good friend Paige got me into surfing. Dressing for surfing would appear to be very similar to dressing for the beach— you just grab your favorite bikini and go. However, when you're planning to get pummeled by waves, it's not so simple. I quickly found out that bathing suits that looked perfect on my beach blanket weren't exactly made for paddling out.
Whether it was boyshorts that were too loose to withstand a crashing wave (Hello, Coppertone Girl!), or straps with uncomfortable wooden beads, a lot of my suits just didn't work when it came to surfing.
So instead of buying all new surf-friendly beach gear, I started mixing and matching my bathing suit pieces.
(top: DKNY, bottoms: Calvin Klein)
(bottoms: DKNY, top: Target)
Once you start putting different tops and bottoms together, you'll wonder why you never did it before.
I bought an adorable Ripcurl swimsuit on clearance a few years ago. It was in my size, so I bought it without trying it on. When I put it on at home, the bottoms made my butt look like Bar Refaeli's . . . and the bandeau top totally cut off my circulation! Instead of putting the entire suit in the back of my drawer, I gave the top of the bikini to my petite friend and started wearing the butt-perfecting bottoms with a black bikini top. To this day, that mismatched set is one of my favorite things to wear to the beach.
(top: DKNY, bottom: Ripcurl)
(bottoms: Calvin Klein, top: Leilani)
(bottoms: Hurley, top: Calvin Klein)
(top and bottom: both DKNY)
P.S. It was so windy outside today that 90% of my photos looked like this . . .
(All mix and match photos © Littlehouse of Style)
