The month of April means final exams and spring showers, which sounds . . . awful. But let not the deranged wind blow you completely off course. Enjoy the sway. Whether you’re at the beach, lounging by the pool (What are you doing? Jump into the pool!), or on a boat, here are ideas for keeping some skin in the shade.
Shorts or Banana Hammocks?
I wouldn’t particularly dissuade a guy from wearing trunks, but fellas, with shorts you have so many more options.
Riz Boardshorts, self-proclaimed “Tailors of Sunshine,” hail from London, Britain. Their shorts are made from recycled and recyclable polyester, printed with local water-based inks, and available 19 inch long or 16 inch mid. The Morris-Sea Vintage shorts showcase, in my opinion, the most remarkable print. 70 to 85 GBP (approximately $125) at rizboardshorts.com, Riz’s shorts are also built with pockets just for your music machine. Bring out the gentleman surfer in you.
Mr Porter has shorts and trunks swimming from the simple to the lavish, from J. Crew to Vilebrequin. If I catch a dude surfacing from the water in Pink House Mustique’s stingray-print shorts, $115 at mrporter.com, he’ll have to find something else to cover him up.
When my father went to London, he bought me a couple of men’s T-shirts from a brand he discovered called AllSaints. The quality and designs are impeccable, to the point that upon lending them to friends, I never seem to get them returned. They recently set up an online store for Canada, so here I am to promote it. If the prints of Vilebrequin are too loud, settle on their more mellow shorts. I find them more tasteful, just falling in love all over again.
Eenie Meenie Miney Mo-kinis
Got Milk? Black Milk, I mean. Aside from their free standard international shipping, they’ve got structure for the twin towers and the hobbit hole, if you catch my drift. With designs alluding to art, anatomy and cinema, their one-piece swimsuits, $96 to $112 at blackmilkclothing.com, inspire awe and the ability of geeks everywhere to get off their chairs.
Print-wise, We Are Handsome continues to design swimwear with prints of pandas, horses, and beatboxes ($260 to $343 at shoplesnouvelles.com). Double takes will ensue.
It borders on misery that Oysho, a brand with a very pleasant demeanour, only ships within mainland UK, because heaven knows I need to add their lace bras to my collection. One of their triangle bikinis has a lovely frill trim detail that makes the wearer look almost mermaidic. Because of that shipping complication though I’ve had to find an alternative. However, being a design I’ve never come across before, I encourage you to look out for it (and mermaids too). Anyway, here’s the alternative: Tobi’s ‘Really Ruffle Swimsuit,’ which thankfully doesn’t live up to its name, is a two-piece with a subtle ruffle to add ripples to the waves ($51 at tobi.com).
The innovative garment designs of Becca McCharen of Chromat, inspired by her experience in architecture design, are typified by the recently distributed swimwear that demonstrate a concept revolving around structure. The black pentagram suit ($250 at bonadrag.com) will stencil a cool polygonal tan-tattoo on your body if worn under the sun too long. I’ve ordered shoes off Bona Drag before and they included a very choice mixtape in the delivery, it only added to their status as a cemented favorite. Dusen Dusen’s watermelon sweater, also available on the site for $204, is not only cute and refreshing, but it’ll stretch some sleeves over your arms when you’re in the cool shade.
One Teaspoon has their own take on the cage concept with tie-dye cutout two-pieces available at Free People ($79 for the top and $75 for the bottom at freepeople.com). You can visit Sitka at 570 Yates St. after getting some froyo at Qoola to check out other pieces they’ve reeled in by One Teaspoon.
Even though swimsuits and shorts go best with bare feet, Soludos espadrilles make for a nice break from the sand. They’re available for both men and women at J. Crew (jcrew.com) and Madewell (madewell.com), respectively.
I was on imgur the other day and came across a neat life hack that would be useful for the beach/pool/boat. If you clean out an old sun lotion bottle you can use it to store your treasures and fool passersby! Savvy?
