When it comes to swimwear, I tend to be extremely picky – I hate triangle bikinis, can’t stand tacky 90’s patterns and a tankini is a definite no-no. I like my swimwear cute, comfy and retro-inspired which makes my hunt for the perfect swimwear a bit tricky. Not to mention my size – someone in the 30-32 G-H range ought not be too fussy, but what can you do! However, now and then I come across brands with exactly my kind of aesthetics and one of those brands were Moontide and their sub-label Piha at the Moda tradeshow. One thing that made the brand instantly more appealing to me was that the Moontide range actually goes up to G-cup with some styles. Let’s dive into this swimwear giant a bit more…
Tulip, Poppy & Bauhinia in their fantastic tropical floral prints (all from their SS14/15 collection)
Moontide was founded 35 years ago in Auckland, New Zealand and is now one of the leading fashion-forward swimwear-only brands in the world. When going through the Moontide website, it’s easy to see that in addition to fabulous fashion styles the brand is extremely confident about their fit. The passion towards well-fitting swim pieces is pretty obvious which makes me a new fan of the brand. The fuller-busted customers have been thought of too; there is a separate logo for the so called “cup fitting” pieces, which simply states “CF”. These pieces are either sized in bra sizes (with some styles going to up F/G) or offer a separate full-bust fit (this feature is mainly used with the one-piece swimsuits). Even though this kind of sizing cannot cover each and every bust size, it’s a good way to acknowledge that there is indeed a demand for more boob room among us gals with fuller busts. To be honest, I would be quite intrigued to see how well the full-bust version of the swimsuit would hold up my ~GG boobies!
When it comes to styling, I find the Moontide to be an instant winner – I mean, who can resist a good floral or juicy summer brights? Well I certainly can’t. My favourite of the new collection pieces (pictured above) would definitely be the yellow one with the black and white rose print as it’s such a lovely vintage-inspired style. These pics are however only my favourites, so if floral and super bright colours are not your thing there is also lots of black and white monochrome, stripes and abstract prints on offer. I have previously worked as a gardener and a florist which should explain my love for all sorts of floral prints 😉
Even though I have pictured above only Moontide swimsuits, they do offer also a wide array of other cuts to choose from. To be honest, I have never seen such a variety of different styles when it comes to a single design of swimwear! Most Moontide swim pieces come in an array of tops, bottoms and even a couple of different onepiece styles so everyone can make their pick and be happy with it. As a lover of onepieces I would love to try their “Twist”-style swimsuits with the fuller bust fit as the whole design seems very flattering allover.
Piha (which, funny enough, means ‘yard’ in Finnish) is a sub-label of the more mature Moontide brand. Even though Moontide’s designs could probably appeal to any age group depending on one’s personal style, Piha is clearly directed to a younger audience with a love for clashing colours and pop-art kind-of prints. The size range of Piha is much smaller, only accommodating up to D, but I am really hoping and wishing for a bigger size range in the future – these pieces would definitely rival the likes of Cleo and Freya in the full-bust swimwear market! However, I do understand the limits of making cup sized swimwear/lingerie as you do always need to make a profit. Just hoping Piha could someday make a profit of us bigger-busted gals as well 😉
If you are interested in the brands more, I suggest you visit their websites for more info. Also, the brands are sold world-wide so if you are still in a need of proper swimsuit for the upcoming summer, do check out the likes of Asos, House of Fraser and Simply Beach to find your favourite style. The Moontide and Piha websites have both a very impressive list of stockists and online retailers stocking their designs so you can pick one according to your own location!
How do you like the Moontide and Piha designs? Do you think Piha should extend their size range eg. up to G as well? Let me know in the comments!
Two cakes on a plate 