Swim suit bottoms....does brand really matter?

[Ottakee]

I have been buying Lands End tankini tops for my girls and I as they fit well and are very supportive.  I have a  Lands end bottom I got with my last top.   I have lost weight though so I need a new bottom.

Does brand really matter for a a basic bottom? I  thinking just a boy shorts or possibly skirt type bottom.  I would use it to sit in a hot tub occasionally, in the pool at physical therapy and possibly on a beach rarely.   I don't really swim, as in laps, etc.

Oh, and I guess I wear swim shorts or quick dry shorts kayaking and paddle boarding....but the goal there is not to get wet.

[Katy]

If you can find a pair with the features you want, no. But usually to me when you combine 30-50% off coupons with the ease of just ordering exactly what I want from them, LE is easier. 

[PeterPan]

LE is running such amazing deals, I can't imagine it's worth it to look elsewhere. You are worried about the returns while finding your new size? That happened to me. Main thing is just buy a whole bunch at once (3 styles, 2 sizes of each, whatever) so you figure it out upfront. They're really good about the returns, so it's more just the waiting, realizing what you had bought on clearance is gone in the size you now want it in, etc.

Fwiw, they have swim shorts in several lengths, and being, ahem, vertically challenged, I find the flexibility helpful. I've also tried the skirt bottom, and personally I'm not keen on it. It looks cute, but it just flies up in the water. The midlength swim shorts are all the way to the knee on me (yes, you can laugh), so that's what I wear. Long enough to go into the buffet on a cruise if I have on a swim shirt but still practical. 

Yes, they do dry nicely! I wore my swim shorts every day for walking the beach, where you might wade to get a shell and then scoot back and want to be dry quickly. The only disadvantage is the material can cause some (ahem) chafing if you're built like me. So walking a lot in them can do that. Standing on a paddleboard or sitting in a kayak it shouldn't be a problem. 

It's a small thing, but the LE swim shorts have really good POCKETS. I put a hotel key in there (the old fashioned kind) and swam, walked miles, it never fell out. 

[mmasc]

I don’t think it matters. My favorite swim shorts are the boy short style from Free Country. I originally found them at Sam’s and you could get the tankini and short set for around $20-25, so it was an excellent price. I don’t have a Sam’s anymore so I don’t know if they still carry them, but I just looked on the Free Country site and they’re around $50 just for the bottom. That seems expensive to me and I’m guessing no better than just buying LE. 
 

ok, I just looked online and it looks like Sam’s does still carry the sets (online only currently bc of winter. Here’s one like I’m talking about, but they have several different styles, some in misses and some in plus. 

[prairiewindmomma]

IME, the cheaper bottoms pill and have elastic issues. LE is running a bottoms sale—most are in the $20 range....about what I paid for new bottoms from Target for dd. (Navy is a hard color to match right now, for whatever reason.)

[City Mouse]

For hot tubs, I would go with shorts instead of a skirt style. The skirt will float up, and I hate that. Now, for hanging out near the water, the skirt ones can be cuter.

[prairiewindmomma]

I agree that anything not super tight to your body (ie swim skirt) is super annoying in a hot tub. Dh is always fighting air bubbles in his swim trunks. I usually just wear a bikini style bottom (or knee length tight swim shorts) when I am in the hot tub.