As I lay in bed, planning my wardrobe for the upcoming summer months, I’m faced with two options when it comes to spicing up my swimsuit collection; I could either buy one bikini set from Triangl for $100 or five bikini sets from SHEIN for less than $50. I tell myself I want something that will last for a long time but is that money worth spending on a tiny piece of fabric
As we move into summer, women are struggling to find high-quality and affordable clothing, but even more so swimsuits. Women are stuck choosing between a long-lasting $175 higher-quality swimsuit from brands like Frankie’s Bikinis and a $15 low-quality swimsuit from Zaful or SHEIN—as much as you’d like to think SHIEN swimsuits work well, they aren’t made to last. All of these factors are creating a swimsuit epidemic for women while heading into summer 2024.
A large issue with swimsuits is that many brands aren’t trying to fix the issue of increasing prices. Companies either stick to their cheap and lesser-quality product, or the brands with high-quality products just keep raising their prices. An average swimsuit, from brands like Triangl, Blackbough and L-SPACE, went from $30 to $50 to $75 to $100 and up. Even Free People just released a swimsuit line where tops are being sold from $70 to $200.
Summit junior Megan Gurley loves fashion and while on the search for a new summer wardrobe, has fallen victim to this problem.
“I think there’s just not many affordable options for swimsuits right now and the prices keep increasing,” said Gurley.
Summer fashion is always fun to shop for with lots of brands selling tops, skirts and shorts. But, when it comes to swimsuits, finding brands dedicated to swimwear that don’t cost hundreds of dollars is not an easy task; there are still some affordable clothing options but for bikinis, they lessen.
Summit senior Ava Mastalir shops quite frequently, always trying to spice up her closet and freshen up her outfits.
“It’s easier to find affordable clothes than swimsuits since there are a lot more options of places to shop for just clothes,” said Mastalir. “All the brands that just make swimsuits tend to be more expensive.”
Aside from the most popular swimsuit brands, there are still brands like Roxy and Rip Curl, which also specialize in swimwear and are well-known among the surfing/water sports community. Those brands are still not the cheapest but are more affordable than some of the other options. However, people still overlook them. Maybe it’s the style or the vibe they give off, but even when people have the option to buy less expensive and nice quality swimsuits, they still force themselves to choose between the SHEIN bikini or the $175 L-SPACE bikini.
But honestly, why are swimsuits so expensive? It’s a piece of clothing that, most of the time, only covers the bare minimum and still costs more than most pieces in your wardrobe.
Sophomore Ariana Diliberto continues to search for new fashion to add to her abundance of clothes as the summer approaches, but cute swimsuits are always the hardest to find.
“I think [swimsuits] get so expensive because they’re making good money off of them and they know women will buy it so they keep raising the prices,” said Diliberto.
It’s true, women do keep buying the overly expensive items so it makes sense for brands to keep increasing the prices. But that’s not the only reason; it turns out there’s more science that goes into the production of swimwear material. Although it seems like it’s less material, swimsuits are actually the same amount as a piece of clothing, just bunched up.
Additionally, most of the time production outside of the United States is cheaper, so designers choose to pay those brands for the item, and then resell for a higher price within the U.S. in order to make more money.
“Since we mostly wear swimsuits during summer, it’s easy to just want to buy a few cheap ones for the season instead of purchasing expensive swimsuits that you only wear consistently for a couple of months,” said Gurley.
Many girls have this mindset, however, more often than not, the more expensive swimsuits are better quality and last longer. It might seem scary or stupid to spend large amounts of money on a swimsuit, but investing in a good basic item that will get plenty of wear can be worth it.
Instead of spending loads of money on every single bikini as we go into summer, get cheaper ones with funky patterns you know you’ll get sick of. As for the more expensive brands, maybe buy those nicer quality ones you know you’ll love forever.
Brands such as Bright Swimwear and Cupshe, offer more affordable and better quality swimwear if the more expensive brands aren’t an option.
In the end, the production of swimsuits is expensive whether we like it or not. The truth is that if you want good quality, a lot of brands make you pay for it.
