Tween modest tankini swimsuit

[4MCMICKEY]

We are going to Disney in 3 weeks and my tween daughter needs a new bathing suit. She likes the tankini kind that is straight across the chest area. We do need lightly padded in the top area. We have always bought suits at justice in the past but all the straight tankini's don't have the extra padding in the top while the v tops do. Need help in where to begin looking for suits.

 

[rhiansmom]

Ran into this issue last year... if you need padding you should try Old Navy or the juniors department at Sears. They were the only 2 places we could find that had suits small enough but had padding.

 

[englishteacha]

LL Bean or Land's End may have what you're looking for. Target has some cute tankinis, too, but they have more selection online than in store.

 

[BelleBeautyandtheBeast]

I usually buy all the kids swim suits at Lands End. Looks like all the tankini tops are lined, not sure if that would be good enough or if she really wants padding.

 

[rhiansmom]

My tween wants the padding so I'm going to assume the same... it will be hard to find in smaller sizes. Remember a few summers ago where I can't remember the store was selling a suit with "padding" and it was all over the media that they were trying to sexualize young girls?

Yeah after that suits with padding became hard to find. The kicker is that girls who are developing really feel more comfortable with the padding as the lined suits just don't give the coverage that the girls want.

 

[Suz D]

We are going to Disney in 3 weeks and my tween daughter needs a new bathing suit. She likes the tankini kind that is straight across the chest area. We do need lightly padded in the top area. We have always bought suits at justice in the past but all the straight tankini's don't have the extra padding in the top while the v tops do. Need help in where to begin looking for suits.

I've had great luck at Costco with the Speedo ones they carry.

 

[tikistitch]

I just bought a swimsuit for myself and my tween niece at Target for our spring break trip. Mine of course is an adult size so it's nice and padded and I bought a pretty conservative tankini style for my niece (it is a v style, not straight across, but it's a high v so it covers perfectly) and it's padded lightly.

Last year we were not able to find any suits with lining in her size, so we actually just sewed on a lining of our own on the inside of the swimsuit. It did its job and didn't show on the outside, and she felt much more comfortable at the water park and the beach.

 

[auger]

DD14 wears these, but only the kind with shorts.
We had trouble a couple of years back finding anything in the girls depts that had any padding.
Finally ended up at Kohls in the junior sizes. She had to try on a lot of suits, but did find 2 cute ones that were smaller fitting.
Her suits have been purchased there ever since.

 

[mjkacmom]

Lands End suits are very well made, and modest. I don't know what size your tween wears, but this one is lined (and I think LE suits are thicker)

http://www.landsend.com/pp/girls-beach-basic-colorblock-tankini-top~248931_1187.html

My girls don't like LE suits, because of the thickness, and will only wear bikini tops. They are very thin, so they have to get boy shorts (size 6) so that the waist will not fall off, but their butts are covered. Finding suits is never easy for us! I don't know what dd11 (almost 12) will wear when she starts to develop! Finding good coverage in small girls sizes won't be easy.

 

[Pigeon]

We had the very same issue last year and my dd was very happy with a couple of tankinis I ordered from Delia's. Unfortunately, they don't carry them in our local store (because who on earth would ever want to actually try on a bathing suit?), so I had to get them online. But they ran true according to her measuremens.

You can order separate tops and bottoms to get the coverage you want.

 

[bjscheel]

When you find something, let us know because I have the same trouble. We have had some luck with Lands End girls suits that have several rows of ruffles across the chest that therefore cover without padding. I know I will need to get DD11 something different this summer. We have also done a bikini top covered by a rashguard shirt and that works pretty well. DD14 can at least wear some womens suits now but even then it's hard to find cute+covered.

Girls size suits = just a lining with no support or padding
Junior size suits = too skimpy
Womens size suits = too big and/or too grown up looking

What are these size 12/14 girls supposed to do? Most of them need something up top by then and it simply isn't offered.

Oh, but you might check Delia's- we ordered a suit last year for DD14 because they actually had a one-piece with a straight chest and it ran really small. You might be able to do with small sizes there. I see their ruched tankini is straight across, and on the model it looks like it comes up pretty high. It has a shelf bra. Also, Johnnie B by Boden is designed for kids age 10-16- I don't know if this suit is good enough on top or not:

http://www.bodenusa.com/en-US/Girls...17/Girls-8-16yrs-Printed-Tankini-Top.html?m=3

 

[pigletto]

Bleh.. I remember this issue. My daughter was still very modest and shy but had a womans figure at 11 or so and it was difficult. It felt like our only choices were suits for 7 or 8 year olds, or suits that were waaayyy too revealing.
We had luck buying tops one place, and bottoms another place for a few seasons. The bottoms didn't matter so much as that she always had a matching pair of swim shorts that she wore at all times. Tops were harder but I agree that Lands End will have some things that are suitable.

 

[bjscheel]

Lands End girls are still just lined, and the womens sizes don't start until size 4 on many of the styles.

I actually just now emailed LL Bean and Lands End to suggest that they offer some big girls sizes with padding or shelf bras. I mean, LL Bean goes up to girls 18- seriously, how many girls that can wear size 18 are not going to need some support? DD is in 14 now, I would love it if she could get LL Beans cute girl styles for a couple more sizes if only they were substantial enough on top.

 

[scootch]

try kohls...

 

[wiigirl]

try kohls...

Thats what we did last year....found a great suit.

 

[pigletto]

Lands End girls are still just lined, and the womens sizes don't start until size 4 on many of the styles.

I actually just now emailed LL Bean and Lands End to suggest that they offer some big girls sizes with padding or shelf bras. I mean, LL Bean goes up to girls 18- seriously, how many girls that can wear size 18 are not going to need some support? DD is in 14 now, I would love it if she could get LL Beans cute girl styles for a couple more sizes if only they were substantial enough on top.

Good for you! I remember participating in a long thread about this very issue when dd was going through that phase and that was 4 years ago. I also frequent another board where it has come up. Clearly parents and young girls are having a hard time finding modest and stylish and it would like to not have to hunt for weeks to find a decent tween suit.

 

[bjscheel]

Heard almost instantly from LL Bean:

"Thank you for contacting L.L.Bean.
Customer comments like yours help us to improve L.L.Bean products and services. I have passed your suggestion regarding girls swimsuits on to our Corporate Office. The reputation of L.L.Bean products is largely the result of our listening to our customers over the years.
We appreciate you sharing your ideas with us."

Wouldn't hurt if some more people contacted them too

 

[cdelong1]

Did you try Justice online? My DD likes one piece suits and while they say they do not carry them in the stores they have some online.
Good luck!! We need to start looking too

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I know it's the opposite problem, but I have had trouble finding suits for my DD15 also that aren't overly skimpy in the chest area. Unfortunatly, the styles don't seem to be ideal for teens either way. Some of the suits available for larger bust sizes are on the frumpy side for a tween or teen. They want cute!

I found some tankinis at zappos.com that fit her beautifully, and were really cute, but again, her bust was practically falling out of the skimpy chest area. (Who's designing these things? ) I almost sent them back, but instead, I bought some spandex tank tops that they sell at Walgreens in complementary shades to the bathing suits, and she wore those underneath the tops. They covered her up reasonably, and looked like they went with the suits. She actually got a lot of compliments on them last summer.

This year, I got a jump on it early since she'll be doing a lot of swimming and boating this year. (The others are pretty faded from the pool, but she'll still use them for back up.) We were lucky to find a great salesperson at Pacific Sunwear (or something like that; it's a bathing suit store). She helped us find some really cute suits that fit her well and covered her up nicely, without use of a tank top underneath. They were a little more expensive than what I paid before, but if you add in the cost of the tank tops, probably not that much more. Worth the price, in any case.

Hope this helps someone. Good luck in your shopping!

 

[bjscheel]

I did just look on there, and note that some of the styles have removable padding in sizes 10 and up. Most of them are v-cut though, so I don't know if OP will want, but that could be helpful to others. The neon zebra one has padding, and is straight across the top.

My DD11 wants a one-piece and Justice does have a pink one that criss-crosses at the chest with quite a few ruffles that might do the trick for some.