Cynthia Rowley Zodiac Wetsuit (c/o)
Wetsuits are not cute; I speak from vast experience here. I bought my first wetsuit when I was 12 and got my scuba diving certification…and I still have the same one. This would be kind of fun – look at meeee, fitting into my preteen wetsuit! – except it’s sort of like still being able to fit into an Ace bandage that happens to be purple, and cover your whole body. You can do it…but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a great idea.
The thing about wetsuits is they’re meant to be functional. You don’t wear them to be adorable; you wear them to not freeze. And so the best-looking ones I’ve seen – up until now, at least – are only “cute” because they’re not terrible and/or neon. In other words, they are black.
Cynthia Rowley went ahead and fixed this problem, creating a collection of shortie (long-sleeved, short-legged) wetsuits in patterns so cute you’ll want to wear them in way more situations than when you’re hanging out at the bottom of the ocean. Surfing! At the beach on a cool day! To do laps in your pool because you were one minute late to yoga and cried because you were just trying to do something positive for yourself, damnit, and so you’re trying to make it up to yourself by doing laps even though the sun already went down!
The usual places.
Scroll down for a few of my favorite picks from Cynthia Rowley’s collection (including a bunch of rash guards and surfsuits that are thinner and more lightweight than traditional wetsuits, making them totally appropriate for the non-scuba-ers among you).
