You've seen bathing suits with skirts and golf wear with sun-protective sleeves. Now imagine them together.
A new swimwear line called HydroChic offers sporty dresses, and mix and match tops and bottoms in myriad styles and colors. It was started by two Modern-Orthodox Jewish moms from New Rochelle who wanted modest swimwear with sporty style.
“I would say it came out of the modesty thing, says Sara Wolf, who owns the business with Daniella Teutsch. “But we both felt it was inappropriate to walk around some places in a bathing suit.”
The dress code for Modern-Orthodox Jewish women is to keep their body parts mostly covered besides their face and hands in public. Wolf says she would don an old T-shirt over her swimsuit if she were at the beach or walking around with her kids at the water park.
Wolf said she noticed other women covering up — not necessarily for religious reasons, but to protect themselves from sun damage (or their insecurities).
“We say we’re for everyone because no matter what your size, there’s something you don’t like about your body,” Wolf says.
Popular items include skorts and swim leggings for the bashful. Every swim top comes with a bra custom to your size in racerback, cup or mastectomy versions without underwire.
The swimwear is made of sun-protective fabrics with an Ultraviolet Protection Factor of 50, which reduces the skin’s UV radiation exposure. Fabrics come in a choice of silky nylon/spandex for the beach and a 100-percent chlorine-resistant, breathable wicking fabric made for pool sports but can double as exercise wear.
“We’ve been growing every year because I think our product resonates with women,” Wolf says.
Wolf and Teutsch were elementary teachers before wading into the world of swimwear eight years ago.
Wolf says they've had 30 percent growth since they started, and that the swimwear appeals to all generations of women, from teenagers to seniors.
“A big part of our market is older women,” Wolf says.
The online company is based in New Rochelle and sells both nationally and internationally, including to the U.K., Canada and Australia. Locally, the swimwear is available in 10 stores in Brooklyn and New Jersey.
So the next time you're out for a run in your HyrdoChic and wish you could just jump in the pool, go for it.
"Once you’re wet, it's quite cooling and it dries quickly,” Wolf says.Read more at:long prom dresses uk | plus size prom dresses