North Shore Swimwear

How sad this store has closed. I would buy a bathing suit here every visit to Hawaii plus I ordered online too. I’m so sorry to see it go. It was one of a kind. There is no other place on earth where any woman of any size can find a suit that is perfectly tailored to her. Most impressive was when I wanted a bottom with a higher waist but with ties on the sides… they made one… just like that. I had a custom suit just for me. I am so sorry this store is gone. I hope they reopen in another location because this was a great idea and a great product. I sympathize with some who said the suits didn’t last long enough. You really have to take care of these suits and hand wash all the time and line dry or dry flat. You can’t put them in the wash. They are delicates and should be treated as such. Mine lasted a good three to four seasons and the one I have now is still going after several years (I’ve lost count)…but i NEVER wash it in the machine. Never! And now I’ll be extra careful since I can’t replace it!

I bought a swim suit from this store because I was in the area and needed something. I liked the store because you can pick from a range of styes, then pick from a range of colors/​prints, and mostly you can pick the size that you need in both top and bottom (ie: you don’t have to get the same size in both pieces so you get a custom fit). It makes it really easy to find a suit that you like and that fits your body style. The problem that I have is that I spent $ 75 for the suit and it didn’t last. In less than a year the elastic was completely gone and I don’t wear it THAT much. Usually only on the weekends and I have 2 other suits. I just think that for the price I can do without a perfect style/​fit — and there are other places that sell tops and bottoms separately at a lower cost & better durability. Really disappointed.

This place is the best when looking for Custom Swimsuits and Swimwear for your your favorite girl! They have all kinds of Bikinis for women. You can even order online :). They know what you are looking for as soon as you start saying what you want to buy for your women. Awesome Bikini, Swimsuit, Swimwear store!

This is an unusual review for me, being male and of the type that does not wear bikinis or other articles of female clothing. I have, however, been bringing my female visitors to Hawaii to North Shore Swimwear for over 15 years now, and for good reason. I usually let my guests know about this store in advance, and plan on getting here as early as possible during their trip to O’ahu.
A small minority of women are shaped the way fashion designers unrealistically envision the majority of women to be shaped. As such, finding a swim suit that you really feel great in, with no self-​consciousness on how this fits here or that fits there or how this seam or line or cut kind-​of looks good but makes your hips flare or your tummy or sides look weird, or how your shoulders don’t work well with certain kinds of ways that your top secures, so on and so forth — it really can be difficult; and when you find THAT PERFECT SWIMSUIT, you adore it and it becomes one of the most precious sets of clothing you own.
** WHY CUSTOM SWIMWEAR? **
North Shore Swimwear exists for exactly this reason. The truth is, just like the effect a custom tailored suit has on a man — a custom tailored swimsuit on a woman takes her natural features and is crafted around them as to fit perfectly in all ways, to accentuate positive features and to neutralize features that a woman wants to hide.
If in your life, you have never felt like you could look good in a swimsuit, before you give up, try North Shore Swimwear.
This is how it works:
** 20 TOP STYLES, 20 BOTTOM STYLES, 40 PATTERNS, UNLIMITED CUSTOM FIT ALTERATIONS TO FIT EVERY WOMAN **
NSSW works with about 20 basic styles of tops and 20 basic styles of bottoms. Those styles can be custom made to order with fabrics selected out of a swatch book of roughly 40 colors and patterns. If you want basic solid colors, you can do that. If you want wild, or retro or modern, you can do that. The staff can measure you and custom make your suit to fit you perfectly. You also have the option of making changes to the pieces, such as adding a band around the waist to lift and tuck, or alter to fit your waist/​hipline/​backside better. You can have the sides turned into strappy ties; the same way you can have the same thing done to your top. You can have added padding inserted, taken out, hem lines under the bust tailored in, lifted. You can have your basic selected style altered to fit your own style — if you like the «Tavaner» top, but you want straps instead of halter, you can do that.
NSSW also makes a wide variety of swimwear, from pieces that don’t leave much to the imagination; to pieces that are very modest (which is a concern for many of my woman friends) but yet stylish and beautiful. Bottoms even include 50’s retro trunk style, or even ones with skirts. Tops have various kinds of tankini’s also. I have brought, over the last 15 years, women who have ranged (truly) in all shapes and sizes and proportions, and every-​single-​one of them have left happy (finally) with a swimsuit that they really feel beautiful in.
** OFF THE RACK OR CUSTOM TAILORED IN 5 DAYS **
You can pick off of the rack. The store is small, but it’s cram packed with swimwear pieces. If these fit you perfectly already, you’re lucky. Or you can make your custom order.
Turnaround time is 5 business days, which they have been able to maintain through the years even though the demand is up. All work is done upstairs on-​site. If you are visiting the Islands, come here early so by the end of your trip you’ll have your custom swimwear ready.
You can try on the samples, and the staff will help you with measuring and fitting; taking notes for your order to send upstairs to fabricate. If you get it and it doesn’t fit right, they will alter for free to your satisfaction, and will even do so via mail if you don’t live in Hawaii.
** GREAT VALUE **
Best of all, the cost is great. Usually, you can get a very well made two piece set for somewhere around $ 60 to $ 80 for the set (which often times is what you would pay for a decent set anyway). Custom add-​ons will add service charges of course, but they are usually not very much; and the little extra to ensure you get EXACTLY what you want is always worth it. When you have that piece that you can wear and KNOW you look beautiful, that’s something that so many women want but cannot find. At North Shore Swimwear, this is exactly what you will find.
VERDICT:
⁵⁄₅ — Really, as so far, in 15 years of bringing women here from all over the world, 100% have been completely satisfied with what they got here; and have told their friends to come here when they visit Hawaii themselves. And for those who have shopped here once before, the fact that NSSW is one of the first things they come to on their first day visiting back in Hawaii is a true testament to how good it feels to put on a swimsuit and walk on the beach feeling like the most beautiful woman in the world.

I loved this place! I bought a super cute suit here:) The woman inside was very helpful and friendly. Since I’m not from the area I was expecting it just to be a ordinary bikini outlet. But to my surprise they had one pieces! Andddd they customize! Sweet! I will deffentitly be shopping here again. Maybe not in person since I live about 4,000 miles away but 5– stars all the way!

I just the left the shop that I was so excited to go to but was extremely dissatisfied. The swimwear was very cute, but the two girls working there were very unhelpful. They only said hi to me and never offered me any other assistance in finding a suit. They were too busy with trying to close the store for the night even though there were still shoppers. I wasn’t the only one. They were also discussing social activities for later that night instead of offering me assistance. I’m sure I could have found something but not with that customer service. I will not go back and will not recommend it to friends.

I found the North Shore Swimwear website after a prior custom swimsuit company failed to process an order I paid for and didn’t reply to emails. Thank goodness for PayPal!
The customer service is outstanding! I ordered bottoms online, got them a week later! I have a high waist, so I prefer a slightly higher waist and they’ve quickly exchanged/​remade my order with a 1 inch higher waist. They keep all your info on file and makes it easy to reorder. North Shore will be my go to from now and I’m telling all my friends/​family.
Good customer service is hard to find these days and they go all out to make you happy.

This shop is small, but don’t let that deceive you. They jam pack the shop with many styles and designs, where you can pick what style and size you want on top and what you need on the bottom. There is a similar store in LA that I usually go to, but their bi kins run about $ 60/​piece. At North Shore Swimwear it is very reasonable at about $ 30-​$ 40/​piece.
You can walk out with a perfect fitting bikini for less than $ 80.
Even if you don’t live in the North Shore you can always order the style you like by buying it online. The receipt tells you what the style is named and you can look it up on their online store and buy different prints.
The best thing about their suits is that it actually is functional! I was a bit worried since I tend to shy away light colors (aka white!) because of how it will look after getting it wet. The suit stayed on and didn’t become translucent after getting wet!
I love this place!