Spring Break: 3 kinds of skimpy – Honolulu, Hawaii
Calendar of Events – Hawaii Entertainment and Nightlife –
Honolulu Pulse
http://w w w .honolulupulse.com/events/spring-break-2011/spring-break-3-kinds-of-skimpy
August 3, 2011
BY NADINE KAM / [email protected]
Click here for more photos.
South American nations have long been known for their heated rivalries on the futbol field (that’s
soccer to us), but another friendlier and lesser known competition is brewing right here in Hawaii,
where designers of Brazilian, Argentinian and Peruvian bikinis are aiming for beach dominance at
a time when the trend in American swimwear has been toward more covered-up styles to suit an
aging, heavier population with nostalgia for the high-waisted pinup look of the 1940s.
That just won’t do for sun worshipers aiming to soak up as much rays as they can on Spring Break.
For that, the South Americans are delivering their own take on the vaunted itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie
bikini.
—Photo courtesy Brazilian Showroom
BRAZILIAN
By virtue of longevity, the Brazilian bikini has had a lock on
imaginations for decades due to images from Carnival and Rio. By
the time Nadia Ribeiro of Brazilian Showroom first introduced the
sexy, skimpy suits to Hawaii beach-goers as an alternative to the
fuller American cut or sporty local styles, the suit needed no
introduction, but getting women to wear it was another story.
She said it was difficult for women accustomed to covered behinds
to let the sun shine where it never had before.
“Even if your butt is not that great, it will be better if you wear (the
Brazilian bikini bottom) right,” she said.
Sure enough, when a Japanese visitor in the store tries on a suit
and steps out of the dressing room, Ribeiro shows how pulling the
bottom lower flattens any attributes, making her derriere appear to sag. It perks up when the suit is
worn correctly.
Over the years, women have gotten the message to the point that her shop, once mostly filled with
streetwear, has grown to be filled with bikinis and swimsuits, with a handful of coverups and
boardshorts for guys.
She always carries her own made-in-Brazil line of solid-color bikinis, which works well with today’s
trend of mixing and matching bikini bottoms, as well seasonal styles in new prints.
At Brazilian Showroom, the separates run from about $39 for a solid-color bikini top or bottom, to
$89 per piece for designer lines with tops that might be embellished with jewels that look good
enough to be worn on evening dates, under a jacket.
She also carries other Brazilian brands like Blue Man, Banco de Areia and Cila.
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Brazilian Showroom is at 3588 Waialae Ave.; call 735-7537.
—Photo courtesy La Diosa
ARGENTINA
To share her love of country, La Diosa’s Mariel Garrido Melchor has named six of her collections,
co-designed with her friend Marina Bonard, after Argentine neighborhoods, offering travelers quick
insight into the character of the various sites.
There’s Puento Madero, which pays homage to a high-end, touristy section featuring luxury
boutiques, restaurants and night life, marked by swimsuits with details of accent laces and beads.
Pallermo Hollywood captures the hip, edgier essence of a city that skews young and local, while
Recoleta, a city of lush parks, inspired a line of fresh, green-colored bikinis.
Melchor was an accountant in Argentina before marrying and moving here, then deciding to fulfill an
early dream of designing clothing. But one of the first things she noiced, was how, in a beach town,
women weren’t wearing swimsuits that flattered them.
“I researched by looking and saw American suits are very large in the bottom.”
Just as in Brazil, that is unheard of in Argentina, where “girls are more aggressive in the way they
wear swimsuits. It’s similar to Brazilian fashion style. They want a suit that’s going to enhance them.”
Her company name, which translates to “The Goddess,” reinforces that notion.
The company’s suits are handmade in Argentina, and Melchor aims to filling a niche between the
large American-style bikini, and the scanty Brazilian style.
“The Brazilian swimwear is very small and only a small percentage of women can wear it. We’re in
between and we put in shirring on the back to give the bottom shape, and put a little padding in the
bra,” she said, whether for modesty’s sake, or a little enhancement.
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La Diosa swimwear can be found at Allure, Bikinis and Things, Cosmopolitan Sun Shop in Koko
Marina Shopping Center, My Evolution, San Lorenzo, Sunshine Swimwear and Therapy
Boutique on Oahu; Fifi & Bootzie and Women Who Run With Wolves on Maui; Beaches Hawaii
on the Big Island; and Sweet Bikinis on Kauai.
La Diosa will also be among the vendors at the first annual Hawaii Fashion and Beauty Expo
March 25 to 27 at the Blaisdell Center.
—Photo courtesy Diana Delgado
PERU
Macchu Picchu and the Andes mountain range are among the first
landmarks associated with Peru but there are also beaches to rival
those of Hawaii, and North Shore swimwear designer Diana
Delgado offers handcrafted Peruvian bikinis that on a size
spectrum that fits snugly between the Brazilian and Argentinean
cut.
“I know because I was just there,” she said by phone from Peru,
where she’s finishing her next collection after doing a little research
on the two countries beaches. “The real traditional Brazilian bikini
is ridiculously small. Unless you’ve been there and grew up with
that culture, it can be uncomfortable. I’m a really petite person but
over there, I fit the medium. That’s how petite it is.”
The Peruvian cut is still smaller than what most women are
accustomed to wearing, “but I feel it’s a more comfortable fit,” she said.
Before she launched her own eponymous line of bikinis four years ago, Delgado wore many a
Brazilian bikini because they were the only ones that suited her South American sensibility. “I mean,
the American cut is too much for me. It’s not really flattering on the figure,” she said.
Delgado grew up in the fashion business. Her father owned a string of textile shops, and her mother
created a niche for herself designing private school uniforms.
In studying fashion design, she fell in love with swimwear, and in Hawaii gained the confidence to
pursue it as a career after completing Honolulu Community College’s Fashion Technology Program.
Although the work on her handcrafted suits is done in Peru, she uses Lycra sourced from Brazil for
their strength, resilience and print artistry.
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Diana Delgado swimwear can be found at The Butik, Cosmopolitan Sun Shop and Waveriding
Vehicles in Haleiwa.