Boys swimwear from House of Fraser

Swimwear’s a bit of an unknown for me with N.  When he was at Water Babies, it was easy.  A happy nappy plus then a rash vest because I didn’t want him shivering, plus it was easier to grab him rather than a wriggly bare torso.  But moving on from that has meant some thinking was required.

Now he’s in normal children’s swimming lessons, I’ve continued with the rash vest which is the norm for him, and have had to make a decision about the bottom half.  Girls (for once) are so much easier to dress for swimming.  Just a swimming costume.  Easy.  But with boys I didn’t know if ‘trunk’ type shorts were better, or whether swim shorts (like normal shorts) would be better.  I guess the latter are better for floating ability?  I thought that swimming trunks (ie more fitted shorts) would be better than big shorts billowing round.  Most of the boys do wear big cartoon based shorts, although I’ll stick with those for beach wear at the moment…at least until N decides that’s what he wants to wear.  My theory is that he’ll probably learn better technique and form in tighter shorts.

Now I’m not talk budgie smugglers (obviously not, with little children.  Really, are they ever right?  Apart from maybe professional swimmers).  But the more jockey style swimming trunks.

At the moment N just has a bog standard bluey-grey pair bought for a bargain price in an online sale. They’ve done the job really well and he seems to be comfortable in them.  But I’m now thinking about buying the next size up, and having spare pairs in readiness in case we swim quite a bit in the summer holidays.  We were offered the chance to review some swimwear from House of Fraser, so I was able to have a good look at what was available.

N doesn’t really do choosing clothes, so I still get to make the decisions.  I found there was a really good range of boys swimwear at House of Fraser, much more choice than I’d thought there’d be.  There were some great offers on as well, so I chose a pair of Polarn O. Pyret swimming trunks and a Quicksilver rash vest.  Of course I had to opt for predominantly blue and it’ll mix and match (well, vaguely) with his existing swimwear if needed.

When they arrived, N took a quick look, decided it wasn’t toys and left me to it.  But when I showed him the shorts out of the packet, he did deign to admit ‘they’re nice colours’.  Easily pleased, my son, but it was reassuring to know that he would be pleased to try them out at his next swimming lesson.

The bottoms were an age 4-6, so they’re not skin tight.  I did worry that the waist might be a bit large, but there’s a couple of cords inside that do actually have a function so I was able to tie them to make sure his trunks didn’t fall down.  I like how they’re fairly plan, but with a bit of colour, so most colour tops would go well.

The rash vest was an age 6.  I always find they’re really tight over the head, and come up quite small, so we go up a couple of sizes and they fit perfectly.  This has a little growing room, but because he wears a swim belt when swimming, it keeps his rash vest from pulling up.  N didn’t make any comments about the rash vest, but he happily put it on and posed for a photo which is getting rarer the older he gets.

I did cut the huge labels out of the side of the rash vest, they’re always massive and to me would feel annoying, and N said after his swimming lesson that he was comfortable when swimming in his new swimwear.  The rash vest is really made for outdoor beach wear, so will keep N well protected from the sun’s rays – its ultra violet protection is the maximum level of upf 50.  The rash vest also comes in other colours – the orange would be great for spotting children on the beach.

Both the top and bottoms are easy to care for – they just need rinsing in water after use, and then leaving laid out to dry.  To be honest, I’m always really lazy and can’t say I’ve ever particularly looked after swimwear in a certain way – just wring out, rinse if salty, sandy or particularly strong chlorine, and dry slung over the shower rail.  They’ve always lasted really well, so hopefully these will too.

He keeps asking for the paddling pool to be put out and filled up, so I’m sure that between that, swimming lessons and some trips to the outdoor pool over the summer, his new House of Fraser swim wear will be well used.

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Disclosure: We were able to choose swimwear for the purpose of review.  All words and opinions are my own.