Swim and sport from BMJL
Made to be worn wet, then worn home.
Swimsuits, cover-ups and athletic shorts cut from the same quick drying fabrics. Every piece lists its fabric, its sizes and the colours it actually comes in, so the choosing happens here rather than at the door.
Shop the range
What people reach for
Four ways into the range, sorted by how many people have rated each piece.
Three places to start
BMJL Shorts
Two and a half inch inseams, zip pockets that hold a phone, and a liner that stays put.
BMJL Bikinis
Tops and bottoms sold as sets, with the coverage and the waist height stated rather than implied.
One fabric, two halves of a summer
BMJL began in 2017 with a single pair of running shorts that had a zip pocket big enough for a phone. That sounds like a small thing to build a company on. It was the only thing we could not buy at the time, and once we had made it for ourselves, the people we ran with wanted a pair.
We are a small team on the California coast, which shapes what we make more than any plan did. Half the year here is spent in water and the other half is spent within sight of it, and clothes get worn between the two states all day. A suit dries on a walk. Shorts go from a run straight into the sea. Nothing we make gets one job.
That is why the two halves of this range share their fabric. The quick drying blend in a pair of athletic shorts is the same family of blend as the one in a swimsuit, and that is not a coincidence of sourcing. It is the reason a BMJL cover up can go over a wet suit without soaking through to the outside within a minute.
We test in the least scientific way available. Pieces go out to the people who work here, they get worn for a season, and the ones that come back with a complaint get changed. The complaint that has changed the most designs is a simple one: the waistband rolled. High waisted cuts across this range are wide and firm for that reason and no other.
What we publish about a piece comes from what is actually printed on it. Fabric percentages, inseams in inches, whether the pockets zip, whether the pads come out. If a page here does not mention a feature, the honest reading is that we could not confirm it, not that the piece lacks it in some clever way.
Sizes run X-Small to XX-Large across most of the range, and they run to our own measurements rather than to a national standard, because there is no single one to run to. The sizing guide on this site sets out how to measure yourself and which department runs closest to the number on the tape.
Colour is the other thing we get letters about. The same style can exist in a dozen shades and only three of them stay in stock through August, so every page here lists the colours that piece actually comes in rather than the ones it was photographed in. When a shade goes, the page stops naming it.
We do not run a shop of our own. Every piece here is bought through our retail partner, and the buttons open the page for that exact item in that exact colour. Prices move with the season, so we refresh ours on a schedule and print the date of the last refresh in one place rather than promising a figure we cannot hold.
The part of this we are least willing to fudge is what a piece will not do. A shelf bra is not a running bra. A crochet cover up is not sun protection. A tankini is not a surf suit. Saying so costs us a sale now and again, and it is the only way a catalogue like this stays worth reading twice.
BMJL One-Piece
Tummy control panels, ruched fronts and V necks, in the cuts that actually stay put in water.
BMJL Cover-Ups
What goes over the swimsuit for the walk to the water, lunch, and the drive home.
What the catalogue actually holds
Counted from the range as it stands today, not rounded up for the sake of a headline.
| Department | Styles | Pieces | From | Rated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BMJL Shorts | 22 | 74 | $9.99 | 22 |
| BMJL Bikinis | 32 | 66 | $9.49 | 31 |
| BMJL One-Piece | 29 | 51 | $9.99 | 29 |
| BMJL Cover-Ups | 16 | 45 | $9.99 | 16 |
| BMJL Leggings | 17 | 34 | $9.99 | 17 |
| BMJL Tops | 17 | 23 | $5.99 | 17 |
| BMJL Tankinis | 8 | 10 | $19.99 | 8 |
| BMJL Dresses | 14 | 33 | $11.99 | 13 |
BMJL Leggings
High waisted, flare and straight cuts, with pockets where the maker puts them.
BMJL Tops
Built-in bras, cropped cuts and ribbed knits, sorted by what is underneath rather than by colour.
Two halves of the same wardrobe
In the water
Suits, tankinis and two-piece sets cut from fabric that stretches wet as well as dry.
See the swim range
Out of it
Shorts, leggings and tops in the same quick drying blends, with the inseam printed on the page.
See the sport rangeBMJL Tankinis
The two-piece for people who want a one-piece, with the top long enough to stay down.
BMJL Dresses
Tennis dresses with built-in shorts and a short line of casual dresses.
Guides
Sizing, fabric and care, written from what the labels actually say.
How BMJL sizing works, and how to measure yourself once
Ten minutes with a tape measure settles a year of guessing. Here is what our sizes mean, where the range runs small, and what the fabric line has to do with fit.
Why swimsuits die, and the ten minutes that stop it
Chlorine, sun cream and a hot dryer kill more suits than swimming does. What the fibre is doing, what the care label is legally required to tell you, and the rinse that costs nothing.
Sun, water and what goes over a swimsuit
A cover-up is a garment with a job, and the job changes between the beach, the walk back and lunch. What the CDC publishes about clothing and ultraviolet light, and what a crochet knit really does.