Category: Pánske plavky – trendy, výber a inšpirácia
Second day of holiday in Croatia, 2:30 PM on the beach. A man discovers that the swimwear he bought before flying out at a hypermarket has loosened drawstrings after the first full day in salt water, and the fabric sits on his hips completely differently than the evening before when packing. At the hotel he changes into the second pair from the same package – the same problem the next day. On the third day he searches for a replacement in the town centre, choosing from three models in one boutique, paying fifty-five euros for something that would cost twenty-five at home. The cheap hypermarket purchase has just turned into an expensive compromise for the entire holiday.
This is what we at DESSUE have heard for 19 years from hundreds of men who came back from holiday looking for a higher-quality alternative. Men”s swimwear is one of the few pieces of a man”s wardrobe where the place of purchase matters more than it seems. In brick-and-mortar stores you typically find five to fifteen models for the entire season; in the range of a specialised online retailer, typically several hundred. In this guide we”ll explain why the majority of men in 2026 choose men”s swimwear via the internet, where the real risks of marketplaces lie, and how to reliably distinguish a trustworthy retailer from a dubious one.
Swimwear isn”t a T-shirt. You buy a T-shirt at a hypermarket, wear it a few times, and when it wears out, you replace it. Swimwear has to withstand salt, chlorine, UV radiation, friction against wet skin, moisture in a backpack, drying in the sun, and repeated washing. If swimwear fails at any of these points, it shows after just a few uses – they lose colour, deform, the weave fails, the material stretches. For comparison – quality Roberto LUCCA swimwear easily handles three to four seasons of intensive use.
In 19 years of selling men”s swimwear, we at DESSUE have seen hundreds of complaints about swimwear from hypermarkets and generic marketplaces. The most common reasons for failure are always the same – colour loss after a few immersions in salt water, deformation of the cut after the first intensive swim, and loss of elastane elasticity after exposure to chlorine. That”s why choosing a retailer is just as important as choosing the specific model. Quality swimwear made from Hi-Tech materials handles three to five seasons under intensive use. When buying from a verified online retailer, you also get detailed material descriptions, real photos, precise size charts and the option of 30-day exchange – all the things that are either missing or significantly limited in a brick-and-mortar store.
Before we dive into the details, a simple table for quick comparison:
| Criterion | Online specialised e-shop | Brick-and-mortar store / hypermarket |
|---|---|---|
| Range size | Hundreds of models | Single units to low tens |
| Cuts | Shorts, short shorts, briefs, boxers, thongs, string | Typically shorts and boxers |
| Sizes | XS to XXXL including non-standard | S to XL |
| Premium brands | Yes (Italian, French) | Rarely |
| 14-day right of return | Yes (statutory) | Often only with receipt |
| 30-day exchange | Yes (DESSUE: even after the deadline without issue) | No |
| Material details | Complete composition and texture photos | Only the label |
| Customer reviews | Yes (verified purchases) | None |
| Purchase anonymity | Full | None |
| Price for the same quality | Lower | Higher (rent, staff, shop window) |
Here the difference is most striking. A standard brick-and-mortar store has five to fifteen men”s swimwear models in summer – typically one to two cuts (longer shorts and bathing boxers), three to five colours, sizes S to XL. For a larger man or someone who prefers brief swimwear, boxer swimwear or thong swimwear, the choice is practically non-existent.
An online specialised e-shop offers hundreds of models for one season in various cuts and colours. Sizes range from XS to XXXL, including "high-rise" cuts for taller men and "low-rise" for more compact figures. This means that a man with a non-standard figure – for example, a height over 185 cm or a slimmer waist – has a real chance of finding swimwear that fits. In a brick-and-mortar store, he has only one option: to buy what is roughly his size, and hope.
In brick-and-mortar stores, the final price has to cover rent in a shopping centre or pedestrian zone, staff salaries, energy, the shop window, and shelf logistics. In the online environment, these fixed costs disappear or are significantly lower – an e-shop doesn”t pay thousands of euros monthly for space in the city centre. The result is a lower final price or higher quality at the same price.
The second factor is transparency. Online, you see the price for each model immediately, you can compare with competitors, you can compare with the past season. At a hypermarket, you won”t know whether a competitor has the same model five euros cheaper – you”d have to physically go to another store.
This is the only point where the brick-and-mortar store has a natural advantage – you physically try on the swimwear there. But in practice, this advantage is smaller than it seems. Many stores, in fact, don”t allow trying on swimwear directly on the body for hygienic reasons – they only allow trying on over underwear, which unnecessarily deforms the cut and falsely shows the size.
In the online environment, this is solved by the statutory 14-day right of withdrawal and, in the case of DESSUE, also the above-standard 30-day exchange period. With a trustworthy e-shop, you pay the full price, get the swimwear at home, try it on at leisure and in front of the mirror – and if it doesn”t fit, you return it or exchange it for another size. In DESSUE practice, the customer receives a return form attached in the package, on which they have all the information and procedure completely. It”s enough to fill it in, tick whether it”s a return or exchange (and in the case of an exchange, write what new product they want), and send it back. No clicking on the internet, no searching for procedures, no printing forms on a printer. We process exchanges mostly on the same day the package arrives. And because we care about our customers, we don”t make problems even when a customer is slightly late with the exchange – we exchange the goods even after the 30-day deadline. In practice, this is more comfortable than trying on in a cramped fitting room of a department store.
At a hypermarket, your men”s swimwear is sold to you by a salesperson who, during the week, was filling shelves with electronics. They cannot advise whether you should choose briefs or shorts, what the difference is between various Hi-Tech materials, or how chlorine affects elastane. Staff at a specialised boutique know this – but there are fewer than ten such boutiques worldwide and they are concentrated in major capitals.
An online specialised e-shop solves this problem with expert content and direct support. Detailed material descriptions, a blog with articles on types of swimwear, choosing swimwear by body shape and the difference between sea and pool water – all of this is permanently available, whenever the customer opens the page. In the DESSUE offer we also have telephone customer support, a contact form for each product, and email communication with experts who have 19 years of practice in selling men”s swimwear.
Men”s swimwear is a more intimate clothing category. For many men, it”s uncomfortable to stand in the middle of a busy store at the swimwear shelf and compare cuts in front of others. Online, this moment disappears completely – you choose at leisure at home, in the evening, without unnecessary social pressure, and the package arrives discreetly in neutral packaging without any indication of contents.
Brick-and-mortar stores rarely carry premium brands in their range. The Roberto LUCCA brand, which has made it into the Top 10 of the Edgard L Élégant editorial team – one of the most influential French editorial teams in the field of men”s swimwear – for the third time over 2024, 2025 and 2026, is available primarily through specialised online retailers. The same applies to most Italian and French manufacturers in the middle and higher class. A detailed overview is offered by the article on the Top 10 brands of 2026.
Several clear advantages of online buying emerge from the first part. Here is a clear summary of the most important ones:
It would be a mistake to pretend that online buying has no disadvantages. It does. The real and honest disadvantages are:
1. You can”t physically try on swimwear before buying. This is the main concern of most customers, and in DESSUE practice we confirm that incorrectly chosen size is the most common reason for exchange and return. The solution is twofold: a detailed size chart (if the e-shop has dimensions in centimetres for each model – waist circumference, hip circumference, trouser length – you”ll manage with a tailor”s measuring tape at home) and a 30-day exchange period. For your first purchase, we recommend ordering two sizes, trying them on at home at leisure, and exchanging or returning the one that doesn”t fit using the attached return form.
2. Waiting for delivery. Internationally, the package is standardly delivered within a few business days, with express shipping even within twenty-four hours in many regions. When planning a holiday, it”s enough to order roughly a week before departure and there”s no risk.
3. Uncertainty about material and cut. Here the expert blog helps. Before ordering shorts, read the article on the right shorts cut or the article on why swimwear loses its shape – they”ll guide you to a model that really fits and lasts.
In short: disadvantages of online buying do exist, but with a trustworthy retailer they are smaller than at a brick-and-mortar store.
Here we need to distinguish. "Online buying" doesn”t equal "cheap marketplace". A big difference exists between a specialised e-shop with 19 years of experience and a generic marketplace where anyone sells.
Marketplaces are full of copies of well-known brands. A cheap "Vilebrequin" for twenty-five euros is most often an imitation made in Shanghai, where the manufacturer used only the logo and cut (often badly at that). A real Vilebrequin costs hundreds of euros. The same applies to copies of other Italian and French brands. You recognise them by: extremely low price, poor English translation in the description, generic photos (often stolen from the original retailers” pages), absence of measurement charts, impossibility of complaints and returns. The detailed difference between original and copy we discuss in a separate article.
Cheap e-shops and marketplaces often use one generic shot for dozens of different models. The swimwear you receive looks completely different in reality. The photos don”t have detail of the material, stitching, inner lining or zipper. With a specialised retailer, you see five to ten shots for each model, including details of seams and drawstrings.
One of the clearest signs by which you can distinguish quality swimwear from cheap marketplace offers is the inner lining. Cheap swimwear often has only a mesh inner insert. And here lies the problem: mesh belongs on windows against flies, not on intimate parts of the body. Through the mesh, everything shows that no one in the surroundings needs to see, the mesh can also chafe the most sensitive places. The treasure should be carried like in a feather-bed, not in a mesh.
For these reasons, the Roberto LUCCA brand does not use mesh inner inserts. In quality Roberto LUCCA swimwear (and other premium brands in the DESSUE offer) you”ll find a full 4-way lining made of quality quick-drying fabric with full coverage – no see-through, no peeking out alongside the trousers when sitting, no chafing. This is a detail you”ll never see in a photo at a cheap marketplace – but you”ll definitely feel it on the beach.
In the EU, every e-shop has the statutory obligation to provide a 14-day right of return. Marketplaces from abroad bypass this obligation – returning swimwear to Shanghai costs tens of euros in postage, so practically no one does it. "Complaint" is formal but non-functional.
Swimwear for nineteen euros from China can turn into swimwear for forty-five euros once you add customs, VAT, courier customs clearance fees, and postage. Meanwhile, you wait three to five weeks and often something different arrives than you saw in the picture.
Some Asian marketplaces sell swimwear in so-called "one-size" or with a very limited range (S to L), where Asian S corresponds to European XS and Asian L corresponds to European M. Without a detailed chart and the possibility of return, it”s a lottery.
Nine signs that reliably separate a professional retailer from an untrustworthy one:
DESSUE meets all nine of these signs – and additionally brings 19 years of expert experience in selling men”s swimwear and provides telephone customer support, a contact form for each product, and email communication with live consultants.
For those buying men”s swimwear online for the first time, the following procedure minimises the risk of an incorrect purchase:
Step 1: Measure yourself with a tailor”s tape. You need three measurements – waist circumference (at the thinnest point), hip circumference (at the widest point) and trouser length (from waist to knee). Write them down.
Step 2: Decide on the type. Men”s swim shorts for universal use, short shorts for a more stylish appearance and more even tan, boxer swimwear as a compromise between comfort and sport, brief swimwear for the pool and Mediterranean aesthetic, thong swimwear or String Mania for maximum tanning area. If unsure, read the article on types of swimwear.
Step 3: Check the material and inner lining. The most sold material in the DESSUE offer is Hi-Tech polyester – modern, quick-drying, resistant to chlorine, salt and UV. The second category is polyester with elastane, which brings better elasticity and shape stability, and the third is nylon taslon with natural water repellency and durability. Common polyester in cheap marketplace swimwear is less durable – Hi-Tech polyester is a different material, made according to demanding brand requirements and dyed with exclusive durable colours. The second key point is the inner lining – in quality swimwear you”ll find a full 4-way quick-drying lining with full coverage, not a mesh insert as with cheap models. What chlorine exactly does to swimwear, we describe separately.
Step 4: Compare your measurements with the e-shop”s size chart. If in doubt, order two adjacent sizes (for example M and L) and return or exchange the one that doesn”t fit within 30 days using the attached return form.
Step 5: Check guarantees. 14-day right of return, 30-day exchange period and statutory two-year material warranty are standard at a trustworthy e-shop.
Step 6: Order in advance. A week before planned use is the ideal time – you have room for exchange if the size doesn”t fit.
A practical aid on how to put together a swimwear set by trip type:
Classic scenario – Croatia, Greece, Italy, Egypt, Turkey. Optimal are three pairs of swimwear: one pair of men”s swim shorts for the beach and sea (quick-drying, salt-resistant material), one pair of boxer swimwear for the hotel pool and evening, one pair of brief swimwear as a reserve. Three pairs mean you always have dry swimwear, even when the others are drying. The detailed guide to a sea holiday brings an even deeper view on packing.
Short-term stays or wellness weekends manage with two pairs: one pair of boxer or brief cut, the second pair for rotation during the stay. What is the difference between materials for sea and pool, we describe in a separate article.
Longer trips or trips with various types of water require quality universal swimwear – ideally those that handle sea and pool without compromise. Here it pays off most to invest in a higher-quality model from Hi-Tech polyester – it lasts three to five seasons under intensive switching of water types.
In 2026, the decision is fairly clear. An online specialised e-shop with 19 years of experience that imports premium brands, offers detailed descriptions, a 14-day right of return and a 30-day exchange period brings greater value than a brick-and-mortar hypermarket. An online generic marketplace with cheap offers from Asia, on the contrary, is a risk worth avoiding completely.
Three things that make DESSUE a safe choice for online buying of men”s swimwear:
If you”ve been buying swimwear at a hypermarket so far, try one pair this year online from a verified specialised retailer. You”ll choose at leisure at home, try on in front of the mirror – and if it doesn”t fit, you”ll exchange for another size within 30 days or return within 14 days, using the attached form, without clicking on the internet.
The content of this article was prepared by practice experts from DESSUE based on more than 19 years of experience in selling men”s swimwear and cooperation with premium Italian and French manufacturers.
Online buying from a specialised retailer in 2026 is unequivocally more worthwhile. The range is several times larger, prices lower, you have a 14-day right of return and a 30-day exchange period available, and the quality of material descriptions and photos exceeds what you”ll get at a hypermarket. A brick-and-mortar store only makes sense for specialised boutiques in major cities, of which there are fewer than ten worldwide.
Measure yourself with a tailor”s tape: waist circumference and hip circumference, compare with the retailer”s size chart (must be given in centimetres). For your first purchase, we recommend ordering two adjacent sizes and returning or exchanging the one that doesn”t fit. Incorrectly chosen size is long-term the most common reason for exchange in DESSUE practice, which is why a return form with a complete procedure is attached in the package – it”s enough to fill it in on paper and send it back. The expert guide to choosing swimwear by body shape will also help.
The long-term best-selling model in the DESSUE offer is the Roberto LUCCA model 10152 – the shortest cut from the brand”s portfolio, which goes across all kinds of fabrics and collections. You”ll find it in Hi-Tech polyester, in polyester with elastane and in nylon taslon, in various colour variants and collections. Model 10153 is 3-4 cm longer, but still belongs to the shorter cuts. Both models are available in the short shorts category.
With a specialised e-shop with a detailed size chart, the risk is low. If the size still doesn”t fit, return or exchange is resolved within a few days – in DESSUE practice we process the exchange mostly on the same day the package arrives, and we don”t make problems even when a customer is slightly late with the exchange.
No. Cheap swimwear from Chinese marketplaces is typically made of common polyester without quality treatment and often has only a mesh inner insert, which shows through when wet. Premium brands (including Roberto LUCCA, which doesn”t use mesh) use specialised Hi-Tech polyester (or polyester with elastane or nylon taslon) dyed with exclusive durable colours and equipped with a full 4-way quick-drying lining with full coverage – the lifespan is three to five seasons under intensive use. We explain in detail how technologies like quick-drying work in a separate article.
Use the 14-day right of withdrawal or the 30-day exchange period. The swimwear must be unused (apart from trying on), with the original marking and in the original packaging. In the DESSUE package you”ll find an attached return form with a complete procedure – it”s enough to fill it in, tick whether you want a return or exchange (and in the case of exchange, write what new product you want), and send it back. No clicking on the internet, no searching for procedures, no printing. We process the exchange mostly on the day of receiving the package, and even if the exchange period is slightly exceeded, we exchange the goods without issue.
Main signs: verifiable domain, real telephone number, detailed material descriptions, size chart in centimetres, five or more model photos, clearly declared 14-day right of return and ideally also a 30-day exchange period, multiple payment methods including cash on delivery, and proper invoicing with VAT number and an active expert blog. DESSUE meets all these signs for 19 years already.
March to mid-April, when the new seasonal collection arrives and all sizes and colours are available. During July and August, the most sought-after models and sizes start to sell out, so if you want certainty that you”ll find exactly what you”re looking for, order in early spring or in time before your planned holiday.
Men”s swimwear from the premium offer with a 14-day right of return, 30-day exchange period and 19 years of expert experience can be found at DESSUE.com. To choose from you have men”s swim shorts, short shorts, boxer swimwear, brief swimwear, thong swimwear as well as the exclusive String Mania collection.
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