You knot the halter cord behind your neck, tie the second cord across your back, and the little shell charm settles at the centre.

Nine in the morning at the edge of the pool, the stone still cool underfoot. The sage green knit is dry and faintly grainy under your thumb, a fine diamond waffle you feel before you see it. The two triangles sit light, the shirred elastic along their lower edge gathering the cloth into a soft ripple, and the cowrie shaped charm on its short gold tone chain swings once and stops.

Both pieces are edged in a white picot lace tape with a yellow woven ladder down its centre, and four small green satin bows sit where that tape meets the cords. The bottom is a low rise front on one continuous elastic waistband that lies flat across the hip bones and dips into a shallow V below the navel. Turn a cup over and the white lining carries a single slit, which is where the pad slides in and out.

Key Benefits

• Two pieces, knotted not fastened A triangle top and a low rise bottom, packed together as one bikini set. The top ties at the neck and again across the back, so nothing hooks and nothing zips, and you set the tension yourself.
• Pads that genuinely come out Each cup lining carries its own slit pocket, so the chest pad the maker supplies slides out in a second and back in just as fast. There is no underwire in the top and the sheet calls the support non steel.
• Lace tape and bows on both halves White picot scallops with a yellow woven centre run along both upper edges of each triangle and right around the waistband, punctuated by four green satin bows.
• Texture knitted in, never printed The sage green is solid throughout. Every bit of pattern is a fine diamond waffle worked into the cloth itself, so it reads the same wet, dry and after the wash.
• One continuous band at the hips The bottom rides on a single elastic waistband rather than side knots, so there is no bow at the hip to work loose while you swim.

Best for: The swimmer who wants a small classic triangle set for a pool morning or a hot flat beach day, who reaches for a low rise cut over a high waist, and who would rather knot a cord to her own shape than trust a plastic slider.

Why It Works

Most of this set is decided by two cords and one slit. The cords mean the top adapts to your torso instead of the other way round, and the slit means the pad is a choice rather than a fixture, which is the difference between a shape you picked and a shape that came in the box. The waffle knit earns its place too: a solid dye with the interest built into the loops holds up where a print fades, and the white lace tape gives the sage a hard edge to sit against.

Quick Product Facts: Two piece bikini set, one triangle top and one low rise bottom; sewn care label reads 85 percent polyester and 15 percent spandex; solid sage green in a fine diamond waffle knit; white picot lace tape with a yellow woven centre; four green satin bows; cowrie shaped charm on a gold tone ring and short chain; white lined cups with a slit pad pocket in each; no underwire; halter neck cord plus a long back tie; one continuous elastic waistband; sizes S and M; one colourway, listed under the code LD25613G2.

How It Fits Your Routine

First wear starts at the mirror, not the water. Knot the neck cord, knot the back cord, then decide about the pads: leave them in for a rounder line under the triangles, pull them through the slits for something flatter and softer. Write down which knot length worked, because you will want it again next time.

By the second afternoon the routine is short. The set goes on under a shirt or a light robe for the walk down, the cords come loose in one pull at the water, and the low rise band sits under a towel wrap without a seam ridge. Neither piece has a buckle to press into you on a sun lounger.

At the end of the day rinse both pieces in cold water while the salt is still wet, then wash cold on gentle with like colours, no bleach, no chlorine cleaner. The label allows a low tumble dry and asks you to take the pieces out promptly, though flat in the shade is kinder to the elastic and to the lace tape.

FAQ

Is this a one piece swimsuit? No. It is two pieces. The title we inherited said one piece, but the supplier sheet calls it a split swimsuit, a bikini with a briefs bottom, and lists top and bottom under a packing list of one bikini set. Every photograph shows two separate garments, so we corrected the title rather than repeat it.

Is the back open, as backless suggests? There is no back to open. A triangle bikini top has no back panel at all, only a cord that ties across you, so nothing has been cut away and backless describes nothing here. Your back is bare because the top is two triangles on strings, which is the normal build of this garment.

Do the pads come out, and how much does the bottom cover at the back? The pads come out: there is a slit pocket in the lining of each cup, and the maker lists a non steel chest pad, so no underwire either. Coverage at the back we cannot show you. The maker never photographs the rear of the bottom and only calls it a briefs bottom, so we will not describe what we have not seen.

What is the fabric, exactly? The label sewn into the cup reads 85 percent polyester and 15 percent spandex, and that is the figure we use. The listing text says 82 percent polyester and names no second fibre, which cannot be a full composition. We trust the label you will hold in your hand over the line in the description.