Where to Buy Bra-Sized Swimwear in 2013

Top Picks:

Victoria's Secret: Easy to navigate; choose "32DD" from the drop-down men and revel in 160 choices of different yet mix-and-matchable swimwear. No one-pieces here, but we knew those were a needle-in-a-haystack anyway - you're better off with tankini. If you need help understanding their "collections", here's my take: 

• Beach Sexy: Push-ups
• Forever Sexy: Slightly more demure options; no extra padding on the top
• Very Sexy: Skimpy styles and push-up tops
• Bombshell Swim Tops: Add 2 cups & skimpy styles.
• The Gorgeous Swim Collection: Pushup and Add-2-cups tops. 

Rating: B. I saw a few things I would wear, and may come back before my June trip.

Bare Necessities: It's one of the top-advertised places for bra-sized swimwear, but I'm not sure about the selection. They definitely deliver: if you figure out how to navigate to their bra-sized swimwear and choose a 32DD, you get about 75 results of legit 32DD-sized swimwear, with 6 brands represented: A.Che, Cleo by Panache, Curvy Kate, Fantasie, Freya, and Panache. The styles didn't wow me, but there may be some gems there. Rating: C. 

If you're starting to get desperate:

Nordstrom: You'll only find a couple of options here. Choosing "Full Bust" then filtering to "Cup Size" seems to refine the search down to your options - which are sparse. Rating: D-. At least they had something.

Land's End: Hope you like tankinis! Land's End definitely has DD cup swimwear. The problem is selection, and trying to figure out how to order it. If you navigate to their DDs, and get over your mono-choices (the blue tankini or the pink floral one?) you'll find that at first glance you have loads of ordering options. Do you want Regular, Petite, Long, or Plus? D, DD, DDD, or Masectomy? If you click on Petite, though - all your cup options go away! Great. So back to Regular, if you choose DD, your size choices shrink. At this point, you only have dress size options from 4 to 18. What am I supposed to do with that? Click on the Fit Chart, and learn that bust size is your only way of knowing which top is right for you. Of course that's useless for us. So I use the next measurement I know that kind of applies - waist. A 26" waist says I should be a 2 ... BUT THAT IS THE SIZE OPTION THAT DISAPPEARED WHEN I CLICKED ON 'DD'! Rating: F.

Venus: Also a top-rated site, and all seem to be available in 32DD? (There was no place to filter.) Seems very dated. I didn't stay long. Rating: ?

Swimwear Boutique: This is not the easiest place to shop. There is no way to filter by bra size (or filter by anything at all), but they carry brands that support DD's. It's an incredibly frustrating experience ... the only reason you might come here is to find a really unique swimsuit. Here are a few of the brands that are available in bra-cup sizes:

• Aerin Rose
• Swim Systems
• Tara Grinna

Rating: Fail. I couldn't stand the horrible navigation.