Our Story

You know the feeling. Beach day with the girls, and you’re digging through the wardrobe for something that fits your curves, won’t go see-through and won’t blow up in the breeze. Then settling for the sarong again.

We know it too.

Two friends at the school gate
Bec and Mel met at the school gate in Caloundra almost twenty years ago. Lunch boxes, school concerts, Saturday sport. And every summer, the same quiet problem: nothing to wear by the water that actually fit.

Bec spent years hiding under sarongs and oversized tees. Mel spent years looking after everyone else and forgot to make time for herself. Between them, they’d stood in more change rooms than they could count, and walked out of most of them empty-handed.

So we opened our own
Ten years ago, we stopped searching and opened a little boutique in Caloundra. One rule from day one: every piece is tried on by Bec first. Do the straps stay put? Does it go see-through in the sun? Will it blow up in the breeze? Can you sit through a long lunch in it? If it doesn’t pass her test, it doesn’t make the rail.

How the Society began
Women came in for a dress and stayed for a coffee. Then they came back on Saturday for a swim at Kings Beach. Before we knew it, the boutique had become a circle of women just like us. Our shape, our friends, and finally some time for ourselves. The kids are grown, the time is ours, and so is the coastline.

That circle is The Wattle Society.

Meet Bec, the fit-tester
Bec is an AU 18 with a pear shape, and the toughest critic in the boutique. Her years of hiding are now our quality control. Every fit note you read on our site comes from her, tried on, sat in and walked in, before it ever reaches you.

Meet Mel, the voice
Mel left nursing to run the boutique full-time, and she’s the one who writes every email you’ll get from us. She organises the Saturday swim and has one line for anyone hovering on the sand: “Come on, you’re coming in.”

Now, wherever you are
After ten years, we’re bringing the Society online, so you can join from anywhere in Australia. To celebrate, you can save up to 50% on everything in our 10th Year Anniversary Sale. Same rule, same rail, same welcome. No hiding, no settling.

Curves welcome. Saltwater required.

With love,
Bec & Mel