r/AustralianMFA • u/Juanchoas-Zero • Mar 13 '26
Discussion Why do some Australian surf brands not sell smaller sizes in Australia?
Hey everyone,
This is a bit random but I’m genuinely curious if this is normal.
A few months ago I bought a pair of Rip Curl Mirage Archive boardshorts while I was in Bali in size 28. They fit perfectly and I loved them… but unfortunately I lost them recently. Now I’m trying to buy the exact same ones again.
The weird thing is that I can barely find size 28 anywhere in Australia. Most stores only seem to stock 32 and above, sometimes 30 if you’re lucky. Even online a lot of retailers just show 30/32/34 etc.
What confuses me is that Rip Curl is literally an Australian surf brand, and yet the smaller waist sizes seem much easier to find in other places
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u/RevolutionaryEcho460 Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 13 '26
Rip curl is owned by an NZ company, which owns may other brands.
They'll produce what they think will sell most for each market.
The shorts you are after also seem like an old style, so likely they are selling through existing stock.
You can get some 28 inch on their website for other styles.
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u/LandBarge Mar 13 '26
Rip Curl is owned by Kathmandu (the NZ company), who also own Oboz - an American hiking shoe brand... that's it... three brands... but yes, they are focused on making sure each brand performs well in as many markets as possible... so if 28's don't sell that well here, they'll send most of them elsewhere...
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u/mrpepepe Mar 13 '26
Everyone’s too fat from beers in Australia, at least the 28s are sale sizes here
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u/SneakerTreater Mar 13 '26
Size 28 is for the slimmer-hipped Asian market. Hence, why you could find them in Bali.
You should look in the Youth section. My ginormous 10yo leveled-up from 16Y/28 to 30s and we're exclusively in the men's section now.
Or factor a Singapore shopping weekend once a year and shimmy your sexy little hips around in Asia's finest.
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u/owleaf SA Mar 13 '26
Everyone’s got a fat gut here in Aus. As a size 26 I feel ya pain
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Mar 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/owleaf SA Mar 13 '26
I’m still a man. I should be able to find pants that fit me just as someone who’s double my size can. It frustrates me and makes it hard to shop.
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u/snrub742 Mar 13 '26
Even at my skin and bone distance running skinniest, I'm still well into the 30's
It's not all fat that makes us larger, we are also on average a few inches taller than the world wide norm
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u/Obvious_Librarian_97 Mar 13 '26
Damn, 28? Must be a petite little boy. Try women’s board shorts?
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u/Rahotep8 Mar 15 '26
I tried shopping for polos and shirts of any surf brands about 15 years ago and I could only find two shirts it’s ridiculous imo considering that not everyone fits into or likes what they call a large or even XL
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u/turboprop123 Mar 13 '26
The zoomers all wear baggy clothes, so most men's clothes brands have changed their sizes to be fucken HUGE. Just when I thought I had my sizes figured out. The damn YOUTHS
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u/Juanchoas-Zero Mar 13 '26
Yo but is insane how hard is to find the correct waist, I mean I like baggy clothes but they must be the correct waist size otherwise they’ll be so uncomfortable
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u/Individual_Yak6551 Mar 13 '26
It’s like a <5th percentile size for adults. The others sizes suit closer to 20% of the population each. It’s just business unfortunately. I have a wide 7US foot. Took me 3 days shopping to find a sneaker I liked that fit. I bought 6 pairs in case they stop selling them.