Mesh gets a bad rap. People hear it and think flimsy, or think festival, or think of something you'd only ever wear over a swimsuit.
Fair enough, but that's one weight of it doing one job. The bit worth knowing is that mesh isn't a single fabric. How many layers it's built in changes what it does on your body, and it changes everything.
Double layer actually holds you
Two layers of athletic mesh bonded together behave nothing like one. The weave still breathes, so you're not sweating in it the way you would in a solid jersey. But doubled up it goes opaque, and it picks up enough compression to hold a shape rather than just hang off you.
That's the Aura Romper. Deep V front and back, halter tie at the neck with the little pink clasps on the ends, and a fabric that holds you in through the body while staying cool enough to wear all afternoon. Looks like a going-out piece, wears like activewear. That's the whole idea.
Shop · Aura Romper Concrete
Single layer is sheer, and that's the point
The Aura Baby Tee is one layer of the same family of mesh. It's sheer. Not a bit sheer, not sheer-depending-on-the-light. Sheer.
We're saying that up front because it's a choice, not a mistake at the factory. A single-layer mesh tee is a layering piece. It goes over a bikini top, over a bralette, over whatever you want people to see, and the metallic trim round the hem, sleeves and neckline gives the edges enough weight that it reads as a top rather than underwear.
So if you want something opaque, this isn't it, and no amount of styling will change that. If you want something to throw over a swim top that turns it into an outfit, it's exactly it.
Shop · Aura Baby Tee Concrete
What to wear it over
The tee is at its best over swim. A triangle top underneath, tee over the top, a pant or a skirt below, and you've gone from the water to a bar without changing anything that matters. Let the bikini underneath do the colour work and keep the tee as the texture.
It also works over a plain bralette on a hot day when a normal tee would be too much. Same principle, different setting.
Looking after it
Mesh is tougher than it looks and worse with heat than almost anything else. Cold hand wash, dry flat in the shade, keep it well away from the dryer. Rough surfaces are the other enemy, so a concrete ledge or a scratchy pool edge will pull a thread faster than a whole season of wearing it will.
Look after it and it'll hold its shape for years. Treat it like a cotton tee and it won't see out the summer.
Enjoy responsibly.