Methodology

How we keep this catalogue current

What gets re-read, how often, and what happens to a piece that sells out.

Prices

Every price on this site comes out of our own product data and is rewritten when it moves. The catalogue was last updated on October 3, 2026, and at that update it held 56 styles in stock across 535 colour and size combinations. Where a figure here and the figure at the till disagree, the till is the one that counts.

A piece we cannot currently buy does not appear at all. It is not hidden behind a “currently unavailable” label: it comes off the site at the next build and comes back by itself when it returns to stock, because the catalogue behind these pages keeps asking about it either way.

Cut, fabric, colourways and sizes

These come from the same product data and are rebuilt from it on every pass, so nobody types a cup into a paragraph by hand. The size run on a card is the run the piece is cut in at our last update; a size missing from the run is missing from the piece, not from the page. Where a piece gives no fibre content, the line is left blank rather than guessed, and where it gives one, the label sewn into the garment is still the document that governs washing.

Pictures

Every photograph on this site shows the colourway being sold, on a body where the brand photographed it that way. A frame with a size chart or a sales slogan printed into it is cropped to the photograph or left out, and a picture that argues with what is written beside it is pulled instead of captioned around.

Claims about sun, labels and safety

Anything on this site that touches sun protection, fibre labelling, care instructions or the flammability of clothing is written under a published rule rather than over one. The register below is the whole of it, and every entry was opened and read on September 4, 2026 before a link was put on it.

Corrections

If a fabric or a size run on this site argues with the label sewn into the piece in your hands, write to tide@ocean-blues.org with the page and the figure. It gets fixed at the next update, and we say what changed. The rest of what Ocean Blues will and will not print about itself is set out in the editorial standards.

Where this comes from

Sun-Protective Clothing · The Skin Cancer Foundation. What a UPF number means: UPF 50 blocks 98 percent of UV and lets two percent through, and 50 is the minimum for the Foundation's Seal. Wet or stretched fabric loses protection and turns more transparent; a white T-shirt drops from about UPF 7 dry to UPF 3 wet. Read September 4, 2026.
Sunscreen: How to Select, Apply and Use It Correctly · The Skin Cancer Foundation. SPF 30 or higher for a day, SPF 50 or higher for swimming and sport; about one ounce for the body; reapply every two hours and immediately after swimming. "Water resistant" holds 40 minutes in water, "very water resistant" 80; nothing is waterproof. Read September 4, 2026.
What to wear to protect your skin from the sun · American Academy of Dermatology. Look for a UPF number on the label; dark colours and dense weaves protect more than light shades and open weaves such as lace; dry clothing protects more than wet. Under protective clothing, a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher still goes on every bit of uncovered skin. Read September 4, 2026.
Sun Safety · US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. UV is strongest from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daylight saving time in the continental United States. Shade, clothing that covers arms and legs, a wide-brimmed hat, wraparound sunglasses, and a broad-spectrum sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher. Read September 4, 2026.
Threading Your Way Through the Labeling Requirements Under the Textile and Wool Acts · US Federal Trade Commission. What a garment label must state: fibre content by generic name and percentage in descending order, country of origin, and who made or marketed it. Fibres under 5% become "other fiber" unless they do a job, which is why spandex is named on a swimsuit: "96% Acetate, 4% Spandex" is the rule's own example. Read September 4, 2026.
Clothes Captioning: Complying with the Care Labeling Rule · US Federal Trade Commission. The Care Labeling Rule, 16 CFR 423: a washing instruction in five parts (method and water temperature, bleach, drying, ironing, warnings), a reasonable basis in evidence for each, and a label that stays attached and legible for the life of the piece. Read September 4, 2026.
Flammable Fabrics Act (FFA) · US Consumer Product Safety Commission. The 1953 Act and the standards under it. General wearing apparel answers to 16 CFR 1610, which sets the test and three classes of flammability; makers and importers certify to it, and adult apparel exempt under 1610.1(d) needs no certificate. Read September 4, 2026.
Purpose, scope and applicability of the Standard for the Flammability of Clothing Textiles · US Code of Federal Regulations, 16 CFR 1610.1. Which fabrics are exempt from the flammability test: plain-surface fabrics of 2.6 ounces per square yard or more, and any fabric made entirely of acrylic, modacrylic, nylon, olefin, polyester or wool. A nylon-spandex swim fabric is not entirely one fibre, so the exemption is not one we claim. Read September 4, 2026.