BY DESIGN : BEACH PATROL : A Preview of the Minimum Requirements for Summer : Hers

Bathing suits can work beautifully as flirtation devices. But brisk sales of neoprene are just one hint that, for many, shaking and baking is not enough.

Women who like to get wet are stepping into “spring suits”--the abbreviated version of the full-blown frogman variety--in record numbers, wet-suit makers say. The suits come in sizes 4 through 14 for about $70. And if none of those fits, companies such as Oceanside-based Rip Curl will take measurements, either for alterations or for a custom-cut suit. Just tack on an extra $25 or so, plus the embarrassment of having a surf shop salesclerk itemize your figure on the order form. Available at Horizons West in Santa Monica, Jack’s in Huntington Beach and the Rip Curl Surf Center in San Clemente.

Theirs

The ultimate beach blanket/towel, six feet square, from Eddie Bauer catalogue, $45; (800) 426-8020.

His

For guys with chiseled bods, we’re happy to recommend the fixed-waist, butt-skimming board shorts popularized by surfers. For the rest of you, we must insist upon volley trunks. Since the mid-’80s, when beach volleyball took off as a spectator sport, they’ve evolved from players’ gear into everyman’s perfect beach/swim shorts: forgiving around the middle, long in the leg, loose in the seat and lined with mesh support.

Encinitas-based Redsand does its limited-edition “novelty volleys,” about $40 each at Becker surf shops (Malibu, Hermosa Beach, Newport Beach and Mission Viejo), in vintage Hawaiian prints. But fear not: Faded just enough for a thrift-shop feel, these tropical flowers are way too mellow, way too cool for tourist-geek types.

(Style warning: He who lets even the coolest volleys ride up to within an inch of the navel is, in volleyball-speak, a hack.)