The Best Beach Towels Are Round
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The first time I saw a round beachtowelwas last summer, at Rockaway Beach, when I laid eyes onthis Ban.do one, printed to look like a cross section of a watermelon. I immediately wanted one. Did I need it? No. Did I consider buying it anyway? Absolutely.
Unbeknownst to me, this watermelon was part of a growing craze on Instagram (see the thousands of posts under the hashtag #roundbeachtowel for yourself). You could say that the round-beach-towel trend first took off when a collection of round towels from Australian brandthe Beach People— or “roundies,” as the brand likes to call them — sold out in weeks following their launch in 2013. After the Beach People’s roundies wentviral, spherical beach towels started popping up everywhere, from local brands likeKassatex, dedicated round-towel companies likethe Round Towel Company, and even at Target (where they debuted some in collaborationwith Marimekko).
And with millennial brand Ban.do starting a micro-trend last year of watermelon round towels, specifically (the design is so popular that it’s been reproduced byH&M, plus retailers onAmazonandBed Bath & Beyond— it’s basically ubiquitous if you search for round beach towels), an entire range of food-related round towels has followed:sushi rolls,pizza,grapefruit slices, anddoughnuts.
There’s no real practical argument to make for the roundbeachtowel. Sure, they’re roomy, sort of like beach rugs — you could reasonably fit two or more people on there if you intended to sit picnic-style instead of laying out — but mostly they’re fun and charming. And at the beach, that’s really all that matters. Below, we perused all the round beach towels online to find the best patterns and styles out there.
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One of the roundies that started it all — in a colorful marine print.
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And another with geometric lines.
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A muted, stripy version (if you’re not so big on prints).
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An intricate printed towel from John Robshaw with pop-pom details.
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Colorful bull’s-eye stripes if you’re a loud-patterns person.
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Should you actually want to feel like you’re sunbathing on a rug.
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Leopard print, if you occupy your own distinct category of animal-print enthusiast.
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This one can be personalized with your initials, if you so choose.
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Some abstract graphic prints.
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A Dolce & Gabbana–esque lemon towel.
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Anothertrompe l’oeilthat we love: Is it a giant sushi roll or a towel?
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