Summer is finally upon us! Here is an early history of the bathing suit:
1900:By the end of the 19th century people were flocking to the oceanside beaches for popular seaside activities such as swimming, surf bathing, and diving. The clumsy Victorian-style bathing costumes were becoming burdensome. A need for a new style bathing suits that retained modesty but was free enough to allow the young lady to engage in swimming was obvious.
1910:By 1910 bathing suits no longer camouflaged the contours of the female body. The yards of fabric used in Victorian bathing skirts and bloomers were reduced to show a little more of the figure and to allow for exposure to the sun.
1915:Up until the first decades of the 20th century, the only activity for women in the ocean involved jumping through the waves while holding on to a rope attached to an off-shore bouy. By 1915, women athletes started to share the actual sport of swimming with men and thus began to reduce the amount of heavy fabric used in their billowing swimsuits.
1920s-30s:By the early 1920s women’s bathing suits were reduced to a one piece garment with a long top that covered shorts. Though matching stockings were still worn, vintage swimwear began to shrink and more and more flesh was exposed from the bottom of the trunks to the tops of the stockings. By the mid-1920s Vogue magazine was telling its readers that “the newest thing for the sea is a jersey bathing suit as near a maillot as the unwritten law will permit.”
1940s: With elements like sweetheart necklines and ruching, bathing suits began to echo the era's dress styles — and become more flattering.
1946:The first official bikini was introduced at a poolside fashion event in Paris. Rumor has it that inventor Louis Réard couldn't find a fashion model to wear it, so he hired a stripper, Micheline Bernardini. The skimpy suit was originally banned in Italy and Spain for indecency.
1950s: French actress Brigitte Bardot played a huge role in popularizing the bikini when she wore one to the 1953 Cannes Festival, and in some of her movies.
Stay tuned for part two of our history of the bathing suit that will cover the 1950's until today! Come to the shop to check out the retro style bathing suits and bikini's we carry so you can get sun in style this summer!
Sources:
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/beauty/fashion/tips/g202/evolution-bathing-suit/?slide=10
http://www.victoriana.com/library/Beach/FashionableBathingSuits.htm
