History of swimwear

There are Roman murals which show women playing sports and exercising wearing two-piece suits covering the areas around their breasts and hips in a fashion remarkably similar to the present-day bikini.

In various cultural traditions, one swims, if not in the nude, in a version in suitable material of a garment or undergarment commonly worn on land, e.g. a loincloth such as the Japanese man's fundoshi.

Celia Fiennes gave a detailed description of the standard ladies' bathing costume in 1687: The Ladyes go into the bath with Garments made of a fine yellow canvas, which is stiff and made large with great sleeves like a parson’s gown; the water fills it up so that it is borne off that your shape is not seen, it does not cling close as other linning, which Lookes sadly in the poorer sort that go in their own linning.

[1]The Expedition of Humphry Clinker was published in 1771 and its description of ladies' bathing costume is different from that of Celia Fiennes a hundred years earlier: The ladies wear jackets and petticoats of brown linen, with chip hats, in which they fix their handkerchiefs to wipe the sweat from their faces; but, truly, whether it is owing to the steam that surrounds them, or the heat of the water, or the nature of the dress, or to all these causes together, they look so flushed, and so frightful, that I always turn my eyes another way.

Francis Kilvert described men's bathing suits coming into use in the 1870s as "a pair of very short red and white striped drawers".

By the second half of the 19th century, in France, the sleeves started to vanish, the bottom became shorter to reach only the knees and the top became hip-length and both became more form fitting.

By the second half of the 19th century, in France, the sleeves started to vanish, the bottom became shorter to reach only the knees and the top became hip-length and both became more form fitting.

[7] In the Victorian era, Western cultures deplored nudity of any degree, and people took great pains to cover themselves, even bare chested male swimmers at ocean beaches.

In 1907, the swimmer Annette Kellerman from Australia visited the United States as an "underwater ballerina", a version of synchronised swimming involving diving into glass tanks.

Jantzen Knitting Mills, a manufacturer of sweaters, coined the term "swim suit" in 1915 and introduced the Red Diving Girl swimwear line.

[14] In 1919, Ethelda Bleibtrey was arrested for "nude swimming" because she removed her stockings at a pool where it was forbidden to bare "the lower female extremities for public bathing."

The 1929 film Man with a Movie Camera shows Russian women wearing early two-piece swimsuits, which expose their midriff, and a few who are topless.

With the development of new clothing materials, particularly latex and nylon, through the 1930s swimsuits gradually began hugging the body, with shoulder straps that could be lowered for tanning.

[12] Hollywood endorsed the new glamour with films such as Neptune's Daughter (1949) in which Esther Williams wore provocatively named costumes such as "Double Entendre" and "Honey Child".

[23] Williams, who also was an Amateur Athletic Union champion in the 100 meter freestyle (1939)[24][25] also portrayed Kellerman in the 1952 film Million Dollar Mermaid (titled as The One Piece Bathing Suit in UK).

[26] American designer Adele Simpson, a Coty American Fashion Critics' Awards winner (1947) and a notable alumna of the New York art school Pratt Institute, who believed clothes must be comfortable and practical designed a large part of her wardrobe which included mostly one-piece suits that were considered fashionable even in the early 1980s.

[28] Coco Chanel made suntans fashionable,[23] and in 1932, French designer Madeleine Vionnet offered an exposed midriff in an evening gown.

[34] Wartime production during World War II required vast amounts of cotton, silk, nylon, wool, leather, and rubber.

In 1942, the United States, the War Production Board issued Regulation L-85, cutting the use of natural fibers in clothing[35] and mandating a 10% reduction in the amount of fabric in women's beachwear.

Two-piece swimsuits without the usual skirt panel and other superfluous material started appearing in the U.S. when the government ordered the 10% reduction in fabric used in woman's swimwear in 1943 as wartime rationing.

Life magazine had a photo essay on the Moonlight Buoy and wrote, "The name of the suit, of course, suggests the nocturnal conditions under which nude swimming is most agreeable.

It evolved into a dress that followed his New Look silhouette with cinched waists and constructed bustlines, accessorized with earrings, bracelets, hats, scarves, sunglasses, hand bags and cover-ups.

[43] American Women inspired by Hollywood's film stars For example, Doris Day offering a 'girl-next-door' look and the accession and coronation of the young Queen Elizabeth in February 1952 and June 1953 respectively.

[44] For the early 1950s, despite the reaction to the two-piece swimsuit worn by Brigitte Bardot in Manina, the Girl in the Bikini in 1952, most women in the 1950s still wore one-piece suits.

[42] Many of these pre-bikinis had fancy names like Double Entendre, Honey Child (to maximize small bosoms), Shipshape (to minimize large bosoms), Diamond Lil (trimmed with rhinestones and lace), Swimming In Mink (trimmed with fur across the bodice) and Spearfisherman (heavy poplin with a rope belt for carrying a knife), Beau Catcher, Leading Lady, Pretty Foxy, Side Issue, Forecast, and Fabulous Fit.

[41] By the late 1950s, new materials were developed and applied on the corsetry swimwear, such as Lastex, a fabric woven from artificial chromspun acetate that used for a more tightly fitted appearance.

[51][52] In the 1970s Speedo added elastane to their swimsuits that improved their elasticity, durability and reduced water drag – 21 out of 22 records at the 1972 Olympics were broken using nylon/elastane suits.

[56] It featured a thong-style bottom[57] while the front was a tiny V-shaped strip of fabric that dipped below the woman's mons pubis, exposing her pubic hair.

[62] Hailed as the first major innovation in women's swimsuit design in several decades, the two-piece tankini blended the freedom of a bikini with the more modest coverage of a one-piece bathing suit, and quickly captured nearly a third of the swimwear market.

[65] In the years following its introduction tankinis diversified in style and range, adding other big name designers such as Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, Nautica, and Calvin Klein.