65 Year Old Bikini: A Magnificent History Of Evolution (II)

from shirt Changes in swimwear styles from swimwear to sleeveless one-piece swimwear

Manual coloring in 1920 is a craft in the era of no color photos

The difference between women's swimwear and men's swimwear is that the former has always attracted attention and controversy with its sexual characteristics. Since the Middle Ages, people have used a series of reasons to prevent women from swimming or even bathing. It was only in the 17th century that some medical related bathing methods (medicine bath and mineral spring bath) increased women's bathing opportunities. However, various restrictions have not brought much pleasure to women. Women had to wear ankle length thick shirts and a hat to hide their figure and keep their dignity. As soon as they came out of the water, the waiters would dress them in robes so that people could not see their wet bodies.

The following text about Bath hot spring bath written in 1687 provides us with the earliest record of women's swimwear:

The women walked into the bathroom wearing clothes made of fine yellow canvas, which were stiff and spacious, with large sleeves like the priest's robe; This kind of clothes can open in the water, so that people can't see your figure. The other cloth is very close to your body and makes the wearer look terrible... After leaving the bathroom, you will walk through a door and step onto the steps that extend into the bath... After a few steps, you let the waiter take off the canvas bathrobe for you and slowly fall into the water. At the same time, the maid will put a flannel long sleeved garment like a nightgown on you. When you go up the steps, the waiter will dress you, add a nightgown and a pair of slippers, and let you sit on the chair... Then several male sedan bearers will carry you home and put you in front of the bed, where you can sweat slowly.

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In 1924, some people still wore the 1909 one-piece swimsuit, a rare historical picture

The materials show that women do not like this bath and try to avoid it. Those fashionable women especially dislike this "extremely inappropriate" bathing suit. With the popularity of swimming at sea and recreational swimming, the unrealistic characteristics of this ugly and cumbersome bathing suit became more and more obvious, but until the 19th century, people still wore this bathing suit. A doctor named Sprai criticized the absurd characteristics of women's bathing clothes in 1822: this bathing clothes prevented the direct contact between water and diseased parts of the body, affecting the curative effect. If the patient can take a mineral spring bath without wearing a bathrobe, this will be the best way; But if the patient has to wear a bathrobe, the bathrobe should be made as light and spacious as possible; And the separate bath for men and women will also greatly improve this situation.

Spray's first plan was certainly too radical for the morality at that time, but his other suggestions triggered subsequent changes. People began to practice separate baths for men and women. Men and women either bathe in different bathrooms or at different times in the same bathroom. Sometimes a beach is divided into two parts - the men's part and the women's part. Sometimes women are partly enclosed with curtains to prevent men from watching women come ashore from the sea in untidy clothes.

At this time, the swimsuit style also changed. The shirt swimsuit was replaced by a knee length swimsuit with a belt. Women still wear pants and stockings under the swimsuit. They wear swimming caps and lace up slippers similar to ballet shoes. Designers try to emphasize the "female" characteristics of this swimsuit with decorations and fabrics. While emphasizing the female characteristics, this feminized swimsuit also reflects a desire to control sexual desire. The "feminization" and fashion of swimwear made it get public attention, so swimwear finally entered the fashion magazine and store catalog in the 1880s.

The new female swimsuit is more practical than the old one. Women can now "play freely" in the water instead of soaking in it as before. But this swimsuit can still be dangerous. In order to maintain women's "decency", the skirt is made very wide, its side length can reach 8 feet 8 inches, and its wet weight can reach 30 pounds. Under the burden of such "cumbersome swimsuits", it is difficult for women to really go swimming. Ironically, although this swimsuit is designed to cover up the female body, it will cling tightly to the body when wet and show the female body in a pathetic and absurd way. In other words, this kind of clothing did not produce a decent image in practical use. A male swimming coach said after trying on the swimsuit in 1902: "After I put on this swimsuit, I realized the danger that a few feet of extra cloth could cause underwater. This swimsuit is very wide, and there seems to be something holding me in all directions. Swimming 100 yards in this swimsuit would make me as tired as swimming one mile in a normal swimsuit. After this experience, I no longer wonder why there is little Three women can swim well, but they can swim. "

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The appearance of beauty pageant swimwear in 1928

1933 beauty swimsuit

Such comments indicate the controversy caused by women's swimwear and people's requirements for reasonable style. The period from 1870 to 1900 was a turning point in the history of women's swimwear. During this period, the view of decency reached its peak. However, when such dress rules and women's views had a strong impact, women began to engage in sports and thus began to get rid of the restrictions imposed on them. In this society, on the one hand, we can see all kinds of gender regulations and regulations on women's behavior, and on the other hand, we can see many women appear in the society with a positive face.

Kellerman's swimming suit and diving suit caused a sensation in Britain and the United States. The swimming program she designed for Hollywood inspired a series of films about water sports between 1916 and 1952 (her life story was made into a film starring Esther in 1952). These films with female athletes as the main characters have shaped the positive images of women and the new rules of "showing women's bodies" (Fotheringham 1992: 181). The style of swimwear reflects that new development. By the 1920s, people began to realize that swimwear must be practical.

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Tight and fashionable, the most fundamental innovation of swimwear is the appearance of bikini swimwear

1940

Although there were various regulations on swimwear at that time, knitted swimwear was finally accepted by women. The close collaboration between the swimwear industry and the underwear industry strengthened the similarity between swimwear and underwear, and this collaboration lasted until the 1930s. In this case, the new "tight" swimwear is linked to the "fashionable" figure. At the same time, in order to distinguish swimwear from underwear, designers emphasized the cutting method of swimwear and accessories such as belts and buttons. They take this opportunity to enhance the seriousness of swimwear and eliminate the personal and pornographic meanings of underwear.

As far as swimwear is concerned, the recognition and demand of society for new swimwear eventually eliminates official moral criticism. In other words, unlike top-down fashion, swimwear is a bottom-up phenomenon - it was first accepted by ordinary women, and then reluctantly accepted by the arbiters of public interest and social behavior.

Bikini girl exposed on the beach of Cannes, France in 1953

In the 1930s, tight swimwear was very popular, but the style of non competition swimwear had a revolutionary change similar to underwear design. Straps have replaced sleeves, and the trouser legs have become shorter and shorter, and the neckline has become lower and lower. The popularity of sunbathing since the 1930s has promoted the reform of swimwear aimed at exposing the skin and avoiding sunburn marks on the straps. However, the old style swimsuit that completely covers the crotch lasted until the 1960s. Elastic fibers, acetate fibers and man-made fibers offer new possibilities for making swimwear that fits. In the 1940s, adjusting posture became the goal of swimwear. The mesh bra highlights the woman's upper body, while the buttocks are tightly wrapped.

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The most fundamental innovation of women's swimwear is the emergence of bikini swimwear. Louis Leia, a French engineer, designed a very simple swimsuit in 1946 with white newspaper like triangular cloth. The two components of this swimsuit are just the side and back straps. He named this style "bikini" and thought that it would shake the swimwear design world like the atomic bomb that had just exploded on the bikini island. Although this new style caused a lot of controversy, it was quickly welcomed by "those naughty girls who decorated the beach" in France. Other countries have conservatively boycotted bikinis. Even Hollywood was reluctant to admit the swimsuit at first.

Australian designer Paula Stafford introduced bikini swimwear to the Gold Coast in 1952:

Bikini swimwear caused a big stir. John Moffat, the beach inspector, immediately caught a model wearing Paula's short swimsuit. "Too short," he shouted at the top of his voice as he escorted the model away from the beach. Paula was not frightened. She asked five other girls to put on bikini swimsuits, notified the local newspaper and invited the mayor, a priest and the police chief. Nothing happened, but she achieved amazing publicity results.

The bikini swimsuit of 1945 has appeared in the world

After this early sensation subsided, bikini swimwear showed a new prospect for swimwear design. As a swimsuit worn by women on the beach and when swimming, bikini swimsuits quickly replaced one-piece swimsuits. The sculptural image of the 1940s and 1950s has become the soft and "natural" body lines of the 1960s. The temptation to take off your coat completely also exists all the time. The actress Simone Silva was accused of publicly exposing her upper body at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival.

Then came the unstructured swimwear of the 1970s and 1980s. These swimsuits cover almost nothing except the pussy. Swimming without a jacket and naked swimming are accepted by more and more people in the international scope, although the number of people who take this way of swimming is still small.

In the 1990s, the style of swimwear tended to be "cautious" again. They covered more body area and re used some original sewing methods and posture adjustment methods. Model Jerry Hall launched a series of swimwear aimed at "putting the hips back into women's swimwear" in 1989. By emphasizing the integrity and charm of the swimsuit, the swimsuit she designed reminds people of the Hollywood swimsuit in the 1940s.

Swimwear has become high fashion. With the change of people's sense of decency, swimwear has developed into various types from competition swimwear to gorgeous swimwear. As this article shows, the unique development of underwear and swimwear reflects changing gender attitudes and social norms.