Below are the evolution of swimsuits in the U.S and Europe.
Women’s One-Pieces Swimsuits
Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman thought it was silly that women’s bathing suits were so difficult to swim in. That’s why she advocated for bathing suits that were lighter and more fitted. She even marketed her own line in them. Not everyone was a fan. In 1907, Kellerman was arrested at a beach in Boston for wearing her signature tight, one-piece bathing suit. While men at this time frequently bared their arms and legs at the beach, their bathing suits still covered the chest. Above,former National Geographic President and Inventor of the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell wears a contemporary men’s bathing suit at the beach with his daughter Elsie and his wife, Mabel, in 1907. Unlike Kellerman’s suits, Elsie’s is loose-fitting and has a skirt. Her legs were likely bare because she wasn’t at a public beach.
Bare Chest and skin-Tight Female Swimsuits
In the 1930s, bathing suits got even more risqué. Men started wearing shorts without anything covering their chests, and women’s swimsuits became more form-fitting. Just as the shorter swimsuits of the ‘20s has mirrored the decade’s flapper dresses, so too did ’30s bathing suits mirror another trend in women’s fashion: ‘in the 1930s, swimsuits lost their back and evening gowns lost their back. With women’s tops getting lower and shorts getting shorter, there was only one more place to cut from.
Teeny-Weeny Bikinis Swimsuits
French designers Louis Reard introduced the bikini in 1946. It was the breaking point of modesty as the definitive factor in dress. Although there had been some two-piece bathing suits before Reard’s bikini,none showed as much skin. Many people thought the bikini was inappropriate at first and some beaches in catholic countries like Italy had rules against the itsy-bitsy suits.
Victorian bathing Dresses Swimsuits
To modern eyes, the women in this photo might look like she’s wearing a kimono and pants. But this is a fairly standard bathing suit for the late 19th century. For a long time, the history of swimsuits was almost reflective of the history of dresses and evening clothes. For Victorian women, bathing suits were all about modesty. Because bathing dresses and pantaloons were shorter than regular dresses, women had to wear stockings when they swam at public beaches in the U.S, These outfits-which were often made of wool-weren’t well-suited to swimming. They were very uncomfortable, very heavy and difficult to dry as well.
