Blog: Fashion: Swimsuits

Bathing Suits / Swimsuits

Where did swimwear originate from?
How has swimwear changed in style?

Did you know that in the 18^th Century or early 1800s, people started to roam the beaches at the start of the new railroads. The women at the time needed a swimsuit for when the train would take them to the beach, a long beach dress equipped with weights in the hem would prevent the dress from riding up. However, this Victorian-era suit soon went through some changes in its functionality. The early 1800s marked the importance of swimwear on society.

Approximately between 1850 – 1870, bathing suits covered most of the body. The typical swimsuit of this time was long bloomers that were made from heavy flannel and other weighty fabrics that weighed down the swimmer.

By the 1890 – 1899, swimwear had changed somewhat from the early prototypes. According to one article I came across, "Women typically dressed in black, knee-length, puffed-sleeve wool dresses, usually featuring a sailor collar, which was worn over bloomers trimmed with ribbons and bows. The bathing suit was typically accessorized with long black stockings, lace-up bathing slippers, and fancy caps." The 1890s is when sun hats became popular, too.

In the beginning of the 20th Century gender roles started to take a turn. Women stopped being arrested for showing their legs and shoulders at the beach. What mostly changed was that women started to swim, really swim. At this time, swimming became a competitive sport and allowed women to participate in it, both in school and recreational. For this reason, the bathing suit became more functional. It was still made of wool, but was a lot smaller. A typical bathing suit in the early 1900s was a one-piece tank style jumper that ended at the thigh and was tight enough to allow real movement in the water. It was not considered sexy by any means, but looked especially good on girls with boyish figures.

By the early mid 1930’s, swimwear started to look like the swimsuits we know today. The 1930s swimsuit was body hugging and made of swim friendly fabric such as latex. The suit showed a lot of skin, like bare arms and legs. In the 1940s, the 1930s suit was cut to show some more skin, a few inches above the belly button.

The bikini was so ground-breaking of its time that many models, even French models that were known to tryout many fashion trends, didn’t want to model the bikini. The bikini showed off the naval, which was a part of the body that had never been exposed in clothing before, and something a decent girl would never show/wear.

The 1950s most ideal body was a curvy one. Swimsuits of this decade introduced more structure with built in support. The one-piece had a built-in corset, which flatten the tummy. A pinch in the waist, made the bust appear more supported. This provided security while in the water. Also, the suits had low legs that were unflattering according to women. However it was modest for sunbathing, especially in the company of males.

The bikini was very shocking in the 1940s. Bikinis became extremely popular in the 1960s. It was common to see young girls wearing bikinis at the beach or near pools. Bikinis of this time are considered modest compared to today’s styles and the fabrics covered as much as possible. The mid-60s is when bikinis became more revealing due to its material, lycra/spandex.

As we got closer to the 1970’s, swimsuits became less and less fabric. The 70s bathing suit was definitely more high-cut than the 60s version, but less drastic than the 80s bathing suits, and string bikinis made their first appearance during the 70s. The 80s was the decade that shielded away from the bikini. However, the bathing suits were still revealing as they had a high leg line and a low neck line and a scooped back, revealing as much skin as possible for a one-piece.

Just when you thought bathing suits couldn’t get any skimpier, they did! Especially in the 1990s. People were not worried about covering up, butt coverage was reduced and the “side-boob” was introduced. Brazilian beachwear was brought into America and so was other Brazilian customs. The small covering of bathing suits of this decade brought into question the difference between covering up a little area of the body versus going completely nude. Today one will find all the various types of bathing suits ranging from one pieces to bikinis, to even monokinis (cut-out one pieces). They come in all different patterns and cuts and are made of different materials too, even metal and beading details.