Since the late fifteenth century women were expected to wear some form of
clothing while bathing. The earliest bathing suits were large canvas affairs
designed to billow out away from the body when in water and therefore
completely hide the lady's shape, this despite bathing being gender segregated
until the early twentieth century. During the Victorian age, swim dresses came
into fashion, full length dark flannel or serge affairs complete with long
sleeves, high collar, and him below the ankles. By the 1860s, swimsuits were
made of wool and became two piece, a button up jacket and three quarter
trousers with hose to hide the ankles. Of course, bathing was still legally
segregated in the United Kingdom at the time, so proper ladies did not have to
fear gawks from lecherous men.
As Edwardian styles came into fashion, the swimsuit shrank more. Sleeves
shortened, and the trousers / jacket combination was replaced with a dress and
bloomers, and as time progressed, the dress became shortened. In the 1920s the
swimsuit slimmed down more to a shocking, form fitting, outfit, typically one
piece, without a dress and trousers only mid-thigh. Sleeves disappeared and
typical of the "roaring twenties" the outfit as a whole became mostly
androgynous. Bathing caps to cover a bobbed hairstyle also came into fashion at
this time.
After the war, the swimsuit shortened even more and became more form
fitting. In popular modern fashion, corsets were falling out of favor, and
manufacturers turned to making swimsuits more complementary to women's bodies
with tummy panels and bra cups. This also led to strapless swimsuits being
introduced. Around this time, the small two piece suits started being seen on
models and actresses.
In 1946, the Americans detonated a series of atomic weapons in the South
Pacific Ocean under extreme media attention. That same year French fashion
designer and automobile designer, Louis Reared, designed the world's smallest
swimsuit consisting of less than thirty square inches of cloth and named it
after the atoll where the nuclear tests were performed, the Bikini. His suit
was too risqué to be displayed publically and he
even had trouble finding a model for the suit, so Jacques Heim, his rival
designer, was able to sell his larger swimsuit, the Atom, to the public.
没有评论:
发表评论