Swimming Through Time: A (Brief) History of Women’s Swimsuits
July has arrived and the weather is hot, hot, hot! Fighting that heat by cooling down in the pool or ocean is a timeless tradition, to be sure. However, the clothing that women have worn to partake in this pastime is not so timeless, and indeed has changed numerous times within the last century alone. To fully appreciate how far this humble garment has come, today we’re going on a (brief) tour of bathing suits throughout history and what inspired changes in their designs. From fully-adorned to itsy-bitsy, we’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s get to it!
200BC to 500AD, GRECO-ROMAN PERIOD
Sometimes the simplest choice of dress is… to wear nothing at all! This was the approach of choice in ancient bathhouses, which makes sense when you consider that only women were allowed inside their single-sex buildings. While bathing was considered enjoyable, it was more about regular maintenance than frolicking in the water (this was how people got clean, after all). According to paintings from the era, some bathers opted instead for a banded top and light fabric bottom to maintain some semblance of modesty, though going au naturel was by far the preferred method. Public bathing died out entirely after the fall of the Roman empire and didn’t come back into popularity until the Victorian era.
1800’s, VICTORIAN ERA
While the return of bathing for pleasure must have been a welcome change of course after being out of style for over a thousand years, the attire needed to partake in the activity was, in a word, restrictive. Most bathing suits (at least for those in the wealthy segments of society) were essentially full-length wool “bathing dresses” with dark colors to avoid transparency and weights around the hem to keep it down even while submerged. As if that weren’t challenging enough, they even used “bathing machines” (horse-drawn rooms) to convey women bathers into the water to avoid the gazes of onlookers. Talk about a lot of work!
Early 1900’s, WOMEN’S LIBERATION
As the Victorian era wound down and the Women’s Suffrage era began, major design changes came to the fore: the bathing dresses gave way to more jumpsuit-like bathing outfits, helped in part by an increase in interest in competitive swimming (which would have been awfully hard to do in weighted dresses!). As function gained in importance, one-piece form-fitting bathing suits set the stage for the changes in design that were soon to come.
1930’s-1940’s, WARTIME WEAR
The liberation continued into the 1930’s and 40’s as bathing suits became even more form-fitting and made good use of water-friendly materials like latex. Showing off arms and legs in a way never seen previously, these changes were quite significant, though even the two-piece swimsuit still hid the navel area from the world as it was considered taboo. However, this didn’t stop Louis Reard from taking a shot at revolutionizing women’s bathingwear forever in 1946 with his invention of the bikini, named after the infamous Bikini Atoll where atomic bombs had been tested very recently. His navel-exposing minimum-fabric design shocked audiences both in America and his homeland of France, so it didn’t see quite so much interest until later on. Keep reading!
1950’s, CURVY DOMINATION
Thanks to sex symbols like Marilyn Monroe, the one-piece structured swimsuit dominated the beaches of the 50’s. With its ability to emphasize (or simulate) curves on its wearer through its use of a built-in corset, it quickly became a crowd favorite. This design “took in” some areas and “pushed out” others to really drive the curvaceous message home. However, this was to be a passing phase, as the world was nearly ready for that taboo design it had scoffed at previously…
1960’s, AGE OF THE BIKINI
The two-piece bikini made its triumphant return in the 60’s to great fanfare, and it became the go-to adornment on the beaches and pool decks of the nation. Initially, these cotton designs were fairly loose, though the advent of the skin-like material spandex allowed bathing suits to be even tighter and leave even less to the imagination. This incredibly smooth material was a great help to competitive swimmers and dried quickly when out of water, so women swimming both for fun and for achievement made great use of it.
1970’s, FREE LOVE MOVEMENT
As the “free love” culture gained steam, so too did the further shrinking of bathing attire. The suits of the 60’s transitioned from a a small amount of fabric to a tiny amount of fabric in the form of string bikinis, and keeping things minimal became the order of the day. Even one-piece bathing suits were shrinking, particularly in the upper leg area.
1980’s-1990’s, BAYWATCH ERA
America took inspiration from Brazilian designs to shrink bikinis even more in the 80’s and 90’s, both in the bottoms (i.e. thongs) and the sides of the chest (i.e. triangle tops). These designs became iconic in the 90’s era television show “Baywatch”, and the beach-going public followed suit in their choices!
2000+, PAST AND FUTURE
As everyone knows, fashion trends are cyclical, though what is particularly interesting is when every trend comes back simultaneously! Designers in the modern era often feature bikinis, one-piece bodysuits, and every other past design under the sun in their collections. While the designs may not be entirely novel, the materials sometimes are, with new-age swimwear (mostly for competitive swimmers) being comprised of polyurethane or even elastane. “Anything goes” would be the best way to describe the current era of bathing suits, and after all, who doesn’t want to be free to do things their way?
We hope you enjoyed this short foray into how bathing suits have evolved through the ages. Ultimately, bathing attire has always been a means to an end, with that end being having fun in the water and the great outdoors with friends, so we hope you get to do exactly that. Whether you’re more full-body or itsy-bitsy in your choices, make the most of the summer weather and cool off!
