Swimwear Fashion Past and Present

The swimwear fashion we see today is certainly not what your grandmother or great-grandmother wore in their youthful days.  It is probably a little less than what your mother had on too.  The swimwear trend has definitely gone from itty to bitty and then from teensy to weensy.  I thought it would be fun to step back in time and look at how swimwear has changed over time as a preview to "throwback Thursday".

Back in 1895, ladies were highly scandalous when seen in a bathing suit that exposed their arms and allowed their legs to be seen from just above the knees on down.  Next, during the Flapper era came a swimsuit that looked more like a mini dress of today.  In London, the swimwear fashion was ever changing and soon ladies were seen wearing swimsuits that bared their arms and allowed their legs to be seen from mid thigh on down.  The next great swimwear fashion trend modeled in London featured swimwear and beach costumes that showed off a woman's bare back.  Back then, the word "costume" was used to describe an outfit worn to the beach, not necessarily a bathing suit.  Finally, in 1946 the first modern-day 2-piece bikini, as we know it to be, debuted in Paris.  The French designer of this ground breaking bikini design had quite a difficult time finding a "respectable" model to display it for him.  He had to settle for a nude dancer from a Paris casino to model the bikini.  It took approximately 50 years for swimwear to evolve to the 2-piece variety. 

So as the 1950's rolled in, the 2-piece bikini got more elaborate featuring lace frills and prints.  The bikini bottoms at this time were still waist high, but as fashion swimwear started to head into the 1970's the bikini bottoms got less in material allowing more thigh and midsection exposure.  The string bikini came into existence around this decade as well and the bottoms got smaller and the tops showed more cleavage too. From there to the present time, swimwear has only gotten more teensy and more elaborate featuring hardware, lace, sexy prints, and more luxurious swimwear materials.  Single piece swimwear has also gotten more exciting with bigger cut outs allowing more skin exposure and are sexy in their own way. 

Fashion is always changing and it is fun to take a look back to see how it all started.  Fashion swimwear designers also like to look back in the past to see what can be borrowed and modernized for today.  We have so many more choices available in swimwear than we did in the past and nowadays there really is a swimsuit for everyone.