Vintage Bathing Suits | A History of Swimwear

The early twentieth century ushered in a new style of swimwear. These bathing suits liberated women from the long skirts of the 19th century and replaced them with a more revealing, figure hugging design. 1920s bathing suits revealed more skin and were built for the androgynous body type, popular in fashion at the time. Made of wool jersey, the sleeveless tank suits featured dramatic patterns and came with built-in modesty shorts.

Skirts were introduced to swimwear in the 1930s and the midriff panels used in the 1920s also began to disappear. Instead of the athletic 1920s style, the 1930s popularized backless one-piece suits with higher cut legs. The malliot, a skintight bathing suit, was introduced during this time and made such a stir that police had to be called to control the crowds when it was first displayed in a New York store window. The popularization of synchronized swimming and stars such as Ester Williams and Dorothy LaMour made swim wear a fashion statement.

The 1940s were the era of corsets in both women’s day wear and swimsuits.  More revealing swimsuits of the time utilized designs that would hide faults in a woman’s shape, by adding control panels to flatten the stomach along with bra cups and boning to give more support.  Bathers could then choose to go strapless or attach small straps to buttons inside the bathing suit.

The hourglass look became popular in the 1950s and as a result, shaping and support became even more important in swimwear. The swimsuits of the 1950s sported ruching, bias shaping and padded, cone shaped bra cups. In addition, as shorter curled hairstyles became the look of the time, swim caps also became a fashion statement, often adorned with flowers or abstract designs. The suits of the 1950s and early 1960s began to use a range of fabrics such as elastic, nylon, lined cotton, and latex. The suits were cut across the top of the leg for modesty. If a woman was daring enough to wear a bikini, the lower part always came high enough to cover the belly button.

During the late 1960s, the bikini grew in popularity and shrank in size. In one-pieces, mesh net panels or cut out midriffs were added to be more revealing and compete with the growing popularity of the two-piece. The legs were cut higher than the traditional 1950s style and manufacturers used mostly nylon or lycra.

Swimsuits of today borrow designs from earlier eras. Tankini swimsuits are a more modest version of a bikini, while the string and micro bikinis are much skimpier. The thong bikini was a sensation in the 1980s, due to its daring design that left very little to the imagination. The 1990s introduced tan-through swimwear that used perforated micro holes to allow the wearer to get tan through the suit. For those wishing to protect themselves from the sun’s rays, designers have also begun to create swimsuits made of UV protective fabrics equal to an SPF of 50.