Swimsuit evolution

It is summer. Some of our wishes is to cool down having a bath in fresh and crystaline waters in order to deal with the sticky and suffocating heat of these days. It is impossible, unless you are a nudist, not to think of what swimsuit you're going to wear this season: 'where's my beloved old swimsuit ?' , 'I think I shall get a new bikini', 'This one does not fit me'...etc, are things you may wonder. We can realize the little differences in style and fabrics some models carry from others, and they have a lapse of one, two, three years? Can you imagine if they had a hundred? 

Today's post is a homage to the history of swimsuit (specially of women) , how it has evolved from bloomers up to the minimal expression of a bikini, obviously marked by the changes in society and technology regarding materials. 

To start of with the first models created specifically for covering the body when bathing, we have to go back to the 18th century. However, it is not until the 19th that we find  a more extended practice: 

            Women bathing in the sea wearing bath dresses using bathing machines (1825)

        

                                     Swimsuit consisted of bloomers and black stockings (1855)

                                           
           Around 1860, two piece belted costumes started replacing the previous ones.

                                                          Later victorian costumes

                                                                              1870

                                               Edwardian models incorporated  a sleveless version 

                                      Bathing catalogue of the beginning of the 20th century

        1906. Swimsuits get fitter to the body to a better movement in water sports. 

                                                  1920. Glamour comes to  the beaches

    Some of these  were considered provocative, so beach censors were suit regulators

                                                  1933. Here the Jantzen models

                                           1940s. Two pieces similar to our current bikinis

                      

                                                                           1950s

                                                                            1960s

I think that from this point on swimsuits have evolved reducing their sizes and materials. the differences are not so clear as with those of past centuries.  Even today, designers are drinking from this vintage inspirations. 

So whatever model you may choose think of how it has changed to become what you are wearing.  Have a nice and refreshing bath !

Sources : Fashion Era, CNN, Consuming Cultures