Bathing suits of today bear little resemblance to swimwear of yesteryear. The bathing suit's "explosive" past has evolved from bloomers to bikinis.



The fun, small, sexy, cool bathing suit. Wonderful. But bathing suits didn't always fit that description. The bathing suit has evolved over the years, from bloomers and a dress to the bikinis of today

The story begins in he early 1700s, when, thanks in part to railroads, people begin to flock to beaches for recreation. And that brought a need for a type of garment appropriate for beachgoers. They came up with "bathing gowns," which were similar to regular dresses but were made from material that wouldn't be see-through when wet. These dresses were so big, weights had to be sewn into the hems so they would not float in the water. Eventually, to avoid the rising hems, women's bathing suits became two-piece - the dresses were combined with pantaloons to give full coverage. For men, bathing suits weren't much more comfortable. Unlike today's swimming trunks, these long-sleeved, long-legged wool suits were more like long underwear.

That look survived on the beach for quite a while, and didn't really change until the very early 1900s when Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman became famous for her fight to allow women to wear a fitted, one-piece, less conservative bathing suit. After her synchronized-swimming career, Kellerman started a career in acting and become a famous actress.

The advent of Kellerman's new, more stylish bathing suit started in1907, when she was in the United States as an "underwater ballerina," performing the first water ballet - synchronized swimming - in a glass tank at the New York Hippodrome. During that US visit, she went to a Boston beach wearing one of her bathing suits and was arrested for indecent exposure, because the suit showed her arms, legs and neck. She redesigned her suits to have long sleeves, legs and a collar, but kept the close fit.

That accepted change was the beginning of the "shrinking" of the bathing suit that led to today's beyond-skimpy styles. Arms became uncovered. Then legs, up to the mid-thigh, began to be shown. Collars began to lower, eventually down to the top of the bosom. Materials were more relaxed, lighter and closer fitting.

By the time the 1940s arrived, the world was ready for its first real version of the "bikini," which bore little resemblance to today's bikinis. While still covering most of the space between the shoulders and hips, the bikini did have a space under the breast that exposed bare midriff. Despite the reasonable assumption that the word "bikini" is derived from the word "bi," as in "two," it isn't. The bikini is named after Bikini Atoll, a reef off the South pacific where nuclear weapons were tested and detonated. Like the atomic bombs, the new two-piece suits were expected to have an explosive effect. Then, 1946, a bikini was worn by fashion model Micheline Bernaderdini at a Parish fashion show. It was explosive, and the rest is history.

The shrinking continued. At first, through the 1950s, bikini bottoms went up to the navel. Then came the rebellious, revolutionary 1960s, and bikinis were getting smaller and smaller, as celebrated in the popular song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini." In 1964, a woman in a bikini was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, another first. Then it was the 1990s, and what emerged was the smallest of the smallest bikini, the thong. The thong, already popular in Brazil, became a fad in the United States.

Today, there are all kinds of bikinis: the thong bikini, triangle bikini, tie-front bikini, halter bikini, demi-cup bikini, cut-out bikini - even frilly bikinis, belt-buckle bikinis and yes, a one-piece bikini. Find more resources about bathing suits and other fashion trends at www.2hotbrazil.com.