Over the years, the modest bathing suit has advanced significantly. Men used to swim in their underwear back then, but as soon as ladies started putting their toes in the water, everyone realized they needed to cover themselves. It took decades for the small bikinis and athletic one-piece fashions we know today to emerge. Earlier swimsuits sometimes resembled gowns. But why are they referred to as "bathing suits"? Find out by reading on!
Swimsuits Way Back When
The first swimsuits designed for women sometimes resembled gowns. Women in Bath, a British spa resort, wore billowing canvas clothing in the 1600s that would fill with water and conceal their proportions. Even in the 1800s, when ladies wore ankle-length gowns with high necklines and long sleeves, voluminous attire like this remained fashionable. Men, however, frequently swam naked (which was thought to be healthful), or they dressed closely.
As you might expect, these ballgown-like outfits were only suitable for swimming and splashing around, or, to put it another way, bathing. Thus, the bathing suit is named after a location well-known for its healing waters and the one activity you can really perform while wearing a sopping wet frock.
But as time went on, views began to shift and women began to favor an active way of life. When the name "swimsuit" was first used, in the 1920s, there was finally a breakthrough. Swimwear improved a little bit and may even be used for exercising throughout this bold decade. Women's outfits were influenced by the flapper aesthetic and frequently looked like miniskirts or shorts worn with a tank top. Some ladies even donned a tiny, form-fitting outfit that was modeled by the famous Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman, although this was frowned upon.
Another fascinating aspect of the word's history is its derivation. Frenchman Louis Réard created the current iteration of this scanty bathing costume in 1946. He used triangles of cloth to make a little top and a pair of bottoms that were inspired by the spirit of potential and freedom that grew in Europe following World War II. His creation was deemed so obscene that he had to pay a nightclub dancer to display it at a swimsuit event in Paris, where it soon gained popularity and went viral. Numerous countries sent him fan letters, and bikinis were completely prohibited on beaches from Portugal to America.
But from where did Réard get the name of his bathing suit? On the Bikini Atoll, a small group of islands in Oceania, the United States conducted its first atomic bomb test in the same year. The villagers used to name their house "Pikinni," which in their language meant "coconut place," but ultimately this became "bikini." The fascinating moniker of Réard's two-piece suit comes from his contention that it was "small and devastating" like the atom bomb itself.
The swimsuit lexicon has received a significant input from American designer Anne Cole. In the 1920s, her father founded a swimsuit company that took off immediately and was where Anne got her start in the industry. She started her own brand in 1982 and a few years later invented the first tankini.
She combined the words "bikini" and "tank," as in tank top, to describe her design since it was a two-piece outfit that provided the same coverage as a sleeveless shirt and covered the stomach. Cole thought her design would allay women's concerns about swimwear; it soon gained popularity and is still in use today.
