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First Bathing Suits
Although sea bathing was fashionable in the 18th century, it was considered proper to keep the skin white and untouched by the sun. This 1797 Gallery of Fashion print shows two ladies protected by face-shading bonnets, shawls and gloves as they approach a group of bathing machines, a sort of cabana on wheels. Ladies were known to sew weights into the hem of their smock-like bathing gowns to prevent the garment from floating up and showing their legs. -
Bathing Machines
The bathing machine allowed a modest Victorian woman to spend the day at the beach in complete privacy. After the horse would haul the cabana into the ocean, the 19th century woman would change from her layers of petticoats and dress into another layer of swimwear. Later a hood was added to the contraption to allow the female in a soaking wet flannel dress to emerge from the water unseen. -
First Changes
By 1910 bathing suits no longer camouflaged the contours of the female body. The yards of fabric used in Victorian bathing skirts and bloomers were reduced to show a little more of the figure and to allow for exposure to the sun. -
One Piece
By the early 1920s women’s bathing suits were reduced to a one piece garment with a long top that covered shorts. Though matching stockings were still worn, swimwear began to shrink and more and more flesh was exposed from the bottom of the trunks to the tops of the stockings. By the mid-1920s Vogue magazine was telling its readers that “the newest thing for the sea is a jersey bathing suit as near a maillot as the unwritten law will permit.” -
Beginning of the 2 piece
By the 1940’s women
were beginning to show a
a little more skin than in the
past. -
Tan through Swimwear
The most recent innovation for swimwear in the 1990s was the tan through fabrics used for swimwear. These fabrics allow you to tan through the fabric without showing the nude body.(no images) -
Current
Women's swimsuits are generally described as one-piece, bikinis, or thongs. A recent innovation is the burqini, favored by Muslim women, which covers the whole body and head (but not face) in a manner similar to a diver's wetsuit. These are an updated version of full-body swimwear, which has been available for centuries, but conforms with Islam's traditional emphasis on modest dress. In Egypt, the term "Sharia swimsuit" is used to describe full-body swimwear
