Bikinis still abreast of fashion 60 years
by Jo Biddle, 29 Jun 2006
Sixty years ago the bikini exploded onto the world, and a trip to the beach has never been the same since. Once banned in several countries as indecent, today few women's wardrobes are complete without it.
And if women today are covering up more, it's more out of fears over the dangers of long-term exposure to the sun rather than out of any lingering coyness, with the last itsy bitsy shreds having been discarded long ago.
One week after the first US post-war nuclear tests on the South Pacific Bikini atoll, French designer Louis Reard launched his two-piece swimming costume on the public on July 5, 1946.
Made of three triangles of material held together with ties, the bikini was considered so shocking that Reard had to use a nude dancer from Paris' famous Lido nightclub to model it, French fashion historian Olivier Saillard told AFP.
"It was banned in a lot of places at the time by countries and by several mayors in regions in France before imposing itself due to the power of women, and not the the power of fashion.
"The emancipation of swimwear has always been linked to the emancipation of women," he said.
Two-piece costumes existed before Reard's creation. Early Greek mosaics appear to show women wearing two-piece costumes, but they were probably designed for sports not swimming. And US Olympic swimmer and actress Esther Williams also appeared in two pieces in her 1930s films.
But to a bikini, size makes all the difference.
Reard's version was smaller and lighter (small enough to be passed through a wedding ring) and most controversially stopped below the navel.
The first costume, which was made of cotton printed with images of newspaper headlines was named after the Bikini atoll, because Reard "knew it would cause a bombshell in the fashion world."
Although Reard's costume caused a sensation, it was not an immediate hit in a world struggling to recover from World War II with little time or available money for frivolous visits to the beach.
But by the end of the 1950s, it had become a fashion item de rigueur, thanks in part to Hollywood and star power.
"I think it was the precursor of all swimming costumes. In fact the bikini is the simplest and the most minimalist of all swimming costumes," said Saillard, an exhibitions planner from the Museum of Fashion and Textiles in Paris, and author of the French book "Les Maillots de Bain".
Some experts have dated the bikini's phenomenal success back to US singer Brian Hyland's 1960 summer smash hit song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," which had American girls rushing out to the shops.
The invention of lycra in the early 1960s also revolutionised swimwear, replacing cotton, scratchy nylon and even soggy wool as the bikini's material of choice.
Another milestone was passed in 1964 when Sports Illustrated first used a bikini-clad model on its front cover, says American writer and socialite Kelly Killoren Bensimon who has written "The Bikini Book," laden with pictures celebrating the bikini's 60th birthday.
Since then the bikini and its wearers have passed into legend, becoming iconic images of 20th century culture.
"This bikini made me a success," said Ursula Andress, with a huge amount of understatement, of her role in the 1962 James Bond classic "Dr No" in which she slinks from the waves in a white bikini, a knife slung casually round her hips.
And who can forget the sensual Brigitte Bardot in her bikini in the legendary 1956 film "And God Created Woman," or Raquel Welch's wild little fur number "One Million Years B.C." in 1966 which turned her into a bestselling poster girl.
"The bikini is a snapshot of fashion in the second half of the 20th century, at once scandalous and forcing women to become ever thinner," said Saillard.
"The bikini transforms women into an object of seduction and desire, such as garage pin-ups. But on the other hand it shows that women are becoming increasingly independent and masters of their own bodies.
"In fact the biggest gesture by women to prove their independence is when in the 1970s they throw away their bikini tops."
Today fears over skin cancer as well as the changing use of the beach as a place for sport, rather than for tanning, means topless is out and women have several costumes and bikinis to suit all occasions.
"The beach used to be a place for swimming, but also for seduction, almost like a nightclub, before turning back into a sporting area," said Saillard.
"Being too tanned is no longer chic, and we are seeing a return to elegance on the beach."
Yeah, right...