A short history of swimsuits
Swimsuits, swimming costumes or bathing suits are clothing designed to
be worn while swimming. In ANZAC English, swimsuits are usually called
�togs�. Swimsuits can be skintight or loose fitting and range from
modest garments to risqu� garments. They are often lined with a fabric
that prevents them from becoming transparent when wet; however, there
are swimsuits, typically called sheer, which are specifically designed
to be transparent when wet. Swimsuits are designed to cover at the
genitals and breasts. Men's swimsuit styles are swimming trunks such as
shorts, jammers, speedo-style, thongs or g-strings. Women's swimsuits
are generally either one-pieces, swimsuits or g-strings/thongs. The
monokini, a style of swimsuit that most often takes the form of a
swimsuits bottom without a top. Monokinis are quite common in South
America and Europe, though due to taboos they are almost never seen in
the United States, except in places with a strong European tourist
influence. Special swimsuits for Olympic swimming, designed to reduce
drag, can resemble unitards. For some swimming and diving, special
bodysuits are worn. These suits are made from spandex and protect the
skin from stings and abrasion. Most professional swimmers also wear
special swimsuits including bodysuits, racerback, jammers and racing
briefs to assist their glide through water and gain speed advantages.
Swimsuits are also worn during pageants. Magazines like SI's annual
"swimsuit issue" feature models and sport personalities adorned
swimsuits. One-piece swimsuits, or a tank suit, leotard or more simply a
one-piece: Probably the most common form of one-piece swimsuit, the
tank suit form is inspiration for the subsequent creation of the tank
top as a mainstream article of clothing. The name "tank suit" is derived
from the term "swimming tank", an obsolete term for what is now called a
pool. Monokini: a term used for different styles of one-piece swimsuits
inspired by the swimsuits. Most commonly, a monokini is a swimsuits
bottom without the corresponding top, worn by women. Sling swimsuits are
sometimes, though not often, referred to as monokinis. Thong swimsuit:
One-piece swimsuit with thong back, buttocks exposed, otherwise an
ordinary swimsuit Sling swimsuits: also known as a "suspender
swimsuits", "suspender thong", "slingshot swimsuits" or just
"slingshot". The slingshot is a one-piece suit providing little, or even
less, coverage as a regular swimsuits. A slingshot resembles a
swimsuits, but rather than the straps going around the hips or waist,
the side straps extend upwards to cover the breasts and go over the
shoulders, leaving the entire sides of the torso uncovered, but the
nipples and pubic area covered. Behind the neck, the straps join and
reach down the back to become a thong. Pretzel suit: a one-piece suit
similar to a sling swimsuits, but the straps encircle the torso around
the bottom of the ribcage, forming a very high sided swimsuits bottom;
instead of the straps passing over the neck and down the back, they
simply encircle the neck, joining the straps which pass around the
midriff. Engineers are greatly involved in the development of
competitive swimsuits. It is as of late that in effort to improve the
effectiveness of the swimsuits, engineers have taken to designing them
to replicate the skin of sea based animals, sharks in particular. These
swimsuits are created in order to minimize water resistance as much as
possible allowing a swimmer to move more efficiently in water. In
Classical antiquity swimming and bathing were done nude. In some
settings coverings were used. Murals at Pompeii show women wearing
two-piece swimsuits covering the areas around their breasts and hips in a
fashion remarkably similar to the swimsuits of 1969. After this, the
notion of special water apparel seems to have been lost for centuries.
In the 18th century swimsuits for women were termed "bathing gowns"
which were long dresses of fabrics, with weights sewn into the hems so
that they would not rise up in the water. The men's swimsuit, a rather
form-fitting wool garment with long sleeves and legs similar to long
underwear, was developed and would change little for a century. In the
19th century, the womens two piece swimsuits became common�the two
pieces being a gown from shoulder to knees plus a set of trousers with
leggings going down to the ankles. In the Victorian era, popular beach
resorts were commonly equipped with bathing machines designed to avoid
the exposure of people in swimsuits, especially to people of the
opposite sex. In the early 1900s an Australian swimmer visited the
United States as an "underwater ballerina", a version of synchronized
swimming involving diving into glass tanks. She was arrested for
indecent exposure because her swimsuits showed arms, legs and the neck.
Kellerman changed the suit to have long arms and legs and a collar,
still keeping the close fit that revealed the shapes underneath. She
later starred in several movies, including one about her life. After
this event, swimsuits shrank, first uncovering the arms and then the
legs up to mid-thigh. Collars receded from around the neck down to
around the top of the bosom. The development of new fabrics allowed for
new varieties of more comfortable and practical swim wear. Due to the
figure-hugging nature of these garments, glamour photography since the
1940s and 1950s has often featured people wearing swimsuits. This subset
of glamour photography eventually evolved into swimsuit photography
exemplified by the SI annual swimsuit issues. The first swimsuits were
introduced just after World War II. Early examples were not very
different from the women's two pieces common since the 1920s, except
that they had a gap below the breast line allowing for a section of bare
midriff. They were named after Bikini Atoll, the site of several
nuclear weapons tests, for their supposed explosive effect on the
viewer. Through the 1950s, it was proper for the lower part of the
swimsuits to come up high enough to cover the belly-button. From the
1960s on, the swimsuits shrank in all directions until it sometimes
covered little more than the barest essentials, although less revealing
swimsuits giving more support to the breasts remained popular.