Going to rest on the seaside or to swim in the swimming pool, we take a swimsuit with us. And often there are several of them in our wardrobe!
Women began to wear swimsuits a little over 100 years ago: the position of women changed, and at the same time the fashion for the styles of swimwear changed. Initially, people took water treatments without clothes or used their everyday clothes and bedspreads.
In the 19th century, when the railway was invented, it took much less time to overcome thousands of kilometers, people began to travel to the seacoast. Women swam in mid-knee dresses or tunics, and harem trousers that did not hinder movement. A mobile bathing machine for changing clothes was delivered by horses or along rails from the shore directly into the water, where people could swim, remaining invisible to prying eyes. Swimming in public was considered shameful and it was only for commoners. After completing the procedures, the bather raised a special flag.
After swimming was officially listed as an Olympic sport at the end of the 19th century, beach fashion began to develop rapidly. Harem trousers have become shorter, there was separate knitted swimwear, consisting of shorts and T-shirts.
In 1907 Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman was arrested during a performance because she appeared in a swimsuit that exposed her arms and legs.
In the 1920s, sports became widespread. Swimsuits that bared the knees were made of jersey and cotton. On the beaches, the guardians of morality worked, who strictly monitored how many centimeters above the norm the swimsuit ended. For violation, they were fined and expelled from the beach.
In the 1930s, new synthetic materials were created - lycra and nylon. They simplified the cut and design of swimwear.
Swimwear with pants to the middle of the thigh was worn in seaside resorts until the middle of the 20th century when bikinis appeared.
July 5, 1946 - the official date of the "bathing revolution" when Louis Réard presented a bikini swimsuit that consisted of short swimming trunks and a narrow bra.
He called his invention with the word bikini, in honor of the island in the Pacific Ocean, on which the United States conducted nuclear tests a few days earlier. The swimsuit, which for the first time in history exposed a woman's navel, blew up the world community. Most of the prestigious beaches in Europe and America were banned from wearing bikinis almost until the sixties.
The popularity of the bikini was greatly influenced by the cinema. The commercial success of the film was brought by the appearance of a girl in an open swimsuit.
Brigitte Bardot was one of the first who wore a bikini in the cinema and her daily life.
She was followed by Hollywood stars: Marilyn Monroe, Ursula Andress, Raquel Welch.
Actresses wore bikinis and became an example for millions of women. Designers began to produce more revealing swimsuit models. Finally, bikini swimwear took its place in society by the end of the 1960s.
7 the most memorable swimwear in cinema:
1. Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief (1955).
2. Marilyn Monroe in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953).
3. Halle Berry in Die Another Day (2002).
4. Elizabeth Taylor in Suddenly, Last Summer (1959).
5. Natalya Selezneva in Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures (1965).
6. Pamela Anderson in Baywatch (1989-1999).
7. Lyudmila Gurchenko in Love and Doves (1985).
