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.

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