A brief look at the history of women’s swimwear from 1920 to 1950 shows a tremendous change not just in terms of fabric but in terms of modesty.
Most of the styles available today were not prominent back in day. You won’t believe some swim wears were made like a full article of clothing back in day. Allow me take you on this fun ride as I show you the history of women’s swimwear over the years.
A throwback to women’s swimwear styles in the 1920’s
In the 1920’s swimwears were extremely conservative. Women wore ill-fitting swimwear with shoes and socks to keep modesty around the pools lmao! Talk about choir uniform Must have been a trying time lol.
The fabric used in making swimwear in the late 1920’s must have been extremely uncomfortable compared to the light weight fabric obtainable in our time. I look at these pictures and cringe! These women literally wore full on regalia in the name of swimwear. *RollingMyEyes*
1930’s swimwear
There was a bit of an adjustment in the 1930’s. Swimwear’s in this era were now more form fitting and made from breathable light weight material.
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With the invention of clothing fabric such as latex and nylon, swimsuits gradually began body hugging with shoulder straps lowered for tanning.
Subsequently, the lenght of women swimwears were measured at the beach and public places to ensure they weren’t shorter than accepted.
1940’s
Two piece swimsuit was invented in the 1940’s. According to Wikipedia , in 1942, the United States War Production Board issued Regulation L-85 thereby cutting the use of natural fibers in clothing and mandating a 10% reduction in the amount of fabric in women’s beachwear.
To comply with the regulation, swimsuit manufacturers resorted to making two piece swimsuit with bare midriffs.
1950’s
With the midriff exposure in the 1940’s, women started feeling more self confident which led to manufacturers introducing Bikini’s to the market.
Micheline Bernadini was the first woman to model the first produced Bikini.
