Bathing Costumes

The first sea bathers in the 17th and 18th centuries would probably have swum naked. These bathers were people who had a morning dip prescribed by their doctors as a cure for ill health - it was not until well into the 19th century that people began to enjoy bathing and it became, as it is today, a leisure pursuit.

19th Century Fashions

Women's bathing costumes

Written descriptions of 18th century Scarborough tell us that women wore long flannel shifts with long sleeves, and this was probably the same all over the country. In the 1840s women’s bathing costumes are described as sacks turned upside down with holes for the head and arms, but just a decade later more elegant styles emerged. In 1852 the French made a women’s bathing costume based on Amelia Bloomer’s dress for day wear. This costume consisted of long trousers gathered at the ankles with a short sleeved, knee or thigh length jacket on top. No under garments were worn. It was made of dark coloured fabric, flannel or serge, often trimmed with braid or embroidery. By 1860 the bloomer suit had become the standard bathing costume in both England and France. Unlike the sack, the wearer was able to swim in it.

In 1870 girls’ bathing costume trousers became straight and knee length rather than ankle length like those of their mothers. Again dark colours were used so that the costume did not show the figure when wet. The neckline and decoration of women’s costumes followed fashionable daywear. By 1877 deep pink and blue flannel were popular, as were sailor collars, a fashion that would last into the 1900s. It also became the fashion for drawers to fasten below the knee and have a separate overskirt. Swimming clubs for girls started in the 1880s, coinciding with the decline of flannel costumes as they soaked up too much water and became very heavy. Serge and cotton twill became the more popular choices. In the 1890s there was a fashion for wearing stockings and bathing shoes with criss-cross lacing up to the knee. This was a fashion that lasted until about 1910.

Men's bathing costumes

Men’s bathing costumes originated in France in the 1830s where mixed bathing had been accepted and had become the norm by the late 18th century. These first costumes were called caleçons and were very short-legged drawers held up with string at the waist. They were to appear in England in the 1940s. Usually they would be striped in broad bands of red and white. By 1860 half the men bathing would be wearing these whilst the other half, probably the older men, would still be naked. In the 1870s, when swimming became recognised as a sport, a one-piece men’s costume was made. The one-piece costume was knee length with short sleeves and it was easier, as well as less risky, to swim in than the shorts, which could fall down.