The Development of the Bathing Suit 

20th Century Fashions

Women continued to wear variations on the tunic and bloomer two-piece until the 1920s using other materials such as taffeta, wool jersey, crepe de chine and cotton. By 1918 women’s costumes had lost their skirts. There were also sleeveless costumes and daring one-piece machine knitted wool costumes.

The 1920s

In the early 1920s either a one piece bathing costume or a tunic and bloomers were being worn by women. For the serious swimmer a costume of stockinet type fabric was worn consisting of knickers and a thigh length close-fitting tunic. This style often had shoulder straps, rather than sleeves. Both men’s and women’s bathing costumes of the 1920s began to show more flesh. By the late 1920s the backs in the women’s one-piece swimming costumes were lower than the fronts and the two-piece costumes of tunic and bloomers had almost disappeared. Men’s costumes had low necks and backs while the legs had reduced in length. The most fashionable colours were black, dark blue or maroon.

The 1930s

The 1930s saw backs on women’s costumes become even lower. The fashion was to have large parts of the fabric cut away, to reveal more of the body. Alternatives to thin straps were halter necks and straps that crossed at the back. This 1930s also saw the disappearance of the one-piece men’s costume in favour of trunks, which covered the naval and were held up by means of a belt.                              Machine knitted wool took over from stockinet as the most popular fabric for bathing costumes, but in the late 1930s ruched cotton bathing costumes were also popular for women. This fashion was to continue into the 1940s and 1950s when ruching was used with brightly coloured fabrics. Meanwhile a new elasticated fabric was beginning to be used for swimwear called Lastex. By the end of the 1930s there was a two-piece costume, which consisted of separate brassiere and knickers, both of which were cut quite substantially - an absence of fabric that was to increase with the creation of the "bikini" in 1946.

Bathing costume with detachable halterneck strap, by Botio, c1930-1950, CT002885

1950s-1980s

In the 1950s one-piece strapless costumes were made possible by the introduction of nylon. Some of the costumes of this time had boned brassieres, and it became popular for both costumes and bikinis to have over-skirts. The 1960s and 1970s saw the development of polyamid and lycra making even skimpier costumes possible. In 1964 sportswear designer Rudi Gernreich introduced his topless bikini design. He also designed the ‘string’ in 1974 and the ‘thong’ in 1975. The alternative to the bikini in the 1970s was the one piece with high cut legs still popular today.

Men’s swimwear in the late 1980s saw a change from the tight fitting trunks of the 1960s and 1970s back to a looser fit short style, similar to those worn in other sports. Women’s costumes continue to be produced in a variety of styles and fabrics with a choice of both skimpy and more substantial costumes and bikinis available. 

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