I’m currently somewhat obsessed with the swimwear of years
gone by, so prepare yourselves for a short history lesson on the advance of
swimwear throughout the decades.
The start of the 20th century saw the introduction
of what we’d call conventional swimwear, liberating women from the long skirts that
was the trademark of the 19th century. In the 1930’s swimwear took on a new, sexier
form, leaving the formless modesty of the 1920’s behind and introducing sexy
backless one-pieces with higher cut legs.
The hourglass look became popular in the 1950’s and with
this trend came a need for more advanced shaping and support in swimwear. The
1950’s also saw an increase in the popularity of short hairstyles which in its
turn led to decorative swim caps becoming a hot trend. During this time bikinis
were scarce and those women that were brave enough to wear a bikini made sure
their bikini’s bottom came up to their belly buttons. In the late 1960’s the
popularity of bikinis grew and with the size of swimsuits shrank, burying the
sexy yet modest 1950’s one-piece that I so love.
The pictures shown are Catalina and Jantzen swimwear ads,
both really popular swimwear brands in the 1950’s.
