Encyclopedia
A
swimsuit ,
bathing suit ,
aqua jammies or
swimming costume is an item of
clothing designed to be worn for
swimming. In New Zealand English and some areas of
Australian English, swimsuits are usually called
togs. This term is less common in other parts of the Commonwealth where it can also refer to clothes in general. Swimsuits can be skin-tight or loosely fitting and range from garments designed to preserve as much
modesty as possible to garments designed to reveal as much of the body as possible without actual
nudity. They are often lined with a fabric that prevents them from becoming transparent when wet.
Swimsuits in general
Swimsuits are generally designed to cover at least the genitalia, and in some cultures women's
nipples.
Men's swimsuit styles tend to be
shorts, trunks,
boardshorts, jammers,
speedo-style
briefs, thongs, or cut-off jeans.
Women's swimsuits are generally either
one-piece swimsuits,
bikinis or thongs.
The
monokini, a style of swimsuit that most often takes the form of a
bikini bottom without the corresponding top, leaves a
woman's
breasts uncovered. Monokinis are quite common in many places throughout
South America and
Europe, though due to particularly stringent taboos they are almost never seen in the
United States, except in places with a strong European
tourist influence. For pre-pubescent
girls leaving the chest uncovered is sometimes considered more acceptable.
Special swimsuits for
competitive swimming, designed to reduce skin drag, can resemble
unitards. For some kinds of swimming and diving, special bodysuits called
diveskins are worn. These suits are made from spandex and provide little thermal protection, but they do protect the skin from stings and abrasion. Most competitive swimmers also wear special swimsuits including partial and full bodysuits, racerback styles, jammers and racing briefs to assist their glide through the water and gain speed advantages .
Swimming without a bathing suit is a form of
social nudity. Special
nude beaches may be reserved for nude
sunbathing and swimming. Swimming in the nude is also known by the slang term
skinny-dipping. As an alternative to a bathing suit some people use their
trousers,
underpants or
T-shirt as a make-shift swimsuit. At beaches norms for this tend to be more relaxed than at swimming pools, which tend not to permit this because underwear is unlined, may become translucent, and may be unclean.
Swimsuits are also worn for the purpose of body display in
beauty pageants. Magazines like
Sports Illustrated's annual "swimsuit issue" feature models and sports personalities in swimsuits.
History
In
Classical antiquity swimming and bathing was most often done nude. In some settings coverings were used. Murals at
Pompeii show women wearing two-piece suits covering the areas around their breasts and hips in a fashion remarkably similar to a bikini of c. 1960. After this, the notion of special water apparel seems to have been lost for centuries.
In various cultural traditions one swims, if not in the nude, in a version in suitable material of a garment or undergarment commonly word on land, e.g. a
loincloth such as the Japanese man's
fundoshi.
In the
18th century women wore "bathing gowns" in the water; these were long dresses of fabrics that would not become transparent when wet, with weights sewed into the hems so that they would not rise up in the water. The men's swim suit, 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 woman's two piece suit 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 1907 the swimmer
Annette Kellerman from
Australia 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 swimsuit 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, bathing wear slowly became less conservative, first uncovering the arms and then the legs up to mid-thigh. Collars receded from up around the neck down to about mid-way between the neck and nipples. 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 often featured people wearing swimsuits. This subset of glamour photography eventually evolved into swimsuit photography with the help of
Sports Illustrated is an iconic weekly American [i] sport [i]s magazine [i] owned by media [i] ...
and swimsuit photographers around the world.
The first bikinis 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 thought proper for the lower part of the bikini to come up high enough to cover the
navel. From the
1960s on, the bikini shrank in all directions until it sometimes covered little more than the nipples and genitalia, although less revealing models giving more support to the breasts remained popular. At the same time,
Fashion designer Rudi Gernreich introduced the
monokini, a topless suit for women consisting of a modest bottom supported by two thin straps. Although not a commercial success, the suit opened eyes to new design possibilities. In the
1980s the thong or "tanga" came out of
Brazil, said to have been inspired by traditional garments of native tribes in the
Amazon. However, the one-piece suit continued to be popular for its more modest approach.
Men's swimsuits developed roughly in parallel to women's during this period, with the shorts covering progressively less. Eventually racing-style "speedo" suits became popular—and not just for their speed advantages. Thongs were often seen among the more daring and provocative crowds. But in the
1990s, longer and baggier shorts became popular, with the hems often reaching to the knees. Perhaps due to the greater weight of these suits when wet, or perhaps from sheer daring, they were often worn lower on the hips than regular shorts.
Swimsuit styles
Women's swimsuit
One-piece swimsuits
- tank suit, leotard or simply 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 swimming pool.
- monokini: a term used for different styles of one-piece swimsuits inspired by the bikini style. Most commonly, a monokini is a bikini bottom without the corresponding top, worn by women, that leaves the breasts bare. Sling bikinis are sometimes, though not often, referred to as monokinis.
- sling bikini: also known as a "suspender bikini", "suspender thong", "slingshot bikini" or just "slingshot". The slingshot is a one-piece suit which provides as little, or even less, coverage as a bikini. Usually, a slingshot resembles a bikini bottom, 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 single-piece suit similar to a sling bikini, but the straps encircle the torso around the bottom of the ribcage, forming a very high-sided bikini 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.
- other types include stringbodys, halter-necks, maillots and plunge fronts.
Two-piece swimsuits
Men's swimsuit
- boardshorts or swimming shorts or trunks
- speedos or briefs or banana hammocks'
- jammer: a type of men's swimwear worn primarily by competitive athletes to obtain speed advantages. They are made of nylon and lycra/spandex material and have a form fitting design to reduce water resistance. They provide moderate coverage from the mid-waist to the area above the knee, somewhat resembling compression shorts worn by many athletes. They provide greater leg coverage than speedos or competitive briefs, although they also have slightly more water resistance.
- sunga: a Brazilian term for a men’s swimsuit.
- Tangas, thongs, t-backs and g-strings.
See also
External links
- Swimsuit Images.
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- starting in late 1700s; awkward JavaScript navigation
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- An extensive study of types and styles of female swimwear.
- Style tips and explanations
- Everything about swimsuits and advice on choosing the right swimsuit for your body type.
