From racing tanks to thongs, surfer trunks to Speedos, modern swimwear fills whole stores with fashions in the latest styles and high-tech fabrics. Once swimmer's choices were fewer, and swimming costumes focused more on modesty than function. The development of swimwear follows people's fascination with fashion and a growing interest in active sports. Modern-day swimsuits may cover less of the body, but feature designer trims and high-tech fabrics.
Early Swimwear
About the mid-1800s, public bathing became popular among both men and women with a growth in vacations to seaside resorts. Though both sexes participated in "surf bathing" women were discouraged from spending too much time in the water. For one thing, no matter what kind of bathing costume they wore, when wet the fabric clung, revealing the outline of the woman's figure and possibly conjuring all kinds of scandalous thoughts. These early bathing costumes consisted of smock-like gowns, skirts and stockings. All that fabric hindered a woman's ability to do much more than wade in water, being too heavy and voluminous for much real swimming. Men wore knickers and shirts with stockings. Their costumes were closer fitting, allowing for more freedom of movement, but still covered most of the body.
Swim Dresses
Beginning about 1880, women's swimwear more closely resembled a dress, with a closer-fitting tunic over bloomers or trousers and stockings, with an apron or skirt around the waist. A swim cap or straw hat completed the look. Gradually the skirt or apron shortened. The tunics began to have short sleeves. By the 1920s, when the flapper look showed women's knees, swim dresses followed suit, baring the legs from mid thigh to just below the knees, where the required black stockings began. Skirts were shorter and briefer and the tops more close-fitting. One-piece suits that resembled union suits with short pants made an appearance. Men wore one-piece knit suits with short sleeve or tank-style tops and boxer style shorts, often with belts or suspenders. Laws in many places forbid men from showing their bare chests.
Modern Times
As standards of modesty changed and women became more active, swimming costumes changed to accommodate them. Simple tank suits and maillots competed with more elaborate suits featuring dressmaker touches such as ruching, ruffles and lace trim. These suits sill featured shorts that came to mid-thigh and sleeveless tops with modest necklines, but they were form fitting, showing off a woman's curves and allowing freedom of movement. By the 1940s, swimsuit manufacturers such as Jantzen focused on fashion, featuring suits with daring cut-out designs and luxurious fabrics such as silk. Two-piece suits, consisting of short-shorts and long tank tops appeared. Men kept their trunks but finally lost their shirts. More daring men opted for brief Speedos, while surfers took the opposite tack, choosing knee-length, baggy trunks. But one of the biggest changes in swimwear fashions emerged from France in 1946 with the introduction of the bikini, which bared the stomach and caused a sensation. From then on, suits for women became briefer and briefer.
Fabrics
The earliest swimsuits were made of wool or cotton, fabrics that were heavy when wet and didn't hold their shape well in water. In the 1930s, manufacturers experimented with making women's suits of rubber, which clung to the body, but didn't breathe and could be difficult to take on and off. Elastic, boning and wires all played a part in shaping early swimsuits, but not until the introduction of Lycra and Spandex in the 1960s did manufacturers design suits that fit well, didn't use their shape in water and were comfortable. As of 2011, high-tech fibers in racing suits reduce drag.
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