Swimsuit

• 1. Introduction

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  A swimsuit is among the most regulated garments in human history. Long before beachgoers worried about fit or fashion, lawmakers in cities like Bath were issuing formal codes dictating exactly what could and could not be worn in the water. The Bath Corporation decree of 1737 specified that no male person above the age of ten could enter any bath without a pair of drawers and a waistcoat. Women were required to wear, at minimum, a decent shift on their bodies. These were not casual suggestions; they were civic ordinances. And yet for centuries before those rules were written, swimming had been done entirely naked.

  How did a culture go from nude bathing in classical antiquity to the bikini launched on the 5th of July 1946? From wool suits that grew heavy with water to fabrics engineered to mimic shark skin? And why does the choice of a single garment still carry the weight of religion, public health, safety, and national law? Those are the threads this documentary follows.

• 2. Before the Suit

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  In classical antiquity, swimming and bathing were done naked. Roman murals show women playing sports in two-piece garments covering the areas around their breasts and hips, remarkably similar in appearance to the present-day bikini. Scholars note, however, that there is no evidence those garments were ever worn for swimming. Every classical image of swimmers shows nude bodies in the water.

  In various traditions where nudity in water was not the norm, people simply entered the water in the clothing they already wore on land. A Japanese man's fundoshi, a form of loincloth, served that purpose. In Britain, the practice was more informal still. Until the mid-19th century there was no national law against nude swimming. Each town set its own rules. Men swam nude in rivers, lakes, and the sea; those who did not strip entirely went in wearing their underwear.

  The English practice of men swimming nude was banned nationally in 1860, and drawers, known in France as calecons, began coming into common use that same decade. Even then, many resisted. The diarist Francis Kilvert described men's bathing attire in the 1870s as a pair of very short red and white striped drawers, which captures both the novelty and the slight absurdity of the new requirement.

  Women's bathing costumes had a longer and more elaborate history. Until the 1670s, nude female bathing in spa towns appears to have been the norm. After that point women bathed clothed. Celia Fiennes documented the standard ladies' bathing costume in 1687 in detail: garments made of fine yellow canvas, stiff and large with great sleeves, which the bath water would fill so that the shape of the body was not visible beneath. By the 18th century, women wore full bathing gowns with weights sewn into the hems to prevent the fabric from rising. By the 19th century, the double suit had become common: a gown from shoulder to knees paired with trousers with leggings reaching to the ankles.

• 3. The Shrinking Suit

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  Annette Kellerman arrived in the United States in 1907 as an "underwater ballerina" from Australia, performing a version of synchronized swimming that involved diving into glass tanks. She was arrested for indecent exposure because her swimsuit showed arms, legs, and the neck. Kellerman modified the suit to include long arms, legs, and a collar, but kept the close fit that still revealed the shape of the body beneath. Her one-piece style, later marketed under her own name as "the Annette Kellerman," became the most controversial swimsuit of the 1920s and a primary target of censorship efforts.

  Despite that opposition, the form-fitting suit proved popular. Swimwear began a gradual process of shrinking. Arms were exposed first, then legs up to mid-thigh, and necklines dropped from around the throat down toward the top of the chest. The 1907 Sydney bathing costume protests took place in Australia after an ordinance was proposed requiring males to wear a skirt-like tunic. A similar proposal was floated in 1935, requiring men to wear the so-called Spooner bathing costume in place of swim trunks that authorities described as disgraceful.

  The most decisive single step came on the 5th of July 1946, when Louis Reard, a French automobile engineer who had also become a clothing designer, introduced the modern two-piece bikini. His timing was deliberate. He launched the design four days after the first test of a nuclear weapon at Bikini Atoll, when newspapers were saturated with coverage of the event. He named his design after that atoll, hoping it would generate comparable attention.

  Through the 1950s, convention held that the lower part of a bikini should come high enough to cover the navel. From the 1960s onward, the garment shrank further in every direction. The one-piece suit remained popular throughout, valued for the greater modesty it offered compared to the bikini's continued retreat.

• 4. Materials That Changed Everything

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  Prior to the 1930s, swimsuits were typically made of wool. The material had a fundamental problem: it did not hug the body and grew heavy with water.

  Rayon came into use in the 1920s as manufacturers sought a tighter fit, but it performed poorly when wet, making durability a persistent issue. Jersey and silk were occasionally used as alternatives. In the 1930s, latex and nylon emerged as new options. Nylon suits dried more quickly than suits made of common organic fibers, which made them more comfortable to wear. Swimsuits around this period began genuinely hugging the body, particularly women's suits.

  Spandex, sold commercially under the name Lycra, entered swimsuit manufacturing in the 1960s, usually blended with nylon to help the suit fit closely to the body. Spandex has a structural limitation, however: it degrades relatively quickly in chlorinated water such as that found in swimming pools and hot tubs. Polyester emerged as a more durable option, lightweight but less stretchy than spandex.

  The most specialized development came in competitive racing suits. These garments are made from technologically advanced fabrics designed to mimic the rough texture of shark denticles, the tiny scale-like structures on shark skin that reduce drag. The fabric characteristics also improve shape retention and increase muscle compression to reduce vibration and power loss. Racing suits are available in cuts ranging from bodyskin to kneeskin to high-cut swim briefs.

  More recently, some manufacturers have turned to recycled materials, working with suppliers who transform fishnets, nylon waste, and plastic recovered from shorelines and waterways into textile components for new swimwear.

• 5. Culture, Modesty, and Law

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  In public swimming pools in France, hygiene rules require that men wear closer-fitting swimwear rather than baggy shorts or trunks. The rule exists for sanitary reasons, though it produces the side effect of making Speedo-style suits effectively mandatory for men in French pools.

  The burkini represents a different negotiation between religion, comfort, and public space. Originally designed in Australia by Aheda Zanetti, whose company Ahiida owns the trademarks to both "burkini" and "burqini," it covers the whole body except the face, feet, and hands, made from ordinary swimsuit fabric in a shape similar to a wetsuit. The garment is worn for religious reasons by some Muslim women, but also by lifeguards and other women who are at elevated risk for skin cancer. When France moved to ban burkinis on the grounds that they were too religious in character, the bans produced a significant increase in worldwide sales.

  In Egypt, full-body swimwear is described by the specific term "Sharia swimsuit." The burkini itself is understood as an updated version of full-body swimwear that has been available for centuries, shaped now to meet contemporary Islamic standards of modest dress.

  Color carries safety implications that most swimmers never consider. A blue, white, or gray swimsuit can become nearly invisible when the swimmer is underwater, making it harder for a lifeguard to identify a drowning swimmer. The most visible underwater swimsuits feature large, solid blocks of bright neon colors such as neon pink or neon orange. Solid neon colors are more effective than either red or multi-colored swimsuits at making a submerged swimmer visible.

  The history of beauty pageants is woven through the swimsuit's cultural arc. In the United States, beauty contests featuring women in bathing costumes became popular from the 1880s, though they were not considered respectable. The first modern Miss America contest was held in 1921, and the event eventually gained broader social acceptance. Miss America ended its swimsuit competition in 2018.

• 6. Defining Moments in Design

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  Rudi Gernreich designed the monokini in 1964, and the garment was immediately controversial. Consisting of only a brief, close-fitting bottom and two thin straps, it was the first women's topless swimsuit. The design included a bottom that, in Gernreich's own description, extended from the midriff to the upper thigh and was held up by shoestring laces that form a halter around the neck. Some observers credit Gernreich's monokini with initiating the sexual revolution; others describe it as a symbol of that broader social shift.

  Also in 1964, the Anne Cole Swimwear brand released the "Scandal Suit," a one-piece suit with mesh inserts designed by Anne Cole. It became the first swimsuit to break one million dollars in sales. That same year, Babette March appeared on the cover of the 20th of January 1964 issue of Sports Illustrated, becoming the first cover model for what would become the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

  Swim briefs have a longer history than most people assume. Made of wool and held in place with a military-style canvas belt at the waist, they go back at least to the 1930s. They appeared in hundreds of print advertisements, modeled by the muscular figure of Charles Atlas. A nylon version without the belt was launched at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics by Speedo, giving the garment a new identity tied specifically to competitive swimming.

  The tankini arrived considerably later. Anne Cole, who had earlier produced the Scandal Suit, invented the two-piece design in 1998. Cole, who was born in 1926 and died in 2017, founded the brand that carried her name. The tankini pairs a top that covers the breasts and stomach like a tank top with a separate piece covering the lower body, offering a middle option between the one-piece and the bikini.

  In the 1980s the thong, known in Brazil as the tanga, spread outward from South America, said to have been inspired by traditional garments worn by native tribes in the Amazon. Swim briefs in thong and g-string styles gained a following, particularly in tropical regions and at public pools, before the 1990s brought a decisive swing in the opposite direction toward longer, baggier boardshorts sitting lower on the hips.