Swimming Suits

Anyone with even the slightest interest in fashion knows that history repeats itself, especially when considering matters of the wardrobe. Swimming suits certainly illustrate the truth in that fashion adage.

Swimming pools and public baths became popular attractions during the days of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Gleaning information from surviving murals and statuary of the period, we see that swimwear wasn't worn by men or by most ladies, either.

Surviving murals from the volcano-ravaged city of Pompeii depict women in two-piece swimming suits that look astonishingly like the bikinis that became popular in the 1960s.

Inhabitants of tropical islands everywhere have traditionally worn swimming suits that also function as the clothing they wear on land. Many of today's swimming suits borrow design elements from these traditional island fashions.

The Victorian era brought new extremes of modesty to the Western world and swimming suits were designed with the ultimate degree of modesty in mind. Swimming pools were becoming popular in Europe but a fully clothed wet body was considered just as scandalous as a naked one. Bathing suits, especially women's, were voluminous, dangerously heavy when wet, and covered the body from chin to toe, including swim shoes laced around the ankle.

Swimming suits started becoming more functional in the early 20th century when Australia's Annette Kellerman toured the United States with her underwater ballerina act in 1907. Making headlines when she was arrested for indecent exposure, the fashion mainstream followed her lead by choosing close fitting swimming suits that allowed more freedom of movement and safety in the water.

Swimming suits have been shrinking in every direction since then. Today's swimwear looks more like those of antiquity than ever and in many places, suits are optional, even prohibited, once again.