“THE HISTORY OF THE BATHING SUIT “
Sunbathing on the beach is one of the most popular way of relaxation in the modern society. But things hasn’t always been this way. Wearing a bathing suit and sunbathing to get the much desired tan is a relatively new way of spending your free time, typical for the late 80 years. The history of the bathing suit and the evolution of the perception on beaches is an extremely interesting topic discussed by anthropologists all over the world.
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The history of the bathing suit starts in antiquity , when the Greeks and the Romans relaxed in the public baths. While the Greeks used to do this naked, the Romans wore a kind of swaddles that covered their intimate parts. After the fall of Rome, starting with the beginning of the period named by historians the Middle Ages, this custom of bathing was forgotten. Swimming and , generally speaking, the idea of bathing became taboo in the society. At that time, people believed that water brought disease and infections and this was the reason why they avoided it. In the Middle Ages public baths from antiquity were still present . But this time, in a Christian world, these bathing places were considered a place of debauchery, attended by prostitutes. In the 16th century ,after the outbreak of plague the public baths almost disappeared. The explanation is due to the fact that these places spread disease very easily and people started to avoid them for this reason.
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At the beginning of the 1800, people started to consider water as a source of amusement. But not the sun. At that time, the tanned skin was a sign of poverty. In the 19th century, people used to bathe wearing clothes with the whole body being covered. Women used to sew stones on the dresses to float on the water. More than that, bathing in the sea was a private thing. Women, especially, used a kind of cart pulled by a horse to float on the water. Once they arrived at the bathing place, women changed their costumes in woolen costumes and went to bathe. When they finished bathing, they got on the cart and went back to the shore.
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On the beach, women wore dresses that covered their bodies almost completely. The first years of the following century were years of transition and evolution regarding the bathing suits. Thus, while during the 1900s the long dress was the style at the seaside, but till 1920 things changed.
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This was the way the sportswomen who practiced swimming used to got dressed in 1906.
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In 1925 the fashion of the bathing suit changed once again. Still, not all the communities were as permissive. On some beaches from the United States, the bathing suits of the women were carefully monitored.
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In 1933 restrictions were relaxed and the bathing suit shrank a little. In 1942, bathing suits were in great demand and fashion designers started to design different kinds of models.
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In 1943 two piece bathing suit started to be worn.
In 1946 the French designer Louis Reard designed the two piece bathing suit with " bikini". His creation had a great success.
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The models from 1960 resembled very much the nowadays version of the bathing suit.
In 1974 the fashion designer Rudi Gernreich designed the tanga bathing suit.
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At the end of the 80s the sportswoman Florence Griffith brought the fashion of the sport costumes.
Now, at the beginning of the 21st century, fashion varies . Topless or not, women choose to wear all kinds of models, some with retro influences while others extremely small. The fact is however that going to the beach and wearing bathing suit have changed together with the change in people's mentality regarding the human body, the concept of privacy and private vision on skin color and lifestyle.
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The Powerpoint presentation " The History of the bathing suit " was created by Ghita Oana Stefania in the frame of the project " Around Europe From The Baltic Sea (Amber Sea) To The Black Sea-Learn, Play And Sing Together!"
Comenius Project 2013-2015