Roman Gymnasts
Contrary to popular belief, the bikini was actually an ancient invention, as illustrated by this 4th century Roman mosaic from Villa Romana Del Casale, in Sicily, Italy. Going back even further, two-piece garments were worn by women (for athletic purposes) as early as 1400 B.C., and have been depicted on Greek urns and paintings from that period.
Bikini Bathing
A dressing room on wheels was considered essential to preparing for a swim at Europe's beaches in the 1890's. Ladies would sew weights into the hems of their garments to prevent them from riding up and showing their legs.
Loud and Proud
Layers of petticoats eventually gave way to a single-piece costume that no longer hid the contours of the female body. The precursor to the modern bikini emerged in 1907, when Australian swimmer and performer Annette Kellerman (not pictured here) was arrested on a Boston beach for wearing a form-fitting one-piece.
Fleshing It Out
During the 1940s, fashion houses pushed the boundaries on bathing suits, exposing considerably more flesh than ever before. War rationing provided the stimulus for the two-piece, when the U.S. government ordered manufacturers to reduce the amount of fabric they used, resulting in the bare midriff. But it would be a Frenchman sitting on a beach in the south of France who worked out that there was money to be made from navel-gazing...
Explosive Beginnings
On July 5th, 1946, French engineer, Louis Réard, designed a garment "smaller than the world's smallest bathing suit." Four days earlier, the U.S. military had conducted nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll. Réard hoped that his invention would be as explosive as that test and so called his new creation the bikini. But at first, none of the Parisian models would dare to wear his design.
Micheline Bernardini, a nude dancer, was the first woman ever to wear a bikini, in a July 11, 1946 showing for the press at the fashionable Piscine Molitor in Paris on July 11th 1946. The bikini was so small it could fit into a matchbox, like the one she's holding. Unsurprisingly, Bernardini received plenty of fan mail.
Bikinis were banned from worldwide beauty pageants after the first Miss World Contest in London in 1951. As the tasteful one-piece continued to reign supreme, the bikini was later also banned in Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Australia and even declared sinful by the Vatican.
And God Created Bardot
Movie star Kirk Douglas frolics on a Cannes beach with a young French actress called Bridget Bardot, who would become widely credited with popularizing the bikini. It's also been said that Bardot did more for France's international trade balance than the entire French car industry.
An iconic moment in cinema history came in 1962 when Swiss actress Ursula Andress, playing Honey Rider in the James Bond film Dr. No, strode out of tropical Caribbean waters wearing her homemade bikini. Nearly 40 years later, in 2001, it sold for $60,000 at auction. The following year, the moment was memorably recreated by Halle Berry in Die Another Day.
Raquel on the Rocks
Actress Raquel Welch poses in that legendary cavewoman bikini for a publicity shot for her 1967 movie One Million Years B.C. By this point, many famous actresses had donned the bikini, such as Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and, of course, Bardot.
Swimsuit Illustrated
TIME's sister publication had its first ever swimsuit issue back in 1964. The story behind this debut has it that editor Andre Laguerre could find no compelling sporting events to write about during the winter months and asked the fashion reporter, Jule Campbell, to help fill some space, including the cover, with a model. She found Babette March (above) and the rest is history.
Having a Ball
The American professional volleyball player (and model) Gabrielle Reece promotes her sport in 1997. Her team took first place at the first-ever Beach Volleyball World Championships but she's probably now best known for her work on television.
Perhaps the quintessential bikini photo, two women in string bikinis, or tangas, walk along Rio de Janeiro's Ipanema Beach in Brazil. To try and sum up the appeal of the bikini, TIME asked Dominic Smith, editor of U.K. men's magazine Nuts for an appraisal. "In the austere post war years mankind needed something to bring peace and happiness to the planet once more. That thing was the bikini. Its perfection of form and function ensured that once again, mankind was united in a single thought: phwoar! Happy 63rd birthday bikini — possibly the greatest, enjoyment giving invention of the 20th century."
'인물,문물' 카테고리의 다른 글
| 최근의 북한사진 (0) | 2012.02.25 |
|---|---|
| 타임지가 선정한 세계 10대 유명 장례식 (0) | 2012.02.24 |
| 칼라 사진으로 보는 100년전 우리의 모습(2) (0) | 2012.02.23 |
| 1945년 미국 도쿄 대공습 사진 (0) | 2012.02.23 |
| 정조대도 못 막는 아내의 유혹 (0) | 2012.02.22 |