In honor of the upcoming Miss Universe Swimsuit competition here in Grand Bahama and because it's Saturday and I'm going to the beach, I thought it would be fun to blog about the History of the Bikini!
The month of July is the anniversary of the unveiling of the first bikini! The bikini is a fashion enigma that will forever remain a mystery. How can a bikini be tasteful, subtle, simple, and classy, yet also be totally sexy and wildly provocative? It is the Eighth Wonder of the World. It is an essence worth capturing and bottling.
A bikini may be the only article of clothing that interests men as much as it interests women, if not more. Going shopping for a bikini is probably the easiest way to trick the hubby or the boyfriend to endure a shopping trip at the mall.
July 5 marked the 63rd anniversary of the two-piece bikini being with us. It is the swimsuit that took the bellybutton public and prompted worldwide interest in navel maneuvers. It "officially" was introduced at a fashion show on July 5, 1946. Louis Reard and Jacques Heim are recognized as the creators who first introduced the shockingly revealing suit to the world of fashion. Since Reard and Heim could not find anyone willing to appear publicly in such a scant outfit, the model of the first publicly displayed bikini of the 20th century was a professional nude dancer, Micheline Bernardini.
Although the bikini was officially introduced in 1946, Parisian women were photographed while wearing bikinis by Life Magazine for an issue published nearly a year earlier. Despite the bikini catching on in international waters upon its introduction, it was not until the 1960s that bikinis took off in the U.S. However, everyone didn't readily embrace the little two-piece swimsuits. In 1951 bikinis were banned from the Miss World Contest. It was fashion martyr and French film star Brigitte Bardot who warmed up society's cold shoulder toward the ostracized bikini when she wore one in the 1957 movie And God Created Woman. It was only the beginning. In 1960 Brian Hyland's pop song Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini prompted a global warming to the bathing suit.
It prompted a bikini-buying frenzy in the previously prudish USA. Raquel Welch also was a brazen pioneer who bravely exposed herself for the advancement of fashion by wearing a scruffy, Flintstone-type bikini in the classical black and white film One Million B.C. Speaking of the Flintstones, didn't Wilma and Betty's pre-historic beachwear include bikinis? Yabba-dabba-doo!
Check out one of my fave Swimwear Designers Rosa Cha
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