Have you ever wondered how many types of swimsuit silhouettes there are? Or what kind of swimsuit would suit your body type and preference? My motto for the perfect summer “beach bod” is simply this. Just put on your swimsuit, and ta-da! You have the perfect beach bod, instantaneously. Pretty easy right? So why not use the latest lush neoprene and tricot fabrics Mood has, to create your next masterpiece!
With Memorial Day weekend fast approaching, and beach bum days becoming more frequent, I’m sure you’ll do your best to be at the beach every weekend to get your healthy dose of vitamin D! With so many colors and silhouettes, you may have a tough time choosing just one. So here are 7 swimsuit silhouettes and their origin, for you to peruse over for your next unique and inclusive swimsuit collection!
The One Piece was made generations after society dictated swimsuits were a necessity. In the past, women would jump in the sea with bloomers, stockings, and even weigh the hems of their skirts with lead to keep from showing their legs! Modesty reigned over functionality. Most women were only able to wade in the water, and not swim. Once society realized that in order to swim better, they would have to use less fabric, the one piece was born! But not before hem lines slowly became higher from previous years. So around the late 1920s is where we saw the first collective debut of the one piece, also called a maillot, named after the French fashion designer in the 1920s. It was a one piece bathing suit with high cut legs, that looked like shorts on a romper. It was also customary to wear matching swim caps to protect your hair, and add a decorative flair and style. Women were liberated politically to vote, and through the clothing they’d wear! If you’d like a more covered and modest look, you can bring back this vintage look with ease. Nowadays, there are no shorts, and one pieces are generally more triangular towards the bottom to cover your pelvic area. With time, designs change, and the one piece has been no different!
The Vintage High Waisted Two Piece was a silhouette originally intentioned to be a groundbreaking design as a two piece bathing suit. However, in hindsight, it was a more modest version than its successor. The two piece swimsuit was made by a French designer named Jacques Heim in 1932. Cutely named “Atome” in French, it was a nod towards the scientific term “atom”, the smallest particle known to man. It would only make sense to name the smallest bathing suit after it! It was the first of its kind, but did not become popular until many years later. It’s design was primarily to aid war relief efforts, by trying to use as little fabric as possible, since using more fabric was considered a luxury. Perfect for hiding a tummy, and cinching your waist!
The Triangle Bikini was created by yet another French designer named Louis Réard, who shortly released his own version of today’s modern day two piece Bikini in July 1946. The more risque version of it of course! Imagine three little triangles to cover your breasts, pelvic area, and buttocks. It exposed large portions of women’s belly buttons, and large areas of their rear. So much so, that no model at the time would wear it. And look how far we are now! This collection was named after the Bikini Atoll, which was a nuclear test site where the US tested a nuclear bomb for the first time in public only 4 days before the collection launched. It was advertised as “Smaller than the Smallest Bathing Suit in The World!” to poke fun at Jacques’s previous design. It was definitely meant to be explosive with how little coverage it had. Also, not just any bathing suit was not considered a genuine bikini by the way. Louis Réard maintained a public mystique about his collection, stating that a bikini wasn’t genuine unless you could pull it through a wedding ring!
The Monokini was originally designed by fashion designer Rudi Gernreich in 1964, in the height of the era of sexual revolution! They were originally designed to be the world’s first topless bathing suits, upstaging each of its predecessors, only being held up by shoe-string thin straps! But so much controversy surrounded the product, that Gernreich was urged to make monokinis more commercial and palatable to the public. Thus Monokinis grew in popularity, a little time after the one piece and bikini.
Thigh Cut bathing suits were intensely popularized when Pamela Anderson wore the iconic red one-piece on the hit TV show Baywatch in the late 1990s. It’s just right for people who want to show a little more leg, and look a little taller! Modern day bikinis in 2019 show that this is a highly popular bathing suit trend still to this day, also advertised by models and influencers on all platforms of social media. Who wouldn’t want to show off your curves while running across a beach to save a life? I sure do!
The Tankini is a simple silhouette that has a coverage from the top of the swimsuit, that covers your navel and torso. It is essentially a two piece, with a bikini bottom! It can have apt coverage for those looking for a more secure top, since integrating a push-up into this type of swimsuit is easy. It is now more popular for children’s beachwear, due to it’s simplistic design. It was popularized in the 1990s, to model after the bathing suits women would wear in the 1920s. Fashion is always evolving and changing, but it would be remiss of me to not mention it’s original design inspiration!
The Burkini, or also known as a Burqini, are full coverage swimsuits that only show the hands, face, and feet. Designed by fashion designer Aheda Zin in 2003, this type of swimsuit was made for those looking to display modesty while respecting the religion of the Islam culture. Although, not limited to religion, some people have also reported wearing the burkini to protect themselves from the sun! In a way, it is a very freeing way for women to enjoy hot climates while still wearing lighter fabrics that are able to get wet, while also actively participating in water sports. They are typically made with anywhere from 2-4 separate pieces that include a hood, tunic, shirt and bottom with snaps to keep the fabric from floating up. If you’d like a swimsuit with the most possible coverage, this bathing suit is for you!
I hope this guide helped you figure out what kind of bathing suit you would want to wear! Did you learn anything new about these swimsuit origins, and which one are you going to make? Let me know in the comment section below!
