hats and laces

On a final note, I hope you enjoyed the Beach Evening (perhaps it wasn’t evening for you - blame the timezones!) as much as I did! If you have more suggestions for theme-evenings, don’t hesitate to ask!

Tonight will end with my favourite picture. It has everything lovable and adorable: polka-dots, a beautiful blonde, candidness, and most of all, a huge and contagious smile!

Exquisite swimsuit from 1989

Fabulous 1950s.

Beachwear 1949-1951

This is quite a conservatory swimsuit for the year of 1959.

Brigitte Bardot, being her fabulous self on the beach in Cannes, 1953

Cute green swimsuit with elephant-printed belt, 1953

Beachwear, 1950–1959

The 1950s were an unusual decade mixing liberalism with conservatism. On one hand we have the widely-known swimsuit ’50s shape with high-waist and strapped halter (examples of which I will post a bit later).

On the other hand, we have 18-year-old Brigitte Bardot hitting the beach in Cannes with an outrageously exposing bikini.

The bikini caught on slowly. The standards of decency of the day would still be respected for the following years.

Beachwear, 1945-1955

Louis Réard, the inventor of bikini, with a model in 1946

The idea of a suit “smaller than the world’s smallest bathing suit” struck him when he saw women rolling up their beachwear to get a better tan. He named his creation bikini after the Bikini Atoll, which was the site of nuclear weapon tests. Words like “atomic” were beginning to be used by the media to describe something sensational and indeed, the shock the bikini would eventually cause would equal that of the bomb.

Alluring silhouette on the beach, 1941.

The 30s saw the birth of the deux-pièces swimsuit.

Publicity still of Dolores Del Rio in In Caliente, movie known as the first to feature a leading star in a two-piece bathing suit.

This daring young girl with a bare-midriff surely was a shocking view on the beaches of 1929!

Although starlets and dancers already showed their torsos and much more during their performances, only the bravest women wore this kind of bathing suit outside in public.

Striped and belted maillot skirted pantaloon, 1925.

The 20s were revolutionary years from the sartorial point of view. At the end of the World War I, women become bolder and more aware of their physical qualities. They lock the multi-layered heavily laced and ruffled dresses and corsets in the closet and proudly show their legs to the world.