A Brief History of the BikiniHow the tiny swimsuit conquered America.
Posted Saturday, June 27, 2009, at 7:08 AM ET
Summer is upon us, which means that Americans are heading to the beach to slather on the sunscreen and slip out of their clothes. In honor of the season, we present a two-piece celebration of the two-piece: In 2006, on the swimsuit's 60th birthday, Julia Turner chronicled the rise of the bikini in America. Click on the module above to launch that slide-show essay, "A Brief History of the Bikini," reintroduced below. For a Magnum photo gallery of the bikini, click here.
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StumbleUponSixty years ago this week, the world's first bikini made its debut at a poolside fashion show in Paris. The swimsuit is now so ubiquitous that it's hard to comprehend how shocking people once found it. When the bikini first arrived, its revealing cut scandalized even the French fashion models who were supposed to wear it; they refused, and the original designer had to enlist a stripper instead. Click here to read a slide show that explains how the bikini slowly gained acceptance—first on the Riviera, then in the United States—and became a beachfront staple.
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The Week's Best Editorial Cartoons
I think the reason people didn't wear the bikini is because of the Hays Code. Prior to 1934, you could see modern style bikinis in the movies (for instance in the Tarzan movies). And after 1967, you could see bikinis in movies again when the code was repealed. It is a good question whether or not the Hays Code followed American morals or whether American morals enforced the Hays Code, but I think you have to mention especially in regard to the bikini.
-- bonerici
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Absolutely. In pictures of vaudeville and Broadway, the costumes looked like bikinis. I have a copy of "Stormy Weather" from 1943. The women's costumes for some of the dance scenes clearly appear to be bikinis, and far smaller than those of the 1950s. My Mae West films also feature dancers in bikini-ish costumes. I think the Hays Code influenced this.
-- Domini
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