One tiny article of apparel. That was all it took to spark outrage, bans, and even arrests around the world.
In the decades-long conflict between freedom and modesty, the bikini was both the enemy and the victor. Popes considered it sinful. It was outlawed by the governments.
But women kept wearing it, and with every bold appearance, the rules were altered.
Beachside tailors
Today’s swimsuit designs are quite different from the sleek, stylish styles of the early 20th century. They were once big, full-body, wool garments that protected swimmers from the sun. This was not about fashion, but about modesty.
There were rigorous dress codes at beaches across the United States. According to Kathleen Morgan Drowne and Patrick Huber’s book on 1920s pop culture, places like Chicago’s Clarendon Beach even hired tailors to make last-minute adjustments to swimwear that was deemed too revealing.
Similar laws were implemented around the nation; for example, Coney Island banned swimming socks that showed “dimpled knees” in 1915. In order to enforce these regulations, beach police in Washington, DC, were known to employ tape measures.
Have a single arrest?
Early in the 20th century, concealment was the main concern. Both men and women were expected to wear neck-to-knee suits; there was no exception to this regulation. Was there any skin showing? In any case, that was considered scandalous.
However, things were going to change. The Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman was among the first to break with these norms when, in 1907, she opted for a one-piece costume that revealed her arms, legs, and neck rather than the then-accepted pantaloons.
Known as “the Australian Mermaid” because of her remarkable swimming skills, Kellerman spent a large part of her life challenging social norms and redefining morals.
Kellerman says she was arrested by the police for wearing her “indecent” clothing, but there are no official reports to back it up. However, it was considered scandalous at the time for a woman to swim that way. The incident created news and sparked a movement.
Kellerman’s daring swimsuit choices attracted attention from the public, and her one-piece suits soon became well-liked.
Because of the tremendous demand, she later launched her own swimsuit brand, and the so-called “Annette Kellermans” were the first to help create modern women’s swimwear.
The Roaring Twenties: A Novel Approach to Fashion
The flapper style started to become more and more fashionable at the beach and in evening wear as the 1920s raged on.
It all started when several dissidents from California broke with tradition. The simple yet groundbreaking objective of the “skirts be hanged girls” was to design swimsuits that women could truly wear.
As a result, swimwear began to evolve, becoming more practical and form-fitting. The “skirts be hanged girls” embodied a national movement that valued mobility and functionality over only aesthetics.
Thanks to swimwear that increased mobility, women were progressively baring more flesh, even if it was still modest by today’s standards. But the true revolution was still to come.
The bikini: A ridiculous development
After 1946, the bikini became popular. French engineer Louis Réard designed this two-piece swimsuit, which exposed the navel and displayed more skin than anyone thought was appropriate for public spaces.
Days before the bikini was launched in 1946, the United States made headlines throughout the world by conducting its first nuclear test during peacetime at Bikini Atoll.
Despite the fact that designer Louis Réard never explained why he chose the word “bikini,” many believe it was an allusion to the bomb-like impact he expected the swimsuit to have, both culturally and commercially. According to some, the nickname evoked the exotic allure of the Pacific or compared the power of an atomic bomb to the shock of a tiny bikini.
The reaction in the United States was prompt: the bikini was banned from several beaches because it was considered to be obviously subversive. It wasn’t much easier in Europe either. In 1949, bikinis were banned from French beaches, and it wasn’t until the 1970s that they were banned from German public pools. Some communist groups, meanwhile, condemned the bikini as a symbol of capitalist deterioration and moral decline.
Several countries, including Belgium, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, implemented statewide swimsuit bans after Pope Pius XII declared that the bikini is wicked.
When it was decided that Australian model Ann Ferguson’s Paula Stafford bikini was too revealing, she was ejected from Surfers Paradise’s beach in 1952.
The reality about the famous image
The whole debate over whether or not bikinis are appropriate on public beaches has been encapsulated in a single picture. It’s Italian, too.
This black-and-white image, which has gone popular in recent years, shows a young woman in a bikini standing next to a man in a white uniform on a beach. Social media users usually claim that the scene was captured in Rimini, Italy, in 1957. The most widely accepted version of the story claims that the guy, a police officer, gives the woman a citation for merely donning a bikini.
A 2023 Reddit post featuring the image garnered over 31,000 upvotes and 1,400 comments. The caption read, “A woman is given a ticket by a police officer for wearing a bikini in 1957.”
But was it real?
The shot itself is authentic; there is no sign of computer editing, but the backstory is still unclear. There is no hard proof that the woman received a ticket for wearing a swimsuit. Some believe it may have been a staged scenario involving actors or models, while others believe the cop may have been bringing her up for a completely different reason.
Still, the image evoked strong feelings.
Gianluca Braschi, director of the State Archives of Rimini, emailed Snopes to confirm that swimsuit regulations were in place in Italy at the time, even though the photo’s provenance is still unknown.
In 1932, the law forbade “bathing in public view in a state of complete nudity and with indecent swimwear,” according to Braschi.Although it was applied inconsistently, such law was technically still in force until 2000.
Therefore, it portrays a very real tension from the era when bikinis weren’t just eye-catching, even though the full narrative behind that viral moment may never be known. They could also get you into trouble.
Hollywood’s influence
It was not until the 1960s that the bikini really took off. Cultural shifts enabled the creation of more daring swimsuit styles.
There were still disparities in public opinion. More conservative areas opposed the little two-piece.
One example is the Hays Code, which was implemented in 1934 and is often referred to as the United States Motion Picture Production Code. It allowed two-piece clothing but prohibited the navel from being shown in films. A Roman Catholic watchdog group called the National Legion of Decency stepped up the pressure by calling on Hollywood and international producers to outright forbid bikinis on the big screen.
The rise of Hollywood stars like Marilyn Monroe, Ursula Andress, and Brigitte Bardot helped redefine what it meant to be beautiful and confident in one’s physique. These icons become symbols of swimwear in addition to wearing it.
The Girl in the Bikini
It’s possible that Brigitte Bardot, a French actress, did more than anybody else to popularize the bikini.
It wasn’t simply that she wore a bikini; she owned it. Bardot’s groundbreaking performance in The Girl in the Bikini turned the swimsuit into a cultural statement. Her body, which was poured into a diamond-shaped, strapless bikini top that looked like it would give way at any moment, was the main focus of the movie.
With her long, unkempt hair and laid-back attitude, Bardot was challenging the conventions surrounding how women should be portrayed in movies.
Let’s be honest, the camera adored her body, even though the movie took care to show her in harmony with the sun and the sea. Bardot was more than just a gorgeous face, even though she was dressed in the classic pin-up style; she was the first actress to give a bikini a significant role and a plot.
Bardot was the first to utilize storytelling to make the bikini legendary, even though she wasn’t the first woman to wear one. The success of that film in the US instantly made her a global celebrity.
Ursula Andress’s white bikini from Dr. No (1962) became an immediate symbol because it combined sex appeal, strength, and cinematic impact in a way that had never been seen before.
When Andress emerged from the water with a dagger strapped to her hip, she was more than just a beautiful sight; she was powerful, self-assured, and unforgettable. The incident made her the archetypal Bond girl and cemented the bikini as a symbol of daring femininity in popular culture.
By the 1970s, the bikini had gained popularity. Swimwear got increasingly more revealing with the advent of thong-style bottoms and string bikinis. Male swim trunks shrank in size as the “modesty” of the early 20th century waned.
Diversity and body positivity in today’s swimwear
Wearing swimwear in the twenty-first century involves more than just adhering to social norms. The market for swimwear has expanded quickly, giving consumers a wide range of choices.
From striking thongs to string bikinis and subtle one-pieces, there is something for everyone. In addition, there has been a significant shift in the way body sorts are discussed. People of all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds can now freely express themselves at the beach or pool, displaying body positivity, ease, and confidence.
Policing “decent” swimwear is a thing of the past. These days, it all boils down to personal taste and expression. Whether it’s a full-coverage swimsuit or the most revealing bikini, America’s changing views on modesty reflect a far more inclusive and hospitable society.
The struggle for modesty has evolved into a celebration of individuality, diversity, and independence. The next time you’re at the beach, remember that the swimsuit itself is not as essential as the path to self-expression it represents.
