The 20th-century war on women's swimwear

It took many years, and some confidently defiant women, to liberate female beachwear

A beach "cop," 1922.
Lauren Hansen
By
published
(Image credit: French bathing costumes.)

(Image credit: (Amoret Tanner / Alamy Stock Photo)In the 19th century, modesty was the driving trend in female fashion. Clothing was meant to cover the threatening curves of the female form: Necklines were)

(Image credit: Artwork, by William Heath, of women swimming at Brighton, England.)

(Image credit: England)

(Image credit: A turn-of-the-century bathing suit.)

(Image credit: (Glasshouse Images / Alamy Stock Photo))

(Image credit: Coney Island.)

(Image credit: Annette Kellerman in her one-piece bathing suit.)

(Image credit: A Danish illustration.)

(Image credit: Essex, England.)

(Image credit: A bathing beach "cop" measures the distance between a woman's knee and the bottom of her suit in Washington, D.C.)

(Image credit: Palm Beach, Florida.)

(Image credit: Eastborne, England.)

Lauren Hansen
Lauren Hansen

Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.

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