The 20th-century war on women's swimwear
It took many years, and some confidently defiant women, to liberate female beachwear
1888
French bathing costumes.
1878
(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
1800s
Artwork, by William Heath, of women swimming at Brighton, England.
Early 1900s
England
1901
A turn-of-the-century bathing suit.
Early 1900s
(Glasshouse Images / Alamy Stock Photo)
1915
Coney Island.
Early 1900s
Annette Kellerman in her one-piece bathing suit.
1913
A Danish illustration.
1922
Essex, England.
1922
A bathing beach "cop" measures the distance between a woman's knee and the bottom of her suit in Washington, D.C.
1935
Palm Beach, Florida.
1950
Eastborne, England.
