In 1946, Western Europeans joyously greeted the first war-free summer in years, and French designers came up with fashions to match the liberated mood of the people. Two French designers, Jacques Heim and Louis Reard, developed competing prototypes of the bikini. Heim called his the “atom” and advertised it as “the world’s smallest bathing suit.” Reard’s swimsuit, which was basically a bra top and two inverted triangles of cloth connected by string, was in fact significantly smaller. Made out of a scant 30 inches of fabric, Reard promoted his creation as “smaller than the world’s smallest bathing suit.”
Reard called his creation the bikini, named after the Bikini Atoll. It was difficult for Reard to find a female who was willing to model this new skimpy idea for the beach but had an idea! Perhaps an exotic dancer would be willing to act as a model for this new, skin-bearing beach outfit. Micheline Bernardini, who was an exotic dancer at the Casino de Paris, was delighted to pick up the nearly-nude baton and became the person who would first model what is now known as the bikini. Obviously, she was used to appearing in public with very little clothing! It was a hit, especially with the men!
Reard’s business soared in Europe, and in advertisements he kept the bikini mystique alive by declaring that a two-piece suit wasn’t a genuine bikini “unless it could be pulled through a wedding ring.”
Nonetheless, in America, the bikini was successfully resisted until the early 1960s, when a new emphasis on youthful liberation brought the swimsuit en masse to U.S. beaches. Brian Hyland certainly brought it to life when, in 1960, he recorded the well-loved and often sung song, “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini”. Of course, the Beach Boys got on that band wagon with their surf music and from then, we have never looked back.
We hope that your summer agenda includes lots of beach time, whether in a bikini or a one-piece!
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