'Bikini' briefs, from Roman London.

Modern Bikini briefs.

A bikini or two-piece is a type of women's swimsuit, characterized by two separate parts — one covering the breasts, the other the groin (and optionally the buttocks), leaving an uncovered area between the two garments. It is often worn in hot weather and while swimming. The shapes of both parts of a bikini closely resemble women's underwear, and the lower part of a bikini can therefore range from the more revealing thong or g-string to briefs and the more modest square-cut shorts.

Two-piece garments worn by women for athletic purposes have been observed on Greek urns and paintings, dated as early as 1400 BC. Ancient artwork from over 1700 years ago in Villa Romana del Casale have depicted women in garments resembling modern-day bikinis. ^[1]

Sometimes the term bikini is used to describe the type of man's swimsuit also known as a speedo although real men's bikini swimsuits do exist that are not brief like.

Modern origin

According to the official version, the modern bikini was invented by French engineer Louis Réard and fashion designer Jacques Heim in Paris in 1946 and introduced on July 25 at a fashion show at Piscine Molitor in Paris. It was a string bikini with a g-string back. It was named after Bikini Atoll, the site of nuclear weapon tests a few days earlier in the Marshall Islands, on the reasoning that the burst of excitement it would cause would be like the nuclear device. Reard's suit was a refinement of the work of Jacques Heim who, two months earlier, had introduced the "Atome" (named for its size) and advertised it as the world's "smallest bathing suit". Reard 'split the "atome"' even smaller, but could not find a model who would dare to wear his design. He ended up hiring Micheline Bernardini, a nude dancer from the Casino de Paris as his model.^[2]

Bikini-style swimwear existed for many years before the first official bikini, however. The July 9, 1945 issue of Life, for example, shows women in Paris wearing similar items. Films of holidaymakers in Germany in the 1930s show women wearing two-piece bathing suits. Anyone who has seen the elaborately and lavishly assembled Busby Berkeley film spectacle, Footlight Parade of 1932 would have been treated to a stunning aquachoreography that profusely featured what could only be regarded as bikini swimwear. They were to be seen again a year later in Gold Diggers of 1933.

Bikinis in modern culture

In 1951 bikinis were banned from the Miss World Contest following the crowning of Miss Sweden in a bikini and subsequent protests with a number of countries threatening to withdraw. In 1957, however, Brigitte Bardot's bikini in And God Created Woman created a market for the swimwear in the US, and in 1960, Brian Hyland's pop song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" inspired a bikini-buying spree ^[3]. In 1962, an icon was born as Bond Girl Ursula Andress emerged from the sea wearing a white bikini in Dr. No. Finally the bikini caught on, and by 1963, the movie Beach Party, starring Annette Funicello (emphatically not in a bikini, by mentor Walt Disney's personal request) and Frankie Avalon, led a wave of films that made the bikini a pop-culture symbol.

In Malta, bikinis took time to be introduced. In the 1960s, the police fended off Bishop Michael Gonzi's request to ban bikini clad tourists following fear of compromising Malta as a tourist destination. Malta Labour Party girls felt safe putting on bikinis during beach parties but this was unacceptable by those supporting the Nationalist Party.

On beaches and certain parks in Europe, the top part of the bikini is sometimes not worn.

Development of the bikini

Women often wear bikinis when tanning.

In recent years, the term monokini has come into use for topless bathing by women: where the bikini has two parts, the monokini is the lower part. Where monokinis are in use, the word bikini may jokingly refer to a two-piece outfit consisting of a monokini and a sun hat. The term was coined by Rudi Gernreich.^[4]

The tankini is a swimsuit combining a tank top and a bikini bottom of the traditional bikini that generally consists of the barest minimal fabric coverage for the top and bottoms, both are reduced to triangles of cloth connected by strings.

The lower part of the bikini was further reduced in size in the 1970s to the Brazilian thong, where the back of the suit is so thin that it disappears into the buttocks.

Female athletes who play beach volleyball professionally usually wear two-pieces.

Media depiction

The sex appeal of the apparel prompted numerous film and television productions as soon as public morals changed to accept it. They include the numerous surf movies of the early 1960s and the television series, Baywatch. Iconic portrayals of bikinis in movies include Ursula Andress as Bond girl Honey Ryder in Dr. No (1962), Raquel Welch as the prehistoric cavegirl in the 1966 film One Million Years B.C., and Phoebe Cates in the 1982 teen film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. These scenes were recently ranked 1, 86, and 84 in Channel 4 (UK)'s 100 Greatest Sexy Moments (in film) respectively. In addition, a variant of the bikini popular in fantasy literature is a bikini that is made up of metal to serve as (admittedly rather impractical) armor, sometimes referred to as a "chain mail bikini" or "brass bikini"; the character Red Sonja is a famous example. A term for such usage, where sex appeal is more important than actual practicality, is babes-at-arms (parodying "men-at-arms" for fully armoured soldiers).

Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia wearing her metal bikini.

A woman in bikini with a thong bottom.

In science fiction, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi features the notable "Princess Leia's metal bikini" costume, that is worn by the character Princess Leia when she is held captive at the film's beginning. This particular "bikini" has since been elevated to pop culture icon status, spawning various spoofs and parodies (most notably the episode of Friends, The One with the Princess Leia Fantasy) and even a dedicated fansite, Leia's Metal Bikini.

In the Gang of Four (band) song "I Found That Essence Rare", the Bikini is suggested to be "...dressed for the H-Bomb..."

• The song "I Found That Essence Rare" by Gang of Four includes the lyrics:

Aim for the body rare, you'll see it on TV

The worst thing in 1954 was the Bikini

See the girl on the TV dressed in a Bikini

She doesn't think so but she's dressed for the H-Bomb ^[5]

See also

• Brazilian waxing
• Bikini contest
• Tankini
• Microkini
• Monokini
• Villa Romana del Casale (where famous ancient Roman "bikini girls" mosaic was discovered)

References

1. ^ http://win.villaromanadelcasale.it/inglese/sale/29.htm
2. ^ Rosebush, Judson. Michele Bernadini: The First Bikini. Bikini Science. Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
3. ^ History of the Bikini
4. ^ http://www.bikiniscience.com/chronology/1965-1970_SS/1965-1970.html
5. ^ http://www.musicsonglyrics.com/G/gangoffourlyrics/gangoffourifoundthatessencerarelyrics.htm

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Bikini

• "David Dodge and the Art of the Bikini"
• "A Brief History of the Bikini: How the tiny swimsuit conquered America", Slate Magazine, July 5, 2006.
• "Bikinizzz: News, Style, Galleries"pdc:Bikininrm:Bikini

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