Women used to swim in woolen bathing suits, stockings and shoes

Moscow House of Photography opened an exhibition, devoted to the history of beach fashion. It is hard to believe that the first women’s bathing suit was invented in as long ago as in 1825! In almost two centuries modest ladies’ accessory turned into shreds and threads. The culmination of its evolution became G-string bikini, which is just a narrow strip of fabric hidden in women’s seductive buttocks.

The first bar\thing suits for women were made of colored cotton print a la carte. They were decorated with numerous frills, which were meant to hide the details of the woman’s silhouette. The suit was accompanied by black bathing stockings. 

Bathing suits stopped being a luxury at the end of the XIX century, when France and the US started manufacturing them. However, the first of “mass consumption bathing suits” had a considerable drawback: it was made of wool. When wet it could weigh up to ten kilos. Swimming in such a bathing suit was very difficult, especially for women. That is why it was common to see ladies and gentlemen walking along the beach and conversing at resorts. As a result holiday romance became popular.

Just a fact.

Many historians consider August 1825 to be the date of designing a bathing suit, when a duchess tried swimming without shoes, which was considered a challenge at that time.