Boomer ladies, I'm sure that if I cross the chauvinistic line in today's piece, you'll be more than happy to let me know.
What would a beach party movie be without Annette Funicello in her bikini? Fortunately, the world of the 60's didn't have to find out. That's because the two-piece bathing suit, once considered so risqué that ladies who sported one risked arrest, was a commonplace sight on American beaches of the 1960's, much to the delight of all of us who possess a Y chromosome.
The bikini's history is a venerable one. 4th century CE artwork discovered in Sicily depicts Roman ladies exercising while wearing what today would be considered bikinis.
But the Dark Ages, the Victorian Era, and predominant social mores kept the two-piece outfit that was intended to be worn in public by members of the fairer sex pretty much out of circulation until 1946. It was in that year that Frenchmen Jacques Heim and Louis Reard designed and released what was called for the first time the bikini. The diminutive swimsuit was named after Bikini Atoll in the Pacific, the site of the much hailed (at the time) atomic bomb tests which began taking place that same year.
However, bikinis were still rarely spotted on US beaches for several years afterwards. It was Brigitte Bardot's performance in Roger Vadim's scandalous And God Created Woman in 1956 (but not released in the US until the next year) that opened the floodgates.
To the horror of the generation that raised our Depression-era parents, bikinis began appearing en force on beaches from Daytona to Oahu, and everywhere in between. Girls loved the freedom experienced from wearing a suit that allowed so much skin to see the sun and, well, I think you know why boys loved them.
Of course, it was only the most nubile of female bodies that were equipped with bikinis, but since the most nubile bodies were the ones photographed to appear on TV, in movies, and on the pages of magazines, it did indeed appear that the world had been taken over by bikinis.
As if the craze didn't have enough momentum, in 1960 Brian Hyland released Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, considered scandalous in its own right. The song hit #1, despite the fact that some radio stations refused to play it.
In 1964, Sports Illustrated began a much-loved, much-reviled tradition by depicting on its March cover an image of a young lady wearing a bikini.
The aforementioned Ms. Funicello was also a driving force behind the popularity of the bikini, seeing how perfectly it fit her form in the wildly popular surf movies.
Thus, the beaches we recall from the 60's had lots of bikinis, much to the horror of our puritanical grandparents. But it could have been worse. In 1964, Austrian designer Rudi Gernreich released the monokini, which allowed the breasts the ultimate in freedom. It was one of the very few things a little too wild for the 60's, and died a quiet death.
The birth of the 70's saw the bikini take yet another scandalous turn. Way down south in Rio, bikinis began appearing that exposed the buttocks. In other words, the thong was born. Popular on the more footloose Brazilian beaches, it took several years before they began appearing here in the US.
Such is the history of the bikini. And here's to Boomer ladies like my wife, who have worked hard to stay in shape so that they still look stunning in the once-considered-risqué beachwear.
Comments (6)
My first bikini...was blue with white poke-a-dots...I skipped school to buy it and my sister busted me with our parents...the rat fink!
It was the only bikini that I ever owned. I always liked one piece swim suits the best. I thought that they were sexier.
Thanks for the memories...
Sharon
~The Baby Boomer Queen~
Posted by Sharon/The Baby Boomer Queen | May 25, 2009 1:11 AM
Posted on May 25, 2009 01:11
Its funny how the 60s was often the decade that went from extreme (overly so) conservatism to perhaps just a bit too far. And then the 90s completely went overboard the other way. I think bathing, as we might call it, needed some relaxing. After all, Jews in Jerusalem, including females, used to purify themselves ritually by getting completely naked in a public place a little off the beaten path to cleanse themselves near the temple to be presentable to God. We went from that to Queen Victoria. How did that happen?
I luvs them thar bikinis. But the thongs, much as I confess, I can’t look away from them, are too much. I love the little triangles, too, but again, probably too much though I’ll never be able to bring myself to protest them ;-) I recall the suits that rose on the sides in the 80s. that was probably too much as well. But the 60s seemed pretty reasonable.
I recall a TV commercial showing a bunch of bikini clad women running, I think, for a cola, maybe Royal Crown Cola. I was about 7 or 8. Loved that commercial. It was their “fannies” that I was into at that age. Some things never change. But the 60s were a good time to open things up a little from the repressive environment that was before perhaps late 63.
We see it in the music that came about in 64 as well. In so many things, the 60s gave us some balance and reasonableness so badly needed. But it did not take long to go too far, too. That damn pendulum!
I also notice watching the old TV and movies of the 60s and 70s that most women’s bodies were not as hard and fit as they were in the late 80s, and the advent of those hard bodies. Women weren’t into athletics and working out back then as they are now. I am not complaining about this change.
I notice your picture of Roman/Etruscan bikinis, now about 2000 years old, Ron. Good choice for perspective. Many societies go through exploratory periods and then settle on some standard. Somehow, USA got real strict for while. I am glad we got rid of that but maybe we should have stopped at some point, too.
But we can always look back fondly on the 60s when our world was still good to kids and for kids and yet coming out a little.
Posted by Scott Irv | May 25, 2009 1:41 AM
Posted on May 25, 2009 01:41
Best damn invention ever made!
Posted by Rivers End | May 25, 2009 10:47 PM
Posted on May 25, 2009 22:47
The year 1960 gave women two controversial tools: The Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, and The Pill. I leave it to the readers to form your own analogies.
Posted by NCeddie | May 28, 2009 6:38 AM
Posted on May 28, 2009 06:38
Some memorable bikinis come to mind: Judy Carne and Goldie Hawn on Laugh-In. Raquel Welch in fathom and One Million Years B.C. Angelique Pettyjohn in a Star Trek episode.
Posted by David S Paleg | May 30, 2009 6:09 AM
Posted on May 30, 2009 06:09
Remember that Annette wasn't allowed to wear a bikini until 1965's "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini". Apparently, Uncle Walt didn't want his former Mouseketeer to wear anything more revealing than a one-piece up to that time.
Posted by Jeff Palmberg | June 13, 2009 7:39 PM
Posted on June 13, 2009 19:39