To look elegant on the beach or at the pool, you gain the best elegant swimsuit ideas from back in the days.
Nowadays you have the choice of lots of bathing or swimsuits. You have the option between separates or one-piece swimsuits.
But which swimsuit is elegant to wear.
A brief history of the swimsuit
The swimsuits of 1900 were covered up from head to toe, literally.
It was inappropriate to show skin.
These “swimsuits” of these women were pantaloons or bathing gowns. On top of that, they wear bathing coats made from Silk to cover the bathing gowns.
Luckily for the next generation. It was allowed to wear swimsuits that were shorter and more fitted.
The one-piece swimsuit gets introduced to the public. Though this was a huge change, there were still strict rules for the ladies in the swimsuit world.
In 1910 Annette Kellerman, an Australian swimmer, got arrested. She broke the rules. And therefore, they take her to court.
The reason for this was that she makes her own swimsuit.
Kellerman wants to wear what she liked. She wanted to wear something that could guarantee safety and comfort. Not all that heavy stuff, where you could drown in. What often happens to a woman at that time.
Were it made of
In the 20th century, swimsuits weren’t for swimming. It was just a fashion statement. To look elegant on the beach, without going to swim.
Fabrics like wool and cotton used to design swimwear. These knitted tights bathing suits look like diapers when it gets wet. This isn’t very flattering. To cover this up, beach pyjamas was the solution after a“swim”.
Around 1950, the streamlined swimsuit was a revolutionary success. Manufacturers created fabrics that were waterproof yet correcting the shape of a woman.
This was a booming business.
So Cole of California starts designing a swimsuits line for women. To design more elegant swimsuits, companies collaborate with various designers.
Promoting get of these new designs went through Hollywood stars.
Designers create elegant swimsuits for actresses. Marilyn Monroe, Joan Crawford or Jean Harlow showing these elegant swimsuits in movies.
Elegant Swimsuits Then
Designer Jean Patou created the one-piece swimsuit with a belt to emphasize the waist. The short was fitted around the hips.
To get the more luxurious yet elegant silhouettes, more designers were approached. Cole of California asked Margit Fellegi. Her designs had a Hollywood look. Glamorous yet elegant. Fellegi uses luxurious fabrics to get that look. Her favourites were;
Velvet
Rhinestone
Spandex
Nylon
Parachute silk
Elastic latex yarn combined with cotton.
Jantzen, a swimsuit company, saw the advantage of Latex yarns. They combine this with Viscose which is softer. Jantzen approached Givenchy to design swimsuits with animal prints.
Not A Givenchy but A Dolce & Gabanna animal print elegant swimsuit inspiration if a plain colour looked boring on you.
In 1930 Elsa Schiaparelli design the backless swimsuit. Ladies loved to wear this to sunbathe.
Even Jeanne Lavin, Coco Chanel and Dior created swimsuit designs. Mostly as a single line or in collaboration with swimsuit manufacturers.
The two-piece swimsuit was the next level in the 1940s.
NOT to mislead with the bikini.
The short of this two-piece covers the belly button and ends on the tights.
The “belly cover”. Now we just call it the high waisted or bikini shorts, bottom or slip. The top has different variations styles.
Favourites were the halters, adjustable shoulder straps and cups that were sewn inside the top. It was not elegant to see your nipples through the top.
Due to fabric rationing, the
The American government asked designers to use 10% less fabrics to create swimsuits. Well, isn’t this a welcome surprise for the ladies?
This was a great advantage to play around with swimsuit designs.
Now the real bikini went on the market around 1946, getting her name off one of the Pacific Island Bikini Atoll.
Jacques Heim or Louis Reard both claimed that they were the designers of the bikini. In answer to the request of the government, they both designed a bikini made of less fabric.
Things getting accepted if a celebrity or famous person wear this. Celebrity Brigitte Bardot showed her skin in a bikini.
You guessed it; every woman wanted a bikini.
What I noticed. Swimsuits around the 30s till the 50s, the focus was more on the silhouette. The attention was to exaggerate the curves to create a more hourglass figure.
So the woman looked more elegant than you should see nowadays.
After the 60’s glamour and elegance weren’t important anymore. Just tight and straightforward swimsuits that is what woman wanted around the 60s.
Elegant Swimsuit ideas Now
Now it is a mix and match of all kinds of swimsuits to wear. There are no rules about what to wear or not.
Looking elegant and sophisticated, one-piece swimwear is still the most preferable. It covers up parts of the body you don’t want to emphasize. For me, my tummy is that one part I don’t want to show.
Nikko Dot Printed One-Piece Swimsuit. So Elegant.
Loving the one-piece swimsuits that cover my belly and look elegant as well. Some elegant swimsuit ideas that are inspired from THEN.
The black Bill Ruched Bikini Norma Kamali
Maybe for you, it is that part you want to show. Then a bikini is the one you would wear. There are lots of classy bikinis or high waisted bikini that are elegant.
Melissa Odabash is one of those brands. Celebrities like Rihanna, Tyra Banks, Beyonce and even the Duchess of Cambridge loved her sculpted and enhanced silhouette swimsuits.
The British Vogue called her swimsuit designs
“The Ferrari of the bikini world”.
But you don’t need to wear a Melissa Odabash to look elegant. I have some suggestions that are elegant and classy to wear on the beach or the pool.
Elegant, but are they Sustainable
The difference between the swimsuits THEN and NOW. Now brands use man-made fabrics to create the swimsuit. So you’ll hardly find swimsuits made of cotton or knitted wool or Jersey.
Wool and cotton aren’t the best fabrics to make swimsuits if you like to swim.
THEN a swimsuit was more of a statement piece to wear on the beach and not for swimming. The advantage of these fabrics is that they are biodegradable.
I don’t know about you. NOW I am going to the beach or pool to swim. A swimsuit that dries quickly is the one that I want.
This is a bit of contradiction from my side.
Personally, I am not a huge fan of man-made fabrics.
However, polyamide-nylon, elastane, and lycra are the most used fabrics to make swimsuits.
Man-made fabrics are not biodegradable therefore bad for the environment. The flip side is that these fabrics are lasting longer.
Lots of organisations gather together to discuss this topic. How to reduce the waste of man-made fabrics.
Manufactures try to find solutions in co-operation with other organizations for this. Recycling man-made fabrics is an alternative to reduce the pile of fabrics.
Conclusion
Through the years, new designs are created to give ladies more comfort on the beach. From the cover-up pantaloons to the bikini and so on.
The swimsuit change revolutionary. Not only the designs but even the fabric construction changes a lot.
All these changes and adjustments make it possible for us to wear elegant yet comfortable swimsuit these days.
What kind of design inspired you the most. Would you purchase this design yourself?
