When you think of the bikini, you think of warm weather. Little do people realize that the bikini was first established about 50 years ago and is a Latin word. Would have thought? “bi, meaning two, and kini meaning square inches of Lycra” (Rushin 1). Bikinis began in 1946 by a French automotive engineer, Louis Reard, who at the time was running his mothers lingerie business. The U.S Military were the ones who actually decided on naming this two-piece “Bikini Atoll” for the test site in the islands (Rushin 2).
Yes, the bikini has been born. July 5, 1945 was the date the bikini was shown to all. Jacques Heim, another Frenchmen, decided to compete with another bikini style and name it “The Atome” (Rushin 5).
Here comes the competition. Heim called his bikini “The world’s smallest bathing suit”. Reard decided to then say his bathing suit was “smaller than the world’s smallest bathing suit”. He wasn’t lying. His bathing suits were so small that no model wanted to wear it down the runway (Rushin 5).
Due to the way in 1943 and the U.S government trying to cut down on fabric, the bikini has been born and the midriff has come out for all to see. Reard took this to a whole new level and cut his bathing suits to 30 inches of fabric: two triangles connected by a string and a small bottom. Sounds like the infamous string bikini to me.
Little do people realize is that this wasn’t the first time it was recognized. In reality, the cavewomen were even wearing bikinis. Who would have thought they were so hip? Too bad they were fur bikinis and very impractical for the 21st century. Centuries later, Ursula Andress (some might know her as the bond girl named Honeyhile Rider) wore a bikini in Dr. No. Then there was the grass bikini worn by Chandra North designed by Moschino.
The bikinis have come a long way. There has been the “seaweed bikini, macramé bikini, vinyl bikini, string bikini, mink bikini, rubber bikini, monokini bikini, Brian Hyland’s Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, Chanel’s infamous ‘eye-patch’ bikini, and the irrepressible tanga ‘thong’ or ‘dental-floss’ bikini” (Rushin 3). The types of bikinis are continuously changing.
In 1960 the song “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” by Brian Hyland became popular. The “Beach Party” was then created three years later, which was the first of many, by Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon with the theme of “women dancing in bikinis” (Rushin 5).
The bikinis have become popular over the years but then all of a sudden the sales began to slide in the early 80s and 90s and the styles weren’t as popular anymore. 1988 was the year that Reards company had folded. What is the reason for the recent comeback of the bikinis? Rushin says “some cite the ‘Baywatch’ factor and the internet” the reason for the bikinis coming back. Or could it be desire to have the “California culture” of surfing and hanging out by the beach all the time? Either way- the bikinis are coming back! GET EXCITED!

Rushin, Steve. "From Bardot to Grad, from ground zero to grass, here's the skinny on the two-piece." Bikini Atoll. 1997. 25 Apr 2007 .

Rushin, Steve. "From Bardot to Grad, from ground zero to grass, here's the skinny on the two-piece." Bikini Atoll. 1997. 25 Apr 2007 .

"Thanks to the combination of surf, song and skin, it was a bikini world in '67 courtesy of Joe Russo" (Rushin 2)

Rushin, Steve. "From Bardot to Grad, from ground zero to grass, here's the skinny on the two-piece." Bikini Atoll. 1997. 25 Apr 2007 .

Here it is! "in 1964 the two-piece became a fixture on dormitory walls around the country with Babette March's appearance on Sports Illustrated's first swimsuit cover. Photograph by J. Frederick Smith" (Rushin 3)

Rushin, Steve. "From Bardot to Grad, from ground zero to grass, here's the skinny on the two-piece." Bikini Atoll. 1997. 25 Apr 2007 .

YOUTUBE

want to learn more about the hottest new styles by Victoria Secret and their input on whats new? Heres a youtube video just for that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkcMspf3YPc

STYLES

A) The Runway








Christian Dior? How could you resist his newest and latest styles? Maybe not always something you would wear right away, but this isn’t too extreme. Maybe very expensive, but still wearable, I think.
(http://www.fashionshowroom.com/swimwear.htm)





B) Red Carpet
Here is Jessica Alba wearing a bikini with bold colored stripes to bring in the summer heat. It’s all about the bright colors and bold prints.








(http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://a820.g.akamai.net/f/820/822/1d/i.ivillage.com/BS/celebrity_style/bathingsuits/BS_Alba_157.jpg&imgrefurl=http://beauty.ivillage.com/celebstyle/0,,9dpgc1ss,00.html&h=157&w=157&sz=8&hl=en&start=7&um=1&tbnid=Q9DZYd0zemc-5M:&tbnh=97&tbnw=97&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcelebrity%2Bswimwear%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den)

C) The Rack
Who doesn’t want to fit in with the polo pattern? Ralph Lauren continues to make the Pony pattern that people continue to love and adore. Don’t want to spend so much money? Lucky for you, it isn’t even that expensive and it comes in different colors allowing you to still stand out on the beach.
http://www.polo.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2144570&cp=1760782.1988181

SOLIDS

A) The Runway
At first glance, maybe this bathing suit would be worn on a normal basis.

Now check out the back:

I guess not so much anymore. Pierre Garroudi is an innovator, but maybe this should just remain on the runway and away from the beaches.
(http://www.fashionshowroom.com/swimwear.htm)

B) The Red Carpet

Here is Uma Thurman wearing the simple but bold color type bikini (http://www.handbag.com/galleries/gallery/style_trends/fashion_buys/fashion_bikinismodel/)

C) The Rack
Click right over to:

http://www.jcrew.com/catalog/product.jhtml?id=prod80895391&catId=cat170300

which is the place to buy simple solid colored bikinis. Want to design it even more? Not to worry, they even allow you to design your own bathing suit to still get the hot look like Uma Thurman for a lower price.