The history of the bikini

• History bikini

When Michelle Bernardini appeared July 5, 1946 in such a revealing bathing suit that he could fit in a matchbox in her hand, raised a wave of indignation worldwide. Then I was born the fashion trend, which is alive and well to this day. Since then, it's been 70 years, and the bikini does not lose popularity.

It all started with the idea of ​​a Parisian engineer Louis PEAP, who invented the bikini. The only person he could get to put his invention, was not respected in society nude dancer. But these days the most famous supermodels make a career out of photo shoots in subtle bikini, and even if someone said the word.

History bikini perfectly reflects the history of our time and is accompanied by the evolution of ideas about the ideal body shapes and sizes. From the broad hips, buttocks and thin waists 1950s to the powerful sports figures supermodels of the 1980s and of subtle "heroin chic" of the 1990s - a bikini is framed by the story of public taste and fashion.

In the 1960s, the bikini was the symbol of women's emancipation that made it possible to lose a modest clothes conservative era, and now it emphasizes the extent to which society puts pressure on women seeking the ideal figure and torture yourself too strict diet.

Rare, who led the business of his mother for the production of underwear in 1940, offered a frank two-piece swimsuit in response to the shortage of the war years and the need to save on fabric. In addition, he was also noticing how women roll their edge of their bathing suits on the beach, to expose the body longer and get a tan. Then he decided to make the article of clothing of the four triangles, using only 30 square inches of fabric. In the photo - Michelle Bernardini in 1946.

Knowing that his daring design will cause an emotional reaction in the community, he decided to name his invention "bikini" after the US army conducted nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific. Bikini bombshell. Model Michelle Bernardini received 50,000 letters from fans, the Vatican announced a new swimsuit sinful, while Italy, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Australia have banned it. It took several years before the new swimsuit model is widespread. After the war was still strong conservatism in society. In the photo - a young Brigitte Bardot is mandatory for all beginners starlets wardrobe items, bikini, in 1952.

In spite of all this, the United Kingdom has been at the forefront in terms of bikini. Now this may seem ironic, but the contest "Miss World", who do not like feminists tried to advertise bikini, which was to liberate women from the terribly uncomfortable and restrict movement of the older models of bathing suits.

In 1951, Eric Morley in celebration of the Festival of Britain organized the contest-festival bikini (The Festival Bikini Contest), which later became "Miss World". When the winner of Sweden was crowned in the bikinis, religious country, especially Catholic, they threatened that they would no longer participate in the competition. After that, "Miss World" was conducted only in swimsuits.

Historians have noted that despite the cautious attitude of society to the bikini in the middle of the XX century, in a bathing suit were prototypes before. In Sicily there are mosaics of IV century BC, which depict athletes in bikinis. In the photo - a young Marilyn Monroe in a bikini with a fold on the belly. In 1962, it was the norm, but now for this to peck.

For those times athletes bikini bottom, resembling a loincloth, and the bodice strapless were the main clothing for training. On ancient Greek urns and drawings dating from 1400 BC, women athletes are depicted in similar attire.

But in the XX century, the merit of the final fixing bikini on the fashion Olympus belongs to 18-year-old Brigitte Bardot. In 1952, she played in the movie "The Manin, a girl in a bikini," which appears several times on the screen in a frank bathing suits. Due to the public outcry, the film was released six years later in the United States. Then the country acted cinematic code of modesty and good conduct on the screen, but as the film was French, he was able to circumvent these restrictions. A year after filming Bardot posing in a bikini on the beaches of Cannes, during the Cannes Film Festival. After this photo shoot in bikini has become a career springboard for beginners starlets all over the world, including Marilyn Monroe, Anita Ekberg and Diana Dors. On the left - Ursula Andress in the film "Dr. No" in 1962, right - Raquel Welch, the embodiment of liberated 1960s, in 1968.

The stars of the 1950s in a bikini with a soft seductive, but today's stars of this lack of muscle tone would not forgive myself. All these folds on the stomach, the horror! Now stars in bikinis - a flat stomach with a strong pressure, sometimes even relief. Another proof that the bikini not only provides an excellent view of the bare body parts, but also thought-provoking. In the old days, wrinkles and completeness are signs of femininity, and now the girls are trying to show as much muscle and relief.

One of the best examples of the feminine figure, fashionable in the old days, is Ursula Andress in the film "Dr. No" in 1962. She emerged from the sea like Venus, dressed in a white bikini wet with a wide belt and a sheath for a dagger. This ensured its success, and the scene was included in the rating of the sexiest scenes in the film. From that moment all the men want this, she and women like to be like her, so the sale bikini skyrocketed, but modesty has gone to hell. On the left - Jaclyn Smith of "Charlie's Angels" in 1976, right - Joan Collins in the days of the TV series "Dynasty" in 1982.

When in the 1960s and 1970s, the bikini was the symbol of emancipation, by the 1980s women began to perceive it as a status symbol, and there were models for relaxing by the pool, ball games on the beach and diving, with a metallic sheen, beads and crystals and even gold, like Joan Collins. By mid-1990, when came into fashion supermodel Elle Macpherson, who herself has released highly successful line of swimwear and lingerie, it was common to cut down the beach in shorts with a high waist, visually lengthens the leg, and in a small, sporty type or, conversely in breast augmentation bodice. In the photo - Elle Macpherson in 1993.

In the boyish figure Geri Halliwell in 2001 - a small bikini thong panties. Right - magnificent Helen Mirren proved in 2008 that a mature woman can look great in a bikini.

Model Kelly Brook and her doll figure in 2013.