Bathing Suits of the 60s
Bathing suits of the '60s were conservative, yet flattering. Swimmers in the '60s viewed bathing suits and accessories as fashion statements. Swimming suits were about colors, designs and fabrics that would bring out the eyes, cheek bones or swimming makeup of the swimmer. Suits were not about sexuality -- at first. When the sexual revolution of the '60s occurred, it rocked swimwear fashion, causing bathing suits in the '60s to change. Does this Spark an idea?
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The One-Piece
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One-piece swimming suits in the '60s were modest. One-piece bathing or swimming suits in the 1960s featured skirted bottoms. Suits in the mid-60s were generally made of Lycra or nylon or a mix of the two, according to Fashion-Era Online. The suits often featured decorative buttons, bows, ruffles, plastic rings, decorative zippers or piping. Suits conformed to the conservative feel of the era, yet as the '60s moved forward, necklines scooped lower and skirts grew shorter until the skirts disappeared completely. One-pieces continued with their flattering tummy control and the stretchy, comfortable fit.
The Bikini
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Two-pieces in the early '60s featured thigh-length skirts. Enter the bikini, with much credit given to "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," the No. 1 hit in America released on Aug. 8,1960. The song topped the charts in other countries, changing how females in the 1960s viewed swimwear fashion. The song was written about the songwriter's little daughter who was too shy to wear her bikini, but the bikini fire had already been lit.
By the end of the '60s, bikinis were dropping skirts -- and tops, in the case of the monokini -- and were becoming more risque. Within the sexual revolution of the 1960s, the monokini, which was simply a bottom half of a bikini only, with no covering over the bustline. The monokinis sold in record numbers. Few women wore them in public parks, pools or beaches, mostly because monokinis were illegal in the '60s.
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Swimwear Accessories
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Swimming caps were vital to a woman's travelling wardrobe in the '60s. Accessories were necessary for the female swimmer in the 1960s. Swimming caps were decorated with plastic flower petals or designed with colorful stripes, seashells, seahorses, butterflies or flower blossoms. The caps were worn not only to help protect the hair from the elements, such as sun and chlorine. They were worn to coordinate with the other swimwear accessories, such as terry cloth onesies, beach coverups, beach bags, beach dresses and shorts.
The hippie-movement in 1968 marked the end of the swimming cap as a fashion statement. The caps were viewed as conservative, old-fashioned and to be used only for swimming lessons or competitions.
Center Stage
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Women in bikinis stepped onto to the stage within the 1960s. In the 1960s, bikinis took center stage when females began wearing them in competition. Bathing suit competitions reached a peak of popularity in the '60s, according to New Zealand History Online. Women and girls competed individually, and mothers and daughters competed in teams for titles including, Mother and Daughter and Junior Miss. Competitions involving bathing suits only virtually dissipated through the era of feminist criticism and by the end of the 20th century, according to New Zealand History Online.
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