You might be scrolling in nothinkin.com in search for the perfect bikini but the story of this famous swimsuit style starts from not so old since social stereotypes did not allow women to be "naked” around men thus over the years, trends have come to completely demystify the female body and establish the bikini as one of the hottest summer items!

So , in a quick historical flashback we see that the position of women began to be recognized by society quite late after many revolutions and fruitless efforts. From a faithful wife and a good mother, she replaced men in the factory during the World Wars and this was something that affected both her evolution in society as well as her clothing afterwards. Strange as it may seem, until a certain period, women didn't have swimsuits or underwear. They bathed in rivers and seas naked or wearing the petticoats of the time.

The first lingerie sample was the corset worn by Victorian Era women and years after, which not only caused problems with vital organs, but it was also accompanied by many more "useless" layers until their imposing and huge dress came in. Over the years, clothing started to become less and less so until the Suffragettes of the 1930s established the spaghetti strapped dresses, body embracing satins, garters, and more "deconstructed" underwear. Although this was not the dress code for a fair married lady of the time, this trend was straightly linked to the ladies who lived their life unmarried and freely!

Not long after, however, that the first swimsuits made their appearance among the high class society, with Coco Chanel presenting her first Resortwear collection, which was also including a full-body swimsuit. This collection was the trigger for women to slowly begin to reveal their bodies and acquire clothing exclusively for their holidays.

But the most radical change comes just a few months after World War II, during the first war free summer of 1946, where the French designer Louis Réard introducing to women the first bikini: "le bikini". A swimsuit style quite unprecedented for the season, consisted of two pieces somewhat reminiscent of underwear but suitable for the beach and the pool. Its name? Fun fact comes from a cluster of islands called Bikini Atoll used back then by the major countries for war trials. These beauty-rich coral islands were the inspiration of the French creator Réad to design the greatest invention for women's clothing following the beginning of the revolution for the acceptance of the female body.

In fact, to make his dream come true and make the bikini famous, he asked his good friend and then Exotic dancer of Café de Paris, Micheline Bernandini, to wear it! As a professional model and dancer, the swimsuit would be surely something new and attractive! The very next day, the bikini becomes a huge hit in Europe and even amongst men who like the spectacle of the female body and the new style swimsuit. The same summer bikini is the top trend in the Mediterranean, and women embrace it across southern Italy and Spain enjoying the sun and the sea in their brand-new bikinis.

Several years later, at the beginning of the golden year of the 60's in the US, the same year that man stepped on the moon, birth control pills officially became a way of contraception and protection for a woman, that's exactly when the "trend" of bikinis arrives on the East and West Coasts of America. California and Miami are filled with women who wear all kinds of bikinis, in every color or print with the most classic ones with high-waisted bottoms and tops in busts or feminine bra like cups. Pictures that until then were only seen in magazines, are now brought to life through magazines and television with the biggest models exerting enormous influence.

Of course, from the 1960s and onwards the bikini took various forms, spreading all over the world with the biggest designers including such designs in their collections and not only swimsuits and bikinis but also total outfits for the beach. The bikini has now become a must item, chosen by every women of all ages! We now see it on magazine covers and the biggest catwalks around the world. Entering our favorite 90's era as well as the swinging 00's the bikini then and until today is an indivisible item for every women all over the world!

The bikini is the most important thing since the atom bomb -Diana Vreeland

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Until Next Time #nothinker

Elena Vafeiadi