Back to Home > Friday, Jul 14, 2006 Life & Times Posted on Fri, Jul. 14, 2006 email this print th... The bikini turns 60...

Sixty years ago this month, the bikini made its debut on a Paris runway via the well-endowed frame of a nude dancer from a casino. The appearance of the itsy-bitsy patches of fabric, barely tied to the body with strings, caused a sensation and certain cries of "Quel scandale!"

Since its explosive appearance, the bikini -- aptly named after Bikini Atoll, the Pacific Ocean nuclear test site -- has continued to heat up the beach and make waves in the fashion world.

"Everyone wears bikinis," says Vicky McGarry, fashion director for Women's Health Magazine. "Nowadays, the bikini is what women -- especially younger women -- think of when they think of bathing suit."

Over the years, the bikini has been stringy and sporty, barely belly-button baring and basically bottomless, and considered classic and church-condemned.

New "Lycra technology" performance suits with halter-style, rash-guard tops currently are on store shelves, says Jacqui Stafford, style director at Shape Magazine. Their target market is women with ample bosoms and active lives who need suits to stay in place -- whether they are sunbathing or surfing.

"A lot more performance bathing suits are being offered in bikini styles," McGarry says, adding that female surfers influenced the recent trend.

Just as the fabric has changed, the pendulum of bikini styles has swung from string bikinis to barely-there thongs and back again to full-coverage options.

Stafford recommends the tankini but cautions that only the svelte should try briefs. "Boy shorts don't look good on anybody unless you are a model, because they tend to cut you off at the widest part of your hips and make your butt look bigger," she says, adding that women also should avoid cuts that betray bulges, such as G-strings.

"Personally, I love the hipster bottom and a halter-tankini top," McGarry says. "I have had two children, and I love the coverage -- there's a sliver of skin showing at the stomach, and the halter keeps the 'girls' in place."

Choosing the right style depends on an individual's assets, Stafford says. Bandeau bikinis, for example, tend to minimize busts. Women who want to appear more well-endowed might try bikini tops with improved waterproof padding that adds a cup size without retaining water. And underwire options give bigger busts extra support and lift.

Important years in bikini history 1946: The bikini is unveiled by Louis Reard, an auto engineer who had taken over his family's lingerie business. He named the suit after Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, which was the site of post-World War II nuclear testing. "Nobody knows for sure why he chose the name," says Vanessa Lausch, writer for everythingbikini.com. "But many say it was because he expected the bikini to cause the same explosive reaction (as the atom bomb)." Another theory is that the name played off a similar two-piece by rival designer Jacques Heim, who had called his creation "Atome," the French word for what was then considered the smallest particle in the universe, Lausch says. Reard's design would split the "atome," making it even smaller. In fact, Reard's design consisted of only 30 square inches of fabric. 1951: The bikini is banned from the Miss World beauty pageant. "In the United States, we were extremely modest and not interested in exposing our skin," explains Kelly Killoren Bensimon, a magazine editor, former model and author of "The Bikini Book" (Assouline Publishing, 2006). 1960s: "The advent of the pill and the rise of the sexual revolution in the '60s made women want to wear it," Bensimon says, adding that Hollywood helped popularize the two-piece. "Clothing doesn't become mainstream unless actresses are wearing it. Pop culture icons make fashion mainstream." European actresses with crossover appeal, such as Brigitte Bardot, first began wearing bikinis, Bensimon says. "Bikini mavericks" followed suit, among them Raquel Welch and Annette Funicello. "When Annette Funicello wants to wear the bikini in 'Beach Party,' then every teenager wants to wear it," Bensimon says. 1963: Funicello appears in "Beach Party." The movie would be followed by similar titles including "Bikini Beach" (1964), "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini" (1965) and "Beach Blanket Bingo" (1965). 1964: As if the suit weren't small enough, designer Rudi Gernreich decides to forgo the bikini top altogether. His "monokini" (aka panty with suspenders) is denounced by the Vatican, Lausch says. While the suit may look silly by today's standards, Bensimon says it made fashion sense. "Scandal is what equates longevity," she says. "And this was the '60s, women were having more freedom. They were having more fun.... It was a totally different time. The (monokini) was Rudy Gernreich's answer to topless sunbathing." 1966: Raquel Welch wears a fur bikini in "One Million Years B.C." 1970: The Tanga suit emerges from Brazil. It doesn't become widely popular, however, until the 1980s, says Bensimon: "Brazil was communist and something always comes out of a political revolution." 1990s: Bikinis go sporty with the help of MTV and female volleyball players. Present: The tankini arrives, allowing people to wear a two-piece without flaunting their midriff. Celebrities such as Jessica Alba, Demi Moore and Paris Hilton continue to popularize the bikini.

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