1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,759 Speaker 1: As we get ready for the summer season this Memorial 2 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: Day weekend, we have to revisit the history of bathing suits. 3 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: Why were women wearing things that looked like linen nightgowns 4 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:12,799 Speaker 1: to swim in back in the seventeen hundreds. More importantly, 5 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 1: why did they slip into thirty pounds of wet wool 6 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: for a dip in the ocean just over a century ago? 7 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:22,079 Speaker 1: And how did we fast forward to string bikinis, songs 8 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: and speedos? Yeah, expeedoes. Sorry, but I'm Patty Steel feeling 9 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:35,240 Speaker 1: good about skin. That's next on the backstory. Okay, personally, 10 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:39,160 Speaker 1: I hate bathing suits unless your sports illustrated material. You're 11 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:41,480 Speaker 1: always putting on your bathing suit for the first time 12 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: in the early season and asking yourself why it didn't 13 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 1: work out just a little bit harder, or why you 14 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,960 Speaker 1: didn't buy a big, voluminous cover up. Anyway, I'm going 15 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,600 Speaker 1: to tell you how the first bikini got its look 16 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: and its name, But first let's see how that evolution began, 17 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: where we were, how it changed we are at least 18 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: for now. These days, you go to the beach, you're 19 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:05,760 Speaker 1: going to see a lot of naked flesh, right, but 20 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: you know we weren't always treated to a skin show. 21 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:11,559 Speaker 1: I mean, swimming has been around for thousands of years. 22 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 1: Can you believe there are cave drawings that show people swimming. 23 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 1: Greeks and Romans actually swam, mostly in the nude or 24 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: in very skimpy outfits. Fast forward, and the problem is 25 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: showing more of your body, dripping wet goes in and 26 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:28,160 Speaker 1: out of style, and for the folks who do want 27 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,480 Speaker 1: to take a refreshing dip, bathing suits get bulkier and 28 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: more constricting. In fact, the more conservative people got about 29 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: showing their bodies, the more swimming became kind of unpopular. 30 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:43,520 Speaker 1: In the seventeen hundreds, what they called sea bathing became 31 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: red hot. Physicians decided there was a lot of health 32 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: benefit to taking a dip in the sea for both 33 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: women and men. But here's the thing. Complete immersion was 34 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: a no no, particularly for women, since it made them 35 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: seem unfeminine. So to lightly dip in women would wear loose, 36 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: open linen bathing gowns very much like a kaftan or 37 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:10,680 Speaker 1: nightgown with elbow length sleeves. It sounds awful, but remember 38 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: this back in their day. The clothing that they wore 39 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:18,080 Speaker 1: was corseted with layers of petticoats and skirts and hats 40 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:20,799 Speaker 1: and all kinds of stuff. So these bathing gowns were 41 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: way more comfortable at Mount Vernon. In fact, Washington's home 42 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 1: in Virginia, you can actually see Martha Washington's blue and 43 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: white striped bathing gown or little checks on it. Actually, 44 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: it has led weight sewn into the hem to keep 45 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: it from floating up in the water and exposing those 46 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: fabulous Martha thighs. She was known to wear it on 47 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:44,360 Speaker 1: her many trips to the famous mineral springs in Berkeley Springs, 48 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: West Virginia. But the eighteen hundreds saw the rise of 49 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:52,240 Speaker 1: Victorian standards of modesty, which made it even tougher to 50 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:55,959 Speaker 1: get wet and maintain your modesty. It's the late eighteen 51 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 1: hundreds and now women's bathing suits are made of wool 52 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: or flannel. These things weigh as much as twenty pounds 53 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:05,400 Speaker 1: and that's all. They're still dry. They have a jacket top, 54 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:08,320 Speaker 1: a skirt with again those lead weights in the hem 55 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 1: to keep them from floating up. But they also wear 56 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: pandaloons that come to the mid calf stockings all the 57 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 1: way up in swim boots that lace up to your knees. Finally, 58 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:21,119 Speaker 1: there's a huge brimmed hat or hood, so no one 59 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:24,600 Speaker 1: sees your wet face or even recognizes you. So much 60 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: for back to nature, right, So a well mannered lady 61 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 1: heads to the beach with her regular daytime long dress, jacket, corset, petticoat, stockings, hats, gloves, 62 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: and parasols. Not to mention her bustle, because in those days, 63 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: a little tiny waist in a big butt, we're all 64 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: the rage, kind of the first iteration of Jlo or 65 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: the Kardashians. Once she arrives at the beach, she heads 66 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: to this contraption that looks like a cabana on wheels. 67 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 1: It's called a bathing machine. You can actually google it 68 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: and see picks of these things lined up on the shore. Anyway, 69 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: she gets in, changes into her big, heavy bathing seita, 70 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,000 Speaker 1: and then she and the machine are pulled by horse 71 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,320 Speaker 1: or human out into the water. Once in the surf, 72 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 1: the doors on the ocean side open wide, shielding her 73 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 1: from guys down the beach trying to sneak a peek. 74 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: She's helped down some small steps into the water. Now 75 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,000 Speaker 1: she's ready for that refreshing swim as long as she 76 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:22,800 Speaker 1: doesn't mind being tied to the cabana by a rope 77 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: while wearing thirty pounds of soaking wet wool got to 78 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:28,640 Speaker 1: keep her from getting carried out to sea. Right, and 79 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:31,159 Speaker 1: by the way, all of these suits were like really 80 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 1: dark in color because that way you couldn't tell if 81 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,040 Speaker 1: you did see her whether she was wet or dry. Anyway, 82 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:39,479 Speaker 1: she paddles around for a little bit, then she's helped 83 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: back into the bathing machine, where she towels off and 84 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 1: has to get dressed once more into her heavy day clothes. 85 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:48,559 Speaker 1: It sounds really exhausting. I think I'd need another swim 86 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 1: after that. No, but how did we get from there 87 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 1: to hear in our string bikinis and thongs. Well, we 88 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:58,679 Speaker 1: head to the nineteen twenties when women began wanting more freedom, 89 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 1: shorter hair, shorter dresses, pants, for god's sakes, cigarettes and 90 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:06,839 Speaker 1: any drinks of the gin, and that female independence kind 91 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: of changes everything. Bathing suits still made of wool, but 92 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: a thinner wool jersey are either one piece or have 93 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:17,239 Speaker 1: a long tank top that pulls down over long shorts 94 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 1: that go past the mid thigh, and they're sleeveless and clinging. 95 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,039 Speaker 1: Early on, a few women get arrested for wearing them, 96 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 1: even well known athletes. They make the older generation kind 97 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: of nuts, but the design finally allows women to actually 98 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: swim and allows other people to get a look at 99 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: the shape of a woman's body. One famous female swimmer, 100 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: Annette Kellerman, was actual perform for the British royal family, 101 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: but they said not in her new fangled bathing suit 102 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: because it showed the bottom half of her legs. She 103 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:50,520 Speaker 1: redesigned her competition bathing suit to please the palace by 104 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:54,720 Speaker 1: sowing long black stockings to the legs. Athletes today say 105 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 1: that being comfortable in your uniform, whatever sport you're in, 106 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:00,560 Speaker 1: makes you feel better about yourself and allows you to 107 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:03,599 Speaker 1: perform at your best. So that's what women begin to 108 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:06,960 Speaker 1: feel like with these new, skimpier bathing suits. Now it's 109 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:09,839 Speaker 1: the late nineteen thirties and the era of wool bathing 110 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: suits is over, when rayon or something called elastic cotton 111 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:18,680 Speaker 1: replaces all that scratchy, saggy wet wool. But here's the 112 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 1: real kicker. World War II is on the horizon and 113 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:25,920 Speaker 1: the government, trying to save resources, actually orders a ten 114 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:28,920 Speaker 1: percent reduction in the amount of fabric ues to make 115 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:33,560 Speaker 1: women's already much skimpier bathing suits than their mom's. War Yeah, 116 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: put the pieces together and we can actually thank the 117 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: government for the evolution of the thong. Well sort of. 118 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,839 Speaker 1: On top of that, all that nakedness makes women forget 119 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: their devotion to protected pale skin and begin to go 120 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: after a really fabulous golden tan. That leads to even 121 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: smaller bathing suits to catch more rays. Now it's a 122 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: post war world. As women, we're a lot more comfortable 123 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 1: with our sexuality and more interested in sharing what we've got. 124 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:04,360 Speaker 1: But the biggest shock for the public, yikes, the exposure 125 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:07,119 Speaker 1: of the belly button, which wasn't allowed to be shown 126 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: on TV. Believe this until nineteen eighty three, so it 127 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: took some nudging. A designer in Paris came up with 128 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:18,240 Speaker 1: the first official bikini in nineteen forty six. You can 129 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 1: google it. It actually looks like something you'd see on 130 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: the beach today. The problem is he can't find a 131 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: model willing to show it off, so he winds up 132 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: hiring a young woman who was a topless showgirl in Paris, 133 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: and he invites a ton of pop ROSSI to come 134 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 1: take photos by a big public pool there. He names 135 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: his little bits of fabric the Bikini Why because the 136 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: unveiling came just days after a big test of an 137 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: atomic bomb in the South Pacific in the Bikini Atoll, 138 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 1: and he says it's a fitting name for this bomb show. 139 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 1: It goes viral, of course, what a marketing guy. Anyway, 140 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 1: it's a huge deal and the eighteen year old stripper 141 00:07:56,880 --> 00:08:00,160 Speaker 1: gets fifty thousand fan letters, of course, mostly from god guys. 142 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:04,920 Speaker 1: But unlike those crazy bathing machines, the Bikini never went away. 143 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:08,320 Speaker 1: Question is where do you think we're going to go next? 144 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 1: Hope you like the Backstory with Patty Steele. Please leave 145 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 1: a review. I would love it if you'd subscribe or 146 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:18,480 Speaker 1: follow for free to get new episodes delivered automatically, and 147 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 1: also feel free to DM me if you have a 148 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 1: story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty 149 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 1: Steele and on Instagram reel Patty Steele Happy Memorial Day. 150 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:35,599 Speaker 1: I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, 151 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:39,640 Speaker 1: the Elvis Durand Group and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer 152 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,000 Speaker 1: is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new 153 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:46,559 Speaker 1: episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out 154 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:50,040 Speaker 1: to me with comments and even story suggestions on Instagram 155 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 1: at real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. 156 00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the 157 00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:59,679 Speaker 1: pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.