The History of the Bikini

Gordonator SG

The word "Bikini" came from the Latin word bi, meaning "two," and kini, meaning "square inches of Lycra".

The bikini was invented in 1946 and named after the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, the site of atomic bomb testing. The inventors were two Frenchmen, Jacques Heim and Louis Reard. Of course, Heim and Reard didn't create the idea of the bikini; drawings of bikini-like suits have been found on wall paintings dating back to 1600 B.C.

The modern term "bikini" for a particular bathing suit design was first used by Heim and Reard (who were, in reality, the re-inventors of the bikini). Heim was a couturier designer from Cannes, France, who had designed a very small bathing suit called the "Atome" (french for atom). He hired a skywriting plane to advertise his design by skywriting "Atome -- the world's smallest bathing suit" Three weeks later, Reard, a mechanical engineer, had another skywriting plane write "Bikini -- smaller than the smallest bathing suit in the world."

full history below. Razz

pipi & poot-poot SG

I had a fren who did dis in MDIS for presentation....

Quite well received wor ~

Mr. Green

poon cho tang SG

cos it came with pictures? Laughing

Gordonator SG

BIKINI INTRODUCED:
July 5, 1946

On July 5, 1946, French designer Louis Reard unveils a daring two-piece swimsuit at the Piscine Molitor, a popular swimming pool in Paris. Parisian showgirl Micheline Bernardini modeled the new fashion, which Reard dubbed "bikini," inspired by a news-making U.S. atomic test that took place off the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean earlier that week.

European women first began wearing two-piece bathing suits that consisted of a halter top and shorts in the 1930s, but only a sliver of the midriff was revealed and the navel was vigilantly covered. In the United States, the modest two-piece made its appearance during World War II, when wartime rationing of fabric saw the removal of the skirt panel and other superfluous material. Meanwhile, in Europe, fortified coastlines and Allied invasions curtailed beach life during the war, and swimsuit development, like everything else non-military, came to a standstill.

In 1946, Western Europeans joyously greeted the first war-free summer in years, and French designers came up with fashions to match the liberated mood of the people. Two French designers, Jacques Heim and Louis Reard, developed competing prototypes of the bikini. Heim called his the "atom" and advertised it as "the world's smallest bathing suit." Reard's swimsuit, which was basically a bra top and two inverted triangles of cloth connected by string, was in fact significantly smaller. Made out of a scant 30 inches of fabric, Reard promoted his creation as "smaller than the world's smallest bathing suit." Reard called his creation the bikini, named after the Bikini Atoll.

In planning the debut of his new swimsuit, Reard had trouble finding a professional model who would deign to wear the scandalously skimpy two-piece. So he turned to Micheline Bernardini, an exotic dancer at the Casino de Paris, who had no qualms about appearing nearly nude in public. As an allusion to the headlines that he knew his swimsuit would generate, he printed newspaper type across the suit that Bernardini modeled on July 5 at the Piscine Molitor. The bikini was a hit, especially among men, and Bernardini received some 50,000 fan letters.

Before long, bold young women in bikinis were causing a sensation along the Mediterranean coast. Spain and Italy passed measures prohibiting bikinis on public beaches but later capitulated to the changing times when the swimsuit grew into a mainstay of European beaches in the 1950s. Reard's business soared, and in advertisements he kept the bikini mystique alive by declaring that a two-piece suit wasn't a genuine bikini "unless it could be pulled through a wedding ring."

In prudish America, the bikini was successfully resisted until the early 1960s, when a new emphasis on youthful liberation brought the swimsuit en masse to U.S. beaches. It was immortalized by the pop singer Brian Hyland, who sang "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini" in 1960, by the teenage "beach blanket" movies of Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, and by the California surfing culture celebrated by rock groups like the Beach Boys. Since then, the popularity of the bikini has hardly diminished; though on beaches in Brazil and the Mediterranean today, many women favor the "monokini," a swimsuit style that consists solely of a bikini bottom.

pipi & poot-poot SG

Perhaps....

Her sis sold bikinis....

So mite haf live material 2 show...not sayin dey wore dem hor...

Confused

Gordonator SG

Louis Reard

1896-1984

Louis Reard was born in Switzerland in 1896. He was a mechanical engineer until the early 1940's when he decided to become a clothes designer, and for a start to make swimsuits.

On 18th July 1946, he dressed Micheline, a nude dancer from the Casino de Paris, in a two piece swimsuit. This was just 3 weeks after the USA had conducted Atomic Bomb tests in the Pacific on a small atoll named Bikini, in the Marshall Islands. So Louis Reard decided to call his new swimsuit, "the Bikini".

He had a novel way of advertising his swimsuit. He hired a skywriting plane to write in the sky "Atome - the world's smallest bathing suit" and "Bikini - smaller than the smallest bathing suit in the world."

Louis Reard afterwards opened a bikini shop in Paris and sold swimsuits for 40 years till he died in 1984 at the age of 88.

Gordonator SG

Jacques Heim

1899-1967

Jacques Heim was born in Paris, France in 1899. In 1923, he took over the furrier business started by his parents Isidore and Jeanne Heim, in the rue Lafine, Paris, in 1898. Heim Furs supplied the aristocracy of Europe with the most luxurious of sable and ermine evening wraps.

Jacques expanded into designing women's clothing when he joined the family firm, and designed for 7 years. During this time he collaborated with SONIA DELAUNAY, designing dresses and coats which were exhibited at the Art Deco exhibition in Paris in 1925. His collections at this time featured geometric shaping in a CUBISM matter, using contrasting textiles and colours.

He then established his own couture house in 1930. In 1936, he introduced his Heim Jeunes Filles (young girls) collection aimed at a younger clientele.

During the German occupation of Paris from 1940 to 1944, Jacques Heim being Jewish, was subject to continual harassment. With great difficulty he kept his house going during this period. He had to instal a manager so that his house would not be considered a "jewish house" but somehow he survived.

Between 1946 and 1966, he opened a chain of boutiques selling sportswear, swimwear and casual clothing. In the 50's he began ready-to-wear activities, with his label Heim Actualite.

Heim is one of the designers who has been credited with the introduction and promotion of the two-piece swimsuit in the late 40's. In 1956 he shot to fame when Brigitte Bardot was shown wearing one made of gingham, adorned with frills. He produced several beachwear collections, one featuring a draped bathing suit. He also popularized cotton for beachwear when he used the fabric for a couture collection.

He was president of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne from 1958 to 1962.

He was an original inventive designer whose efforts are largely ignored today. In 1965, one of his designs still showed the influence of geometric ART DECO prints.

He died in 1967 and was succeeded by his son Philippe, who continued the house of Heim.

poon cho tang SG

wow...if got sure scored with distinctions siah.... Laughing

pipi & poot-poot SG

U r d marker ar ?

Mr. Green

Kuali Baba SG

It was an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka-dot bikini
That she wore for the first time today
An itsy teenie weenie yellow polka-dot bikini
So in the locker she wanted to stay...

StaplerCreamPie SG

Originally posted by Gordonator:
[b]Louis Reard

1896-1984

Louis Reard was born in Switzerland in 1896. He was a mechanical engineer until the early 1940's when he decided to become a clothes designer, and for a start to make swimsuits.

On 18th July 1946, he dressed Micheline, a nude dancer from the Casino de Paris, in a two piece swimsuit. This was just 3 weeks after the USA had conducted Atomic Bomb tests in the Pacific on a small atoll named Bikini, in the Marshall Islands. So Louis Reard decided to call his new swimsuit, "the Bikini".

He had a novel way of advertising his swimsuit. He hired a skywriting plane to write in the sky "Atome - the world's smallest bathing suit" and "Bikini - smaller than the smallest bathing suit in the world."

Louis Reard afterwards opened a bikini shop in Paris and sold swimsuits for 40 years till he died in 1984 at the age of 88.
[/b]

mad guy... Louis Retard