Today, wearing a bikini is as common as it is natural, with hundreds of designs and brands, it is impossible not to choose just one for the days at the beach or just relaxing in a pool or water park. However, we also know that it was not always so, although it is thought that the bikini was created in the twentieth century, there are some traces in classical cultures that suggest that it may have been born specifically in Rome.
The first swimsuits were not as we know them today, as they were not only ugly but also extremely uncomfortable: They consisted of a short dress over pants so as not to show too much, clearly, they were not intended for swimming, only to get into the water … and eventually, not even for that.
It was then that they began to experiment with making swimsuits with different fabrics and textures from knitting to nylon or lycra. This process gave rise to a two-piece swimsuit that until 1946 received the name “bikini” thanks to the automotive engineer Louis Réard, who presented his creation at the Molitor Hotel in Paris.
Louis Réard named the two-piece swimsuit in honor of the atomic tests that France was conducting at that time in the Bikini Atoll. Although the name began to be used in 1946, the truth is that the garment began to be used much earlier when it was still conceived as “forbidden” to show too much at the beach or recreational aquatic places.
Actresses who wore bikinis and broke the mold.
However, the bikini had great exhibitors who were inspired to wear it despite the patriarchy and not as a way to “exhibit” their body but to empower themselves before traditional thoughts. Here is a list of women who wore bikinis, defying society.
Olivia de Havilland
By 1938, the two-time Oscar-winning British-American actress was already wearing a bikini with a quirky flowered top.
Rita Hayworth
In 1946, Rita Hayworth was one of the actresses who defied society, opting for a white bikini with high-waisted panties.
Marilyn Monroe
After Louis Réard christened the bikini, Marilyn Monroe wore the sensational garment on multiple occasions in the 1940s.
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Bardot challenged the world of cinema by wearing a bikini at Cannes in 1950, one of the most iconic and remembered appearances.
Jayne Mansfield
Little by little, bikinis were gaining more popularity and were transforming. Jayne Mansfield knew it well in 1954.
Natalie Wood
In the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, an American actress of Russian origin was not afraid to show her body. In fact, she was one of the first to go for innovative prints such as animal prints or psychedelic.
Sue Lyon
Between the 1950s and 1960s, the bikini came to the movies, and one of the most iconic appearances in the garment was that of Sue Lyon in 1962′s Lolita.
Nancy Sinatra
In 1966, Nancy Sinatra did the same in a bikini with boots, a combination that in 2022 would not be at all uncommon.
The acceptance of the bikini was not so easy, however, some women fought and inspired women to empower themselves by wearing the garment because they did not have to explain their bodies to anyone.
Story originally published in Spanish in Cultura Colectiva