From Marilyn Monroe to Princess Diana and Rihanna: see the best swimwear inspiration from the 1930s to now

We’ve come a long way from the days of the restrictive Victorian bathing suit. Since the dawn of the 20th century, swimwear has been subject to revisions and revolution in the hands of progressive designers. Hemlines have risen; one-pieces evolved into two-pieces; shorts into knickers; bustiers into bandeaus; straps into strings. We’ve also gone from heavy wool to recycled nylon.

Today, we swim in high-tech silhouettes that decorate, sculpt or streamline our bodies on the beach. We’re also not short on ultra-embellished swimwear inspiration, with diamante-scattered bikinis and velvet swimsuits often about as well-suited to swimming as the heavy early-1900s incarnations.

A look back at the history of swimwear across the decades reveals the beach has been a place where style and politics have both clashed and aligned, the earliest (highly demure) incarnations of the swimsuit paving the way for a far more freeing mindset.

The most memorable moments? The waist-emphasising one-pieces and bikinis worn by the likes of Natalie Wood, Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly in the 1950s; the edgier, surf-primed styles of the 1960s and 1970s, as seen on Audrey Hepburn, Ursula Andress, Patti Hansen and Christie Brinkley; the barely there styles of the 1980s and 1990s sported by Halle Berry and Gisele Bündchen; and Rihanna, Beyoncé and Bella Hadid’s inspirational shoreside looks today.

Here, Vogue dives into the archives for vintage swimwear inspiration this summer, from the 1930s to now.