Global InformationBikini information
A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by girls and women that features one piece on top that covers the breasts, and a second piece on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but usually exposing the navel, and the back generally covering the intergluteal cleft and a little, some, or all of the buttocks. The size of the top and bottom can vary, from bikinis that offer full coverage of the breasts, pelvis, and buttocks, to more revealing designs with a thong or G-string bottom that covers only the mons pubis, but exposes the buttocks, and a top that covers only the areolae. Bikini bottoms covering about half the buttocks may be described as "Brazilian-cut".
The modern bikini swimsuit was introduced by French clothing designer Louis Réard in July 1946, and was named after the Bikini Atoll, where the first public test of a nuclear bomb had taken place four days before.[2]
Due to its revealing design, the bikini was once considered controversial, facing opposition from a number of groups and being accepted only very slowly by the general public. In many countries, the design was banned from beaches and other public places: in 1949, France banned the bikini from being worn on its coastlines; Germany banned the bikini from public swimming pools until the 1970s, and some communist groups condemned the bikini as a "capitalist decadence".[3] The bikini also faced criticism from some feminists, who reviled it as a garment designed to suit men's tastes, and not those of women.[citation needed] [4] Despite this backlash, however, the bikini still sold well throughout the mid to late 20th century.[citation needed]
The bikini gained increased exposure and acceptance as film stars like Brigitte Bardot, Raquel Welch, and Ursula Andress wore it and were photographed on public beaches and seen in film.[3] The minimalist bikini design became common in most Western countries by the mid-1960s as both swimwear and underwear. By the late 20th century, it was widely used as sportswear in beach volleyball and bodybuilding. There are a number of modern stylistic variations of the design used for marketing purposes and as industry classifications, including monokini, microkini, tankini, trikini, pubikini, skirtini, thong, and g-string. A man's single piece brief swimsuit may also be called a bikini or "bikini brief", particularly if it has slimmer sides.[5] Similarly, a variety of men's and women's underwear types are described as bikini underwear. The bikini has gradually gained wide acceptance in Western society. By the early 2000s, bikinis had become a US$811 million business annually, and boosted spin off services such as bikini waxing and sun tanning.[6]
- ^ López, Alberto (August 3, 2017). "Dolores del Río, la primera actriz hispanoamericana que conquistó Hollywood". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved March 5, 2022.
- ^ Weisgall, Jonathan M. (1994). Operation Crossroads: The atomic tests at Bikini Atoll. Naval Institute Press. pp. 263–264.
- ^ a b Alac, Patrik (2012). Bikini Story (first ed.). Parkstone International. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-78042-951-9.
- ^ Van Steenberghe, Julia (2022). "Miss USA Meets Feminism: A Qualitative Study Exploring Contestants' Thoughts on Feminism". Electronic Theses and Dissertations: 3616.
- ^ "Bikini". Merriam-Webster. February 13, 2014.
- ^ Edwards, Lorna (June 3, 2006). "You've still got it, babe". The Age. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2023.