Figure 12. — Bathing costumes from a supplement to 1 he Jailor's Rei'ieiv, July 1895. 

 (Courtesy of Library of Congress.) 



tended to negate this improvement. E\en as early as 

 the 1870s there were efforts to shorten slee\es and 

 eliminate high necklines. This trend to make bathing 

 dress more practical increased in nionientuni toward 

 the end of the century. 



PRINCESS STYLE BATHING DRESS 



Although attitudes toward sports were more en- 

 lightened by the 1880s, many women continued to 

 wear the old bathing dress with its belted blouse 

 extending to a long skirt and a pair of trousers. As an 

 alternate to this garb, the "princess style"" was dc\el- 

 oped with the blou.se and trousers ciu in one piece or 

 else sewn permanently to the same belt. A separate 

 skirt extending below the knee was buttoned at the 

 waist to conceal the figure. This new style in bathing 

 costume was probably derived from an inno\ation in 

 women's tmderwear. During the late 1870s a new 

 style of imdergarment, the "combination"" of chemise 

 and drawers, had come into use. Petticoats could !x- 



fastened to buttons sewn around the waist of the 

 combination. This streamlining of undergarments 

 helped the lady of fashion to maintain a desirably 

 svelte figure. Apparently the advantages of this 

 streamlining were obxious, because it was not long 

 before women were quietly adapting this stj'le to 

 bathing dresses. By the 1890s the skirt was often 

 omitted for swimming (fig. 12), giving the more 

 acii\c women more freedom in the water. Following 

 popular dress styles, the top of the bathing costume 

 was bloused over the belt. The sailor collar, either 

 large or small, was a great favorite, but a straight 

 standing collar with rows of white braid was also worn. 

 The "princess style" was not the only innovation 

 axailable in bathing dress. Harper's Bazar reported in 

 1881 that imported French bathing suits " for ladies 



" The tcnn "bathing suit" as opposed to "bathing dress" 

 came into u.se in the last quarter of the 19lh ccnturv when the 

 bifurcated bathing garment with a shorter skirt was widely 

 accepted. The two terms, however, coniinuet! uj be used inter- 

 changeably, with "bathing dress" appearing I,.>s h>-qucn;I\'. 



p.APER 64: women's bathing and swimming costume in the united ST.a.TES 



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