quick to admit that this cosiiinic would not be toler- 

 ated at all beaches, she told dedicated swimmers to 



. . . get one-piece tights anyway and wear over the tights 

 the lightest garment you can get. It should be a loose 

 sleeveless garment hung from the shoulders. Never have 

 a tight waist band. It is a hindrance. Also on beaches 

 where stockings are enforced yoin- one-piece imder- 

 garment should have feet, so that the separate stocking 

 and its attendant garter is abolished.'''* 



Figure 16. — One-piece swimming suit of knitted 

 WOOL, c. 1918. (Smithsonian photo P-65413.J 



Knitted swimming suits foimd in adxertisements of 

 the period were either one-piece or two-piece; the 

 trunks were attached or separate, but they always 

 extended a few inches below the brief skirt. Although 

 this costume could be considered sleeveless, in some 

 examples the suit was built up under the arm — a con- 

 cession to the demands of modesty (fig. 16). The 



scooped or "■V" neckline with no collar was rclati\ely 

 high; in order to put on or remoxe the suit it was un- 

 buttoned at one shoulder. 



It was this type of swimming costiune which evolved 

 into the garment that dominated the fashion pages of 

 the mid- 1920s. 



Changes in costume brought about by the accept- 

 ance of swimming also afifected leg covering. By 1920 

 fashion pages showed stockings that reached only to 

 the calf and many advertisements for the abbre\iated 

 knitted bathing suits presented the lower leg cosered 

 with only the high laced bathing shoe (fig. 1 7) or, in a 

 few cases, bare. Bathing slippers were black satin or 

 black or white canvas held on the feet by ribbon criss- 

 crossed up the leg to tie at mid-calf. Shoes were of 

 satin or canvas, laced in the front to mid-calf. 



There was a wide variety of colorful rubber caps; 

 some were gathered on a band or with a ruffle while 

 others were closely fitted with brims. Also jiopular 

 was a close-fitting rubber cap with a colorful scarf tied 

 around it; swimmers did without the scarf. 



Despite the distinction between the two types of 

 bathing apparel, the beach cloak continued to be used 

 by both the serious swimmer and those who stayed 

 safely in the shallows. Some bathing wraps had large 

 collars and were only mid-calf in length. C'olorful 

 beach hats, beach parasols, bags, and blankets were 

 used, particularly by the bather who seldom got wet. 



The acceptance of swimming as a feminine actix-ity 

 provided an impetus for the use of the knitted swim- 

 ming suit; but standards of modesty had to change 

 before this suit could gain wide acceptance. Bathing 

 dresses of the 19th century had been designed to 

 coN'er, conceal, and obscure not only the torso but the 

 limbs as well. The swimming suit that was gaining 

 acceptance in the early 1920s not only revealed the 

 arms and a good part of the legs, but actually dared to 

 follow the lines of the torso. Contemporary descrip- 

 tions, that seem amusingly cautious today, included 

 such statements as '". . . all Annette Kellerman Bath- 

 ing Attire is distinguished by an incomparable, daring 

 beauty of fit that always remains refined." '■'■' E\en 

 less cautious was a statement that these bathing suits 

 were ''famous . . . for their perfect fit and exquisite, 

 plastic beauty of line." '" 



The growing numbers of women who wore the 

 new stN'les of bathing dress were a cause of concern to 



39 Harper's Bazar (June 1920), vol. 55, no. 6, p. 138. 

 «» Ibid. (June 1921), .54th year, no. 2504, p. 101. 



'* Loc. cit. (footnote .54). 

 28 BULLETIN 250 : CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



