Corsetry 101: Definitions

Definitions: Swim suits

Until the 19th Century swimming was generally something the peasants did, in the nude as often as not, but was not a fashionable activity. Men and women were usually segregated, often by being allocated different times.

'Bathing' (which, for women at least, was usually little more than paddling), slowly returned to popularity, but was heavily restricted by Victorian prudery. These restrictions were gradually discarded in the first half of the 20th Century.

The above Victorian beach scene (above left) from 1894 demonstrates just how radically our attitude to the beach has changed. The young lady has changed into her 'bathing costume' (complete with corset!) in the bathing box, which will then be towed into the water, where she can paddle demurely.

It would have been unheard of (apart from being close to impossible) for her actually to swim.

In 1947 the French engineer Louis Reárd shocked the world when he introduced his 'Bikini' bathing costume - a very brief two piece. (It was so called because it was introduced immediately after the atomic bomb tests at Bikini, and he expected it to create a similar shock wave.)

Despite its popularity with the younger generation there has always been a demand for less revealing, and more flattering, costumes for women with more matronly figures, and the costumes below, which are really disguised corselettes, have never really gone out of fashion.

The Art of Corsetry   Ed: Bunyip Bluegum