Bathing Beauties

May 17, 2008 at 7:14 am | In Clothes and Style, Vintage |

lady in swimsuit

I’ve taken up swimming again lately, for which I wear your typical plain black sporty speedo one piece (though I do have a pink swim cap and goggles). But it’s made me think about summer swimsuits of the splish-splash-playing-in-the-pool variety (as opposed to the swimming-laps-for-exercise variety).

Nowadays, swimsuits are usually kind of flimsy and rarely seem to be built for curves. If you’re lucky, you might get some sort of shelf bra in there but that’s about it. One look at the swimsuits of the 40s and 50s though, and you can see that they were nothing less than feats of engineering: Pieced full cups, shirring, smocking, and strategic seams galore.

I’ve never made a bathing suit. Could be fun if I could manage the elastic shirring bit.

vintage swimsuits

vintage swimsuits

vintage swimsuits

vintage swimsuits

vintage swimsuits

{more gorgeous vintage beach images from millie motts}

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14 Comments »

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  1. Good quality Lycra is surprisingly easy to work with if that’s what your thinking of using. I’ve been sewing with it for the last month (dance costumes) and haven’t had any issues with the good stuff.

    Comment by Kristin — May 17, 2008 #

  2. This pictures make me so envious! I wish there were still flirty, cute and structured swimsuits like these today. I’ll be interested to hear how your sewing goes!

    If you decide to go off the rack, though, I’ve had good luck with J.Crew, since they sell mix and match swimsuits with built in underwire bras.

    Comment by Meg — May 17, 2008 #

  3. Have you tried Lands’ End swimsuits? They have fits for all types of figures, they are mostly made in Canada, some come with ILGWU union labels.

    I prefer the shelf bra, but they have mostly been replaced by soft cup and underwire bras.

    Comment by Grace — May 17, 2008 #

  4. Kristin: let me know if you have any online sources for the good stuff! I’ve never worked with it before. A lot of the vintage suits I’ve seen seem to be just made out of cotton, sometimes with a powernet lining of some sort.

    I haven’t tried either J. Crew or Land’s End. I think mix and match with underwire is the way to go for me because I have a large chest and pretty much every swimsuit I’ve ever owned has squished me flat. Not comfortable or flattering at ALL.

    Comment by Sarai — May 17, 2008 #

  5. oh, i love vintage swimsuits! but they’re nearly impossible to find intact or in a modern size, alas.

    i always take one of my old bras whose straps and bands have seen better days, snip them off, and sew the cups into my swimsuits…makes a world of difference!

    Comment by kaite — May 19, 2008 #

  6. I *adore* vintage bathing suits… I’ve been dying to get one made (I’ve got a pattern from the mid 1950s), or buy a reproduction suit for ages. I just hate modern swim wear so much… rofl.

    Comment by Casey — May 20, 2008 #

  7. modern swimwear is crap…..mass produced just to get them into the stores quickly. Vintage swimsuits were true art.

    You’re a very talented girl and I’m sure you could do the shirring with no problem. Just buy a little bit of fabric and practice. Often, what’s new seems impossible simply because we haven’t done it yet. But typically, things are easier than we allow ourselves to believe.

    Comment by Persona — May 21, 2008 #

  8. Esther Williams sells some cute swimsuits. Not super structured, but a vintage-y alternative to some of the cheesy modern stuff.

    http://www.esther-williams.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=ewstore&Category_Code=cicswimwear

    Comment by Roxanne/cheetah velour — May 24, 2008 #

  9. Roxanne: I actually had an Esther Williams suit! It was cute, white with black polka dots. But I did have to add cup inserts in there, and it still squashed me a bit.

    here’s a photo (in a swimming pool in vegas): http://gallery.synaesthetic.org/photos/2004/06/las-vegas/pool3-sarai.jpg

    Comment by Sarai — May 24, 2008 #

  10. nice post,nice collection

    Comment by mohan — June 21, 2008 #

  11. eBay is surprisingly a good place to find vintage bathing suits.

    Comment by Retro Swimwear — July 2, 2008 #

  12. It’s the mostest!

    Comment by Jennifer M. Brown — July 5, 2008 #

  13. Try http://www.mybabyjo.com

    or http://www.pinupgirlclothing.com for some cute, newly made vintage reproduction swimsuits. They’re adorable, but I’m planning on making my own.

    Comment by Robyne Leisti — July 12, 2008 #

  14. All the old stuff I wore as a child is coming back. Kinda scary and makes you feel old, but it looks great most of the time.

    Comment by vintage — November 13, 2008 #

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