The involution of customs: from the ‘bikinis’ in Ancient Rome to the three kilo swimsuits in the si … – ABC.es

Long before beaches were considered places where pernicious vices were promoted, especially during the Middle Ages and much of the Modern Age, there was a time when the inhabitants of Ancient Rome quietly went to coastal areas to cure their diseases through prolonged baths, to exercise and even to have sexual encounters. Mosaics from the 4th century have been found in the Sicilian villa of Piazza Armerina, in which young people from wealthy families are depicted swimming in the water, wearing two-piece suits called ‘strophium’, a kind of primitive bikini made up of shorts and a bra band. Those customs, however, disappeared among the most conservative societies of the Middle Ages. This caused the beaches to remain practically empty for centuries, even in summer, and that archaic bikini did not appear again until the middle of the 20th century, with the revolution led by the famous fashion designer and automobile engineer Louis Réard. The garment then became an icon in the body of movie stars such as Brigitte Bardot and Ursula Andress, but to get there, first a slow thaw in the moral cataturas had to be produced. In the 16th century, Cambridge University students caught bathing in the sea were flogged as punishment. If they were hunted a second time, they were expelled from the center and the doors to a better future were closed to them. Some light began to appear in 1621, when the doctor Robert Burton wrote in ‘Anatomy of Melancholy’ that the sea could combat sadness and depression. The main change occurred, however, in 1750, with the English doctor Richard Russell, who triumphed with his thesis that diving off the coast could cure diseases such as tuberculosis, arthritis, tumors and the most varied pains. Two models, wearing swimsuits in 1911 Louis Hugelmann Hortensia’s swimsuit Little by little, the first patients of the aristocracy approached the beach and shed their prejudices. At first, yes, they bathed dressed, but they soon realized that it was necessary to create a specific garment for that activity. The few historians who have dealt with the subject say that the Queen of France, Hortense de Beauharnais, was one of the first to wear a ‘modern’ bathing suit in 1812. It was knitted, chocolate brown in color and had a long-sleeved tunic that covered an embroidered shirt and Turkish trousers that were cinched at the ankles. This attire was accompanied by a charlotte, a hat similar to a nightcap. The first model of Hortensia, with the body shapes completely hidden, was the basis for almost all the designs of the 19th century. With them, however, the truth is that it was hardly possible to distinguish whether the bathers had gone into the sea dressed for the street or with their swimsuits. The suits evolved little by little until the First World War, but always with a more or less similar number of pieces: a fitted bodice, high neck, elbow-length sleeves and a knee-length skirt with trousers underneath. It was so cumbersome that, wet, it could weigh up to three kilos. Sometimes, even more, because they soon changed the knit for heavier materials, such as flannel or twill, and added weights to the skirts to prevent it from floating and rising when entering the sea. In 1840 the first ‘shorts’ for men appeared. Lacking elastic, they fell to the ankles when wet. To avoid this embarrassing situation, Charles Goodyear designed a one-piece model in 1844 that covered from the feet to the elbows and was not in danger of falling. After the Great War, the practice of bathing in the sea had already lost its exclusive medicinal concept and became widespread, among other things, due to the expansion of the railway. This evolution was parallel to the design of more comfortable, lighter and, above all, more aesthetic swimsuits, including details such as lace, braid and more vivid colors. The length was reduced to the knee, the sleeves became shorter and the neckline dropped to above the chest. In 1921, Jantzen Knitting Mills launched the first stretchy one-piece swimsuit, which became very popular at a beauty pageant in Atlantic City. But it took another 25 years for the famous bikini to appear, which was a milestone for going against the conventions of the time. As an example, in 1946, Réard could not find a model willing to wear it and she had to resort to a ‘stripper’. “Her swimsuit of hers is going to be more explosive than the bombs dropped on Bikini Atoll,” she commented. And so he was baptized.