History of the swim suit
USEFUL WEBSITES
1. The vintage fashion guild.
This site is from an organisation that is dedicated to preserving vintage fashion. There is a page all about the history of swim wear, including many photographs.
http://vintagefashionguild.org/fashion-history/swim-wear-history/
2. Smithsonian fashion blog
This site gives and interesting short history of the swim suit starting in the 4th century. There is mention on an Australian swimmer arrested in Boston in 1907 for her indecent swim suit. These sites are parts 1-3 in a series of articles on the swim suit.
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/threaded/2012/06/the-swimsuit-series-part-1-a-history-of-womens-suits/
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/threaded/2012/06/the-swimsuit-series-part-2-beauty-pageants-and-the-inevitable-swimsuit-competition/
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/threaded/2012/07/swimsuit-series-part-3-is-today-truly-the-66th-anniversary-of-the-first-bikini/
3. Victoriana.com
This site deals mainly with fashion of the Victorian era. There are descriptions of swim wear from the 1800's to the 1920's.
http://www.victoriana.com/library/Beach/FashionableBathingSuits.htm
4. TLM. "History of women's bathing suits."
A concise history of swim wear- this is a brief overview.
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/style/history-of-womens-bathing-suits.htm
USEFUL BOOKS
1. The 20's and 30's Flappers and Vamps by Cally Blackman. This book shows that fashion is an expression of culture and society
at the time. It is full of illustrations snf photographs.
2. The 40's and 50's Utility to New Look by Helen Reynolds. Find out about how fashion reflects the culture and society of these
decades.
3. 1900-20 Linen & Lace by Sue Mee. These decades saw the transition from delicate gowns to more liberating clothing for women.
4. The 1930's Scrapbook compiled by robert Opie. Filled with images of this period, it gives a glimpse of culture and society at the
time. Read the back cover for a quick summary of the time.
5. The 1950's Scrapbook compiled by Robert Opie. This image-filled book conjures up the life and times of the decade.
Read the back cover for a quick summary of the time.
6. The 1970's scrapbook compiled by Robert Opie. See 1970's fasions, furnishings and images of other items of the time.
Read the back cover for a quick summary of the time.
7. Parade by Alexandra Joel. In this stunning book, there is a section about swim wear for each decade of the 20th century. Look up
the index at the back of the book for the decade you need.