953 nut 52,162 #1 Posted July 5, 2016 7-5-1946 Bikini introduced On July 5, 1946, French designer Louis Reard unveils a daring two-piece swimsuit at the Piscine Molitor, a popular swimming pool in Paris. Parisian showgirl Micheline Bernardini modeled the new fashion, which Reard dubbed “bikini,” inspired by a news-making U.S. atomic test that took place off the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean earlier that week. European women first began wearing two-piece bathing suits that consisted of a halter top and shorts in the 1930s, but only a sliver of the midriff was revealed and the navel was vigilantly covered. In the United States, the modest two-piece made its appearance during World War II, when wartime rationing of fabric saw the removal of the skirt panel and other superfluous material. Meanwhile, in Europe, fortified coastlines and Allied invasions curtailed beach life during the war, and swimsuit development, like everything else non-military, came to a standstill. In planning the debut of his new swimsuit, Reard had trouble finding a professional model who would deign to wear the scandalously skimpy two-piece. So he turned to Micheline Bernardini, an exotic dancer at the Casino de Paris, who had no qualms about appearing nearly nude in public. As an allusion to the headlines that he knew his swimsuit would generate, he printed newspaper type across the suit that Bernardini modeled on July 5 at the Piscine Molitor. The bikini was a hit, especially among men, and Bernardini received some 50,000 fan letters. In prudish America, the bikini was successfully resisted until the early 1960s, when a new emphasis on youthful liberation brought the swimsuit en masse to U.S. beaches. It was immortalized by the pop singer Brian Hyland, who sang “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini” in 1960, by the teenage “beach blanket” movies of Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, and by the California surfing culture celebrated by rock groups like the Beach Boys. Since then, the popularity of the bikini has only continued to grow. 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aldon 4,826 #2 Posted July 5, 2016 If Reard did not earn the Nobel Prize its a travesty!!!1 A TRAVESTY I tell ya! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aldon 4,826 #3 Posted July 5, 2016 or at least the Frances Highest Civilian award! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rjg854 10,792 #4 Posted July 5, 2016 How can you not like the bikini. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ztnoo 2,298 #5 Posted July 6, 2016 On the bikini's 70th anniversary, 10 memorable celebrity swimwear shots http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2016/07/05/best-celebrity-swimsuit-candids/86717882/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
