Taking A Look At How Bathing Suits Have Evolved
Monday, March 30th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
It was in the early 1800s that people started to hit the beaches as a form of entertainment. When the railroads were put into service even more people flocked to those sunny locations. Of course, along with this new pastime came the need for some stylish womens swimsuits. However, it was considered proper for ladies to keep their skin white and untouched by the sun. So, bathing suits were more like smocks and women would sew small weights into the hems so that the garments would be prevented from floating up and showing their legs.
The next step in the evolution of swimwear swimsuits saw creations that were more like full length gowns, usually made from cambric or muslin. The garments had long sleeves with thin cuffs and were worn over pants or “trowsers,” as they were called then. The ensemble also required a scarf, sandals and even gloves. It wasn’t until sometime later that women were allowed to show a little leg.
By the mid 19th century, women’s swimsuits or bathing dresses, still covered most of their figures. Amelia Bloomer came up with the innovative idea of wearing bloomers under the swim dresses but the Turkish pants and paletot dresses were made from heavy flannel fabric, which surely had to weigh these bathing suits down quite a bit.
Wherever the water was shallow near the beach people would change in little houses on wheels, which were drawn out into deeper water by horses and hauled back to the shore when the water play was finished. At some of the larger resorts on the shore, where the most glamorous ladies of the day were, hundreds of these little change carts would be in the water at one time. Their broad wheels gave them the advantage of not getting stuck in the sand. In some areas the idea of wearing a little less, including shorter bloomers and skirts, was starting to be kicked around a little; but the implementation of those ideas would not come into play until the early 1900s, or more accurately 1910.
Those little bathing cabanas gave even the most modest of women a chance to spend a day at the beach in privacy. Upon arriving at the beach wearing layers of petticoats and dresses, the horse would haul the cabana out into the ocean where the ladies could then change into their bathing suits. There was a hood added later so that they could emerge from the water wearing their soaking wet swimsuits without being seen. After the ladies peeled off the wet suits, they could then change back into their many layers of petticoats and dresses.
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