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History of the bikini

The bikini was first unveiled as a swimwear style in 1947, but the concepts of the style had seen precursors that went back as far as fourteen hundred BC.  Female Roman athletes wore outfits that resemble the bikini in many ways, and that some of the more modern styles (such as the bandeau) have been modeled after.

It wasn't just Rome that was scandalous enough to present these styles, although various regions of the Roman Empire helped to perpetuate this style.  Ranging from depictions of Venus in Sicily to what has been dubbed the “bikini girls” in Rome itself, the history of the bikini extends back further into history than many are willing to admit.

What we would call the “modern bikini” was first seen at the beaches in 1947, but was invented in 1946 by a French engineer named Louis Reard.  It was named after a Pacific Island where nuclear tests had been launched earlier that year (Louis Reard allegedly named it as such because he felt the look would be as explosive as nuclear weaponry).  Other jokes of this nature included the fact that Louis Reard claimed to “split the Atome” (the name of a precursor to the bikini which was not as showing as the 1947 model).

In most of the world, this 1947 unveiling was not seen as a tremendous success.  For many years, the bikini was not allowed as a style for beauty contests and similar.  Only in France did it have immediate impact.  The history of the bikini since that time has been a gradual unfolding with the style becoming more and more popular through the decades.