Figure 1.--Here is a group of English competitive swimers in the 1960s. They were probably members of a community swim club. The boys all wear the briefs style trunks. Notice that one girl wears a romper suit. We are not sure this was a swim suit. She might have put it on after swimming.

England seems to be where sea bathing first becme popular in the modern age. The bathing costumes that developed seem to have been relatively standard throughout Europe and America. We note many striped outfits. The stripes seem to have represented a sailor (sea) influence. We think this convention began in England, but we are not entirely sure. Boys and men wore the same outfits. They generally had calf length pants. The shirts and pants matched which is presumably why they werw called bathing suits. After the turn-of-the 20th century we begin to see above the knee pants and eventually shorts. After World War I the shorts were generally worn with some type of coordinated top. A British reader tells us that the bathing trunks wuith tops were no longer worn in Europe by the 1940s and was surprised to find that they were still required in some places in America. After World War II we see boys wearing two kinds of bathing suits or trunks. There were boxer-style trunks. The brief styles seems to have been more popular. This varied from America where the boxer style emerged as the most popular. An English reader remembers wearing this style of swim suit.

Created: 4:31 PM 2/23/2009
Last updated: 4:31 PM 2/23/2009