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Beach resorts as in Britain began to become popular in France in the late 18th century. I have little information on developments in France, however, because of my inability to access French sources or on popular fashions during the 18th century. For much of the century there were no specialized children's clothes meaning that there was no children's beachwear. In fact there was probably little in the way of specialized beachwear for adults. There were many important seaside resports in the 19th century. Some images do provide insights into beachwear. Like England, fashions appear to our modern eye to have been very formal, hardly suitable for what we now consider to be beachwear. Bathing costumes were not immediately developed. Photograhic images show that specialized bathing costumes did not begin to appear until the 1890s and the turn of the century. No boys' outfit outfit was more popular for the seaside than sailor outfits. In the early part of the century there seems to have been more wading than swiming. Boys wore their broad-brimmed sailor hats, sometimes turning up the brims, especilly by the 1910s. Boys uually wore their middy blouses with bloomer-type knickers without shoes and stockings. For more serous wading they might roll uo their knicker legs. More casual styles for the beach did not become popular until after the turn of the century, especially after World War I (1914-18). After the War, actual bathing costumes or swim suits appear much more commonly than before the War.
Beach resorts as in Britain began to become popular in France in the late 18th century. I have little information on developments in France, however, because of my inability to access French sources or on popular fashions during the 18th century. For much of the century there were no specialized children's clothes meaning that there was no children's beachwear. In fact there was probably little in the way of specialized beachwear for adults.
There were many important seaside resorts in the 19th century. The advent of railroads played a major role in making resorts accessable to the public. Some images do provide insights into beachwear. Like England, fashions appear to our modern eye to have been very formal, hardly suitable for what we now consider to be beachwear. Bathing costumes were not immediately developed. Photograhic images show that specialized bathing costumes did not begin to appear until the 1890s and the turn of the century.
No boys' outfit outfit was more popular for the seaside than sailor outfits. In the early part of the century there seems to have been more wading than swiming. Boys wore their broad-brimmed sailor hats, sometimes turning up the brims, especilly by the 1910s. Boys uually wore their middy blouses with bloomer-type knickers without shoes and stockings. For more serous wading they might roll uo their knicker legs. More casual styles for the beach did not become popular until after the turn of the century, especially after World War I (1914-18). After the War, actual bathing costumes or swim suits appear much more commonly than before the War. Sailor outfits do not disppear entirely in the 1920s, but they are no longer the dominate beach style.
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