Figure 1.--This is the swimwear items that A. Starr Best offered for boys and girls in 1905. Notice that wool was still a popular fabric for swimwear. |
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We note a range of one- and two-piece bathing suits for both boys and girls in 1905. A. Starr Best offered a range of swimsuits. The Best swimsuits were for boys and girls. The Best one-piece outfits were styles both boys and girls could wear. The Best two-piece suits were done in diffeentiated styles for boys and girls. Girls and boys wore swisuits sut to about the same length, but girls swim suit pants had gathered legs and ruffles. Boys wore suits with straight legs. One curious aspecy of 19th and early 20th century swimsuits is that for some reason, people believed that wool was the appropriate fabric. For the life of me I can not understand why. This was a strange comvention that did not entirely disappear until the 1940s.
We know nothing about the A. Starr Best department store. The catalog indicated that it was located on State Stree on Chicago. The size of the catalog and location suggests that it was a fairly substantial store. We thought at first it was the origins of Best & Co., but this was a New York department store.
The long history of seaside bathing and swimming has meant that swimming costumes and suits have varied widely. Primarily due to changing attitudes toward modesty, the suits have varies frim covering almost the entire body (including the head) to covering only the bare minimum. Early bathing costumes covered almost everything and were normally made out of wool. The wommen and girls even had caps for their hair. One aspect of competitive swiming suits is that unlike other articles of athletic wear have never either transllated into popular casual clothing or even casual swim suits, although here there are dfferences over time and among countries. The disconect is especially the case today. Since the 1970s, bathing suits for boys tend to be extremely long and baggy. Apparently this is primarily a fashion concern as such suits are tollay unsuitable for swiming, especially competitive swiming. Quite a range of fabrics have been used, including fabrics entirely unsuitable like wool. Knitting magazines often had patterns for children's bathung suits. One development in the 1990s has been sunsafe clothing, including swimwear. This has been a development of some importance, especially in Australia and New Zealand near the hole in the ozone lawyer.
We note a range of one- and two-piece bathing suits for both boys and girls in 1905. A. Starr Best offered a range of swimsuits. The Best swimsuits were for boys and girls. The Best one-piece outfits were styles both boys and girls could wear. The Best two-piece suits were done in diffeentiated styles for boys and girls. Girls and boys wore swisuits sut to about the same length, but girls swim suit pants had gathered legs and ruffles. Boys wore suits with straight legs. One curious aspecy of 19th and early 20th century swimsuits is that for some reason, people believed that wool was the appropriate fabric. For the life of me I can not understand why. This was a strange comvention that did not entirely disappear until the 1940s.
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