Editing Bikini (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of the bikini}}
{{See also|Bikini in popular culture}}

=== In antiquity ===
{{stack|[[File:Pompeii bikini girls.jpg|thumb|The ancient Roman [[Villa Romana del Casale]] (286–305&nbsp;CE) in [[Sicily]] has one of the earliest known bikini-type images.]]}}
According to archaeologist [[James Mellaart]], a mural from the [[Chalcolithic]] era (around 5600&nbsp;BCE) in [[Çatalhöyük]], [[Anatolia]] depicts a mother goddess astride two leopards wearing a costume somewhat like a bikini.<ref name=Agrawala /><ref>{{cite book |first1=Lucy |last1=Goodison |author1-link=Lucy Goodison |first2=Christine E. |last2=Morris |author2-link=Christine E. Morris |title=Ancient Goddesses: The Myths and the Evidence |page=46 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |date=1998 |isbn=978-0-299-16320-4 }}</ref> The two-piece swimsuit can be traced back to the [[Greco-Roman world]], where bikini-like garments worn by women athletes are depicted on [[urns]] and paintings dating back to 1400&nbsp;BCE.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Peter J. |last1=James |first2=I. J. |last2=Thorpe |first3=Nick |last3=Thorpe |title=Ancient Inventions |page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientinvention00jame/page/279 279] |publisher=Ballantine Books |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-345-40102-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientinvention00jame/page/279}}</ref>

In ''Coronation of the Winner'', a [[mosaic]] in the floor of a [[Roman villa]] in [[Sicily]] that dates from the [[Diocletianic Persecution|Diocletian period]] (286–305&nbsp;CE), young women participate in weightlifting, discus throwing, and running ball games dressed in bikini-like garments (technically bandeaukinis in modern lexicon).<ref name=BBCW /><ref name=VilCas>{{cite web |url=http://www.valdinoto.com/english/villa_romana_del_casale.htm |title=Villa Romana del Casale|publisher=Val di Noto|access-date=2013-08-29}}</ref> The mosaic, found in the [[Sicily|Sicilian]] [[Villa Romana del Casale]], features ten maidens who have been anachronistically dubbed the "[[Villa Romana del Casale#Athletic competition|Bikini Girls]]".<ref name="Guttmann 1991 38">{{cite book |first=Allen |last=Guttmann |title=Women's Sports: A History |url=https://archive.org/details/womenssports00alle |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/womenssports00alle/page/38 38] |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1991 |isbn= 978-0-231-06957-1}}</ref><ref name="Villa Romana del Casale">{{cite web |url=http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/villaromanadelcasale.html |title=Villa Romana del Casale |publisher=World Heritage Sites |access-date=2015-03-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081223110444/http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/villaromanadelcasale.html |archive-date=2008-12-23 }}</ref>

Other [[Roman Empire|Roman]] archaeological finds depict the goddess [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] in a similar garment. In [[Pompeii]], depictions of Venus wearing a bikini were discovered in the Casa della Venere,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stoa.org/gallery/allison|title=Pompeian Households: Image Gallery|publisher=The Stoa Consortium, Center for Hellenic Studies, Harvard University|access-date=2015-03-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205075357/http://www.stoa.org/gallery/allison|archive-date=2016-02-05 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stoa.org/gallery/albums.php|title=Stoa Image Gallery|publisher=The Stoa Consortium, Center for Hellenic Studies, Harvard University|access-date=2015-03-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015205200/http://www.stoa.org/gallery/albums.php|archive-date=2015-10-15|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Penelope M. |last=Allison |url=http://www.stoa.org/projects/ph/rooms?houseid=13|title=Pompeian Households: Information concerning the rooms in Casa della Venere in Bikini|access-date=2015-03-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318124125/http://www.stoa.org/projects/ph/rooms?houseid=13|archive-date=2015-03-18|url-status=dead}}</ref> in the ''[[tablinum]]'' of the [[House of Julia Felix]],<ref>{{cite book |first1= Mary |last1= Beard |first2= John |last2= Henderson |title= Classical Art |page=116 |url=https://archive.org/details/classicalartfrom00bear/page/116 |publisher= Oxford University Press |year= 2001 |isbn= 978-0-19-284237-4 }}</ref> and in an [[Atrium (architecture)|atrium]] garden of [[House of Loreius Tiburtinus|Via Dell'Abbondanza]].<ref>{{cite book |first1= Elisabeth B. |last1= MacDougall |first2=Wilhelmina Mary |last2= Feemster |title= Ancient Roman Gardens |page=38 |publisher= Dumbarton Oaks |year= 1979 |isbn=978-0-88402-100-1}}</ref>

=== Precursors in the West ===
{{multiple image
| align     = right
| direction = vertical
| header    = Evolution
| image1    = Bathing Beauties (cropped).jpg
| caption1  = Loose [[chemise]]s from the 1900s
| width1    = 200
| image2    = AKellermanUnitard1909.JPG
| width2    = 200
| caption2  = [[Annette Kellermann]] started the form-fitting swimwear trend, 1909
| image3    = Jane Wyman,1935 (cropped).jpg
| width3    = 200
| caption3  = Actress [[Jane Wyman]] in beachwear that bares legs and midriff, 1935
}}

Swimming or bathing outdoors was discouraged in the [[Christian West]], so there was little demand or need for swimming or bathing costumes until the 18th century. The bathing gown of the 18th century was a loose ankle-length full-sleeve [[chemise]]-type gown made of wool or flannel that retained coverage and modesty.<ref name="claud">{{Cite book |last=Kidwell |first=Claudia |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/914179577 |title=Women's Bathing and Swimming Costume in the United States |date=2011 |publisher=Project Gutenberg |oclc=914179577}}</ref>

In 1907, Australian swimmer and performer [[Annette Kellermann]] was arrested on a [[Boston]] beach for wearing form-fitting sleeveless one-piece knitted swimming tights that covered her from neck to toe, a costume she adopted from England,<ref name=claud /> although it became accepted swimsuit attire for women in parts of Europe by 1910.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Conor |first=Liz |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/53223617 |title=The spectacular modern woman : feminine visibility in the 1920s |date=2004 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=0-253-34391-7 |location=Bloomington |oclc=53223617}}</ref> In 1913, designer [[Carl Jantzen]] made the first functional two-piece swimwear. Inspired by the introduction of females into Olympic swimming he designed a close-fitting costume with shorts for the bottom and short sleeves for the top.<ref name=heritage>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/web/20060705-bikini-swimming-suit-louis-reard-micheline-bernardini-paris-brigitte-bardot.shtml|access-date=November 13, 2007|publisher=American Heritage Inc.|title=60 Years of Bikinis|author=Hoover, Elizabeth D.|date=July 5, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070909195749/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/web/20060705-bikini-swimming-suit-louis-reard-micheline-bernardini-paris-brigitte-bardot.shtml |archive-date=September 9, 2007}}</ref>

During the 1920s and 1930s, people began to shift from "taking in the water" to "taking in the sun", at bathhouses and spas, and swimsuit designs shifted from functional considerations to incorporate more decorative features. [[Rayon]] was used in the 1920s in the manufacture of tight-fitting swimsuits,<ref name=sydelle>{{cite web|last=Sydelle|first=John|title=The Swimsuit Industry|url=http://smallbusiness.chron.com/swimsuit-industry-18779.html |work=The Houston Chronicle |date=August 13, 2011 |access-date=August 29, 2013}}</ref> but durability issues, especially when wet, proved problematic.<ref name="Kadolph">{{Cite book |last1=Kadolph |first1=Sara J. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45136560 |title=Textiles |last2=Langford |first2=Anna |date=2001 |publisher=Prentice Hall |isbn=0-13-025443-6 |edition=9th |location=Upper Saddle River, NJ |oclc=45136560}}</ref> [[Jersey (fabric)|Jersey]] and [[silk]] were also sometimes used.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilcox |first=R. Turner |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/227923344 |title=The mode in costume : a historical survey with 202 plates |date=2008 |publisher=Dover Publications |isbn=978-0-486-46820-4 |location=Mineola, N.Y. |oclc=227923344}}</ref> By the 1930s, manufacturers had lowered necklines in the back, removed sleeves, and tightened the sides. With the development of new clothing materials, particularly [[latex]] and [[nylon]], swimsuits gradually began hugging the body through the 1930s, with shoulder straps that could be lowered for tanning.<ref>[[Bronwyn Labrum]], Fiona McKergow and Stephanie Gibson, ''Looking Flash'', page 166, Auckland University Press, 2007, {{ISBN|978-1-86940-397-3}}</ref>

Women's swimwear of the 1930s and 1940s incorporated increasing degrees of [[midriff exposure]]. The 1932 Hollywood film ''Three on a Match'' featured a midriff-baring two-piece bathing suit. Actress [[Dolores del Río]] was the first major star to wear a two-piece women's bathing suit onscreen in ''[[Flying Down to Rio]]'' (1933).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.filmsite.org/sexinfilms6.html|title=Sex in Cinema: 1933 Greatest and Most Influential Erotic / Sexual Films and Scenes|website=www.filmsite.org}}</ref>

Teen magazines of late 1940s and 1950s featured similar designs of midriff-baring suits and tops. However, midriff fashion was stated as only for beaches and informal events and considered indecent to be worn in public.<ref name="girl">{{cite book|author1=Claudia Mitchell |author2=Jacqueline Reid-Walsh |title=Girl Culture: Studying girl culture : a readers' guide Volume 1 of Girl Culture: An Encyclopedia|year=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-33909-7|pages=434–435|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=arQy0v_PBx4C&pg=PA225}}</ref> Hollywood endorsed the new glamor in films like 1949's ''[[Neptune's Daughter (1949 film)|Neptune's Daughter]]'' in which [[Esther Williams]] wore provocatively named costumes such as "Double Entendre" and "Honey Child".<ref name=notting>{{cite news |first=David |last=Sandhu |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/sunandsea/728059/Nottingham-Bathed-in-nostalgia.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/sunandsea/728059/Nottingham-Bathed-in-nostalgia.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Nottingham: Bathed in nostalgia |work=The Telegraph |date=August 4, 2003 |location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Wartime production during World War II required vast amounts of cotton, silk, nylon, wool, leather, and rubber. In 1942, the United States [[War Production Board]] issued Regulation L-85, [[Rationing in the United States#World War II|cutting the use]] of natural fibers in clothing<ref>{{cite web|title=World War II|url=http://amhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/printable/section.asp?id=9&sub=3|work=The Price of Freedom: Americans at War|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|access-date=August 30, 2013}}</ref> and mandating a 10% reduction in the amount of fabric in women's beachwear.<ref name="history"/> To comply with the regulations, swimsuit manufacturers removed skirt panels and other attachments,<ref name=HistC /> while increasing production of the two-piece swimsuit with bare midriffs.<ref name=fashionencyc>{{cite web|title=Bikini|url=http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/fashion_costume_culture/Modern-World-1946-1960/Bikini.html|publisher=Fashion Encyclopedia|access-date=August 30, 2013}}</ref> At the same time, demand for all swimwear declined as there was not much interest in going to the beach, especially in Europe.<ref name=HistC />

=== Modern bikini ===
{{stack|[[File:MichelineBernardini.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Micheline Bernardini]] on 5 July 1946 at the [[Piscine Molitor]] modeling Réard's bikini, which was small enough to fit into the {{convert|5|by|5|by|5|cm|adj=on|spell=us}} box she is holding.]]}}
In the summer of 1946, Western Europeans enjoyed their first war-free summer in many years. French designers sought to deliver fashions that matched the liberated mood of the people.<ref name=history/> Fabric was still in short supply,<ref name=Gunn>Tim Gunn, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=pWG9AAAAQBAJ Tim Gunn's Fashion Bible: The Fascinating History of Everything in Your Closet]'', page 25, Simon & Schuster, 2013, {{ISBN|978-1-4516-4386-2}}</ref> and in an endeavor to resurrect swimwear sales, two French designers&nbsp;– [[Jacques Heim]] and [[Louis Réard]]&nbsp;– almost simultaneously launched new two-piece swimsuit designs in 1946.<ref>Patrik Alac, ''Bikini Story'', page 31, Parkstone International, 2012, {{ISBN|978-1-78042-951-9}}</ref><ref>Claudia Mitchell and Jacqueline Reid-Walsh, ''Girl Culture: An Encyclopedia'' (vol. 1), page 182, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007, {{ISBN|978-0-313-08444-7}}</ref> Heim launched a two-piece swimsuit design in Paris that he called the ''atome'', after the smallest known particle of matter. He announced that it was the "world's smallest bathing suit."<ref name=history>{{cite web|title=Bikini introduced - Jul 05, 1946|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/bikini-introduced|website=HISTORY.com|access-date=16 May 2018}}</ref><ref>Rod E. Keays, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=NLszBcSEdLYC&pg=PA109 The Naturally Good Man] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125233959/https://books.google.com/books?id=NLszBcSEdLYC&pg=PA109 |date=November 25, 2022 }}'', page 109, Trafford Publishing, 2012, {{ISBN|978-1-4669-1924-2}}</ref> Although briefer than the two-piece swimsuits of the 1930s, the bottom of Heim's new two-piece beach costume still covered the wearer's navel.<ref name=Gunn /><ref>James Gilbert Ryan and Leonard C. Schlup, ''Historical Dictionary of the 1940s'', page 50, M.E. Sharpe, 2006, {{ISBN|978-0-7656-2107-8}}</ref><ref>Bobby Mercer, ''ManVentions'', page 194, Adams Media, 2011, {{ISBN|978-1-4405-1074-8}}</ref><ref>Kelly Killoren Bensimon, ''The Bikini Book'', page 18, Thames & Hudson, 2006, {{ISBN|978-0-500-51316-3}}</ref>

Soon after, Louis Réard created a competing two-piece swimsuit design, which he called the ''bikini''.<ref name=TimA>Adam Sage, "[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article705414.ece Happy birthday: the 'shocking and immoral' bikini hits 60]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}", ''[[The Times]]'', April 16, 2006</ref> He noticed that women at the beach rolled up the edges of their swimsuit bottoms and tops to improve their tan.<ref name=femmes>{{cite web|title=Le Bikini souffle ses 60 bougies !|url=http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/mode/0606-bikini/anniversaire.shtml|website=www.journaldesfemmes.com|access-date=17 May 2018|language=fr}}</ref> On 5 July, Réard introduced his design at a swimsuit review held at a popular Paris public pool, [[Piscine Molitor]], four days after the first test of a US nuclear weapon at the [[Bikini Atoll]]. The newspapers were full of news about it and Réard hoped for the same with his design.<ref name=navy>{{cite web|title=Operation Crossroads: Fact Sheet|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq76-1.htm|publisher=Department of the Navy—Naval History and Heritage Command|access-date=13 August 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024121304/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq76-1.htm|archive-date=24 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Wiesner|first1=Maria|title=70 Jahre Bikini: Vier Dreiecke und etwas Schnur|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/stil/mode-design/der-bikini-feiert-70-jubilaeum-nach-erfindung-in-st-tropez-14323637.html|newspaper=FAZ.NET|access-date=17 May 2018|language=de|date=5 July 2016}}</ref> Réard's ''bikini'' undercut Heim's ''atome'' in its brevity. His design consisted of two side-by-side triangles of fabric forming a bra, and two front-and-back triangular pieces of fabric covering the [[mons pubis]] and the [[buttocks]], respectively, connected by string. When he was unable to find a fashion model willing to showcase his revealing design,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Alac|first1=Patrik|title=Bikini Story|date=2012|publisher=Parkstone International|location=New York|isbn=978-1-78042-951-9|page=72}}</ref> Réard hired [[Micheline Bernardini]], an 18-year old [[Striptease|nude dancer]] from the [[Casino de Paris]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.bikiniscience.com/chronology/1945-1950_SS/LR4601_S/LR4601.html |title = Michele Bernadini: The First Bikini | first = Judson | last = Rosebush | work = Bikini Science | access-date = September 19, 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927084552/http://www.bikiniscience.com/chronology/1945-1950_SS/LR4601_S/LR4601.html | archive-date = September 27, 2007 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> He announced that his swimsuit, was "smaller than the world's smallest bathing suit".<ref name=Guard>Paula Cocozza, "[https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2006/jun/10/sttropez.filminspiredtravel.france.culturaltrips A little piece of history] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080927104351/http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2006/jun/10/sttropez.filminspiredtravel.france.culturaltrips?gusrc=rss&feed=travel |date=September 27, 2008 }}", ''[[The Guardian]]'', June 10, 2006</ref><ref name=Lil>[http://www.lilith-ezine.com/articles/2006/The-Bikini.html The Bikini Turns 60] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909175233/http://www.lilith-ezine.com/articles/2006/The-Bikini.html |date=September 9, 2016}}, 1946 to 2006: 60 Years of Bikini Bathing Beauties, ''Lilith E-Zine''</ref> Réard said that "like the [atom] bomb, the bikini is small and devastating".<ref name="The Very First Bikini">Judson Rosebush, {{cite web|url = http://www.bikiniscience.com//chronology/1945-1950_SS/1945-1950.html |title=1945–1950: The Very First Bikini |work=Bikini Science |access-date=November 25, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627214541/http://bikiniscience.com/chronology/1945-1950_SS/1945-1950.html|archive-date = June 27, 2012 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Fashion writer [[Diana Vreeland]] described the bikini as the "atom bomb of fashion".<ref name="The Very First Bikini" /> Bernardini received 50,000 fan letters, many of them from men.<ref name=HistC /><ref name=heritage />

Photographs of Bernardini and articles about the event were widely carried by the press. The ''[[International Herald Tribune]]'' alone ran nine stories on the event.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mitchell|first1=Claudia A.|last2=Reid-Walsh|first2=Jacqueline|title=Girl Culture an Encyclopedia|date=2008|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, Connecticut|isbn=978-0-313-08444-7|page=82}}</ref> French newspaper ''[[Le Figaro]]'' wrote, "People were craving the simple pleasures of the sea and the sun. For women, wearing a bikini signaled a kind of second liberation. There was really nothing sexual about this. It was instead a celebration of freedom and a return to the joys in life."<ref name=heritage />

Heim's ''atome'' was more in keeping with the sense of propriety of the 1940s, but Réard's design won the public's attention.<ref name=Gunn /> Although Heim's design was the first worn on the beach and initially sold more swimsuits, it was Réard's description of the two-piece swimsuit as a ''bikini'' that stuck.<ref name=BBCW /><ref>Weisgall, Jonathan (1994), ''Operation Crossroads: The Atomic Tests at Bikini Atoll'', pages 264–265, Naval Institute Press, {{ISBN|978-1-55750-919-2}}</ref> As competing designs emerged, he declared in advertisements that a swimsuit could not be a genuine bikini "unless it could be pulled through a wedding ring."<ref name=HistC /> Modern bikinis were first made of [[cotton]] and [[Jersey (fabric)|jersey]].<ref>Valerie Steele, ''Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion'', page 253, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005, {{ISBN|0-684-31397-9}}</ref>

=== Social resistance ===
{{Quote box
 |quote  = As subsequent history would show, the bikini was more than a skimpy garment. It was a state of mind.
 |source = Lena Lenček<ref name="Lena Lenček page 100">Lena Lenček, ''The Beach: The History of Paradise on Earth'', page 100, Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated, 1999, {{ISBN|978-0-14-027802-6}}</ref>
 |quoted = 1
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[[File:Hooters Bikini Contest.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Hooters]] bikini contest in [[Jacksonville, Florida]], 2009, featuring popular modern designs such as triangle tops and thong-style bottoms]]
Despite the garment's initial success in France, women worldwide continued to wear traditional one-piece swimsuits. When his sales stalled, Réard went back to designing and selling orthodox knickers.<ref name="timesonline">{{cite news |first=Adam |last=Sage|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article705414.ece |title=Happy birthday: the 'shocking and immoral' bikini hits 60|work=The Times|date=April 16, 2006|access-date=August 18, 2013 |location=London}}{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> In 1950, American swimsuit mogul Fred Cole,<ref name=heritage /> owner of mass market swimwear firm [[Cole of California]], told ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' that he had "little but scorn for France's famed Bikinis."<ref>Christine Schmidt, ''The Swimsuit: Fashion from Poolside to Catwalk'', page 2, Bloomsbury Academic, 2012, {{ISBN|0-85785-123-3}}</ref> Réard himself would later describe it as a "two-piece bathing suit which reveals everything about a girl except for her mother's maiden name."<ref>Louise Southerden, ''Surf's Up: The Girl's Guide to Surfing'', page 14, Allen & Unwin, 2008, {{ISBN|978-1-74176-831-2}}</ref> Fashion magazine ''Modern Girl Magazine'' in 1957 stated that "it is hardly necessary to waste words over the so-called bikini since it is inconceivable that any girl with tact and decency would ever wear such a thing".<ref name=BBCW /><ref name=heritage />

In 1951, [[Eric Morley]] organized the ''Festival Bikini Contest'', a beauty contest and swimwear advertising opportunity at that year's [[Festival of Britain]]. The press, welcoming the spectacle, referred to it as ''Miss World'',<ref>{{cite book |first1=Elissa |last1=Stein |first2=Lee |last2=Meriwether |title=Beauty Queen |page=[https://archive.org/details/beautyqueenheres0000stei/page/45 45] |publisher=Chronicle Books |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8118-4864-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/beautyqueenheres0000stei/page/45}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Susan|last=Dewey|title=Making Miss India Miss World|page=[https://archive.org/details/makingmissindiam0000dewe/page/46 46]|publisher=Syracuse University Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8156-3176-7|url=https://archive.org/details/makingmissindiam0000dewe/page/46}}</ref> a name Morley registered as a trademark.<ref name="Keith Lovegrove 1967">{{cite book|first=Keith|last=Lovegrove|title=Pageant: The Beauty Contest|page=[https://archive.org/details/pageantbeautycon0000love/page/1967 1967]|publisher=teNeues|year=2002|isbn=978-3-8238-5569-9|url=https://archive.org/details/pageantbeautycon0000love/page/1967}}</ref> The winner was [[Kiki Håkansson]] of Sweden, who was crowned in a bikini. After the crowning, Håkansson was condemned by [[Pope Pius XII]],<ref name=Alac /><ref name=magnanti>{{cite news|last=Magnanti|first=Brooke|title=Miss World bikini ban: why it's no victory for feminists|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/sex/10105935/Miss-World-2013-bikini-ban-why-its-no-victory-for-feminists.html|work=The Telegraph |access-date=December 13, 2013 |date=June 7, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Selvedge: The Fabric of Your Life|page=39 |publisher=Selvedge Ltd. |year=2005}}</ref> while Spain and Ireland threatened to withdraw from the pageant.<ref>Kevin Rawlinson, "[https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/three-miss-worlds-and-one-rugby-world-cup-2010996.html Three Miss Worlds and one (rugby) World Cup] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215221346/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/three-miss-worlds-and-one-rugby-world-cup-2010996.html |date=December 15, 2017 }}", ''The Daily Telegraph'', June 26, 2010</ref> In 1952, bikinis were banned from the pageant and replaced by [[evening gown]]s.<ref>{{cite book|first=Han |last=Shin |title=Beauty with a Purpose |page=193 |publisher=iUniverse|year=2004|isbn= 978-0-595-30926-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=1950-1955: Navel Maneuvers – The Bikini Breakout|url=http://www.bikiniscience.com/chronology/1950-1955_SS/1950-1955.html|publisher=Bikini Science|access-date=December 13, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013211809/http://www.bikiniscience.com//chronology/1950-1955_SS/1950-1955.html|archive-date=October 13, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref> As a result of the controversy, the bikini was explicitly banned from many other [[beauty pageant]]s worldwide.<ref name="telegraph">{{cite news|last=Magnanti|first=Brooke|title=Miss World bikini ban: why it's no victory for feminists|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/sex/10105935/Miss-World-2013-bikini-ban-why-its-no-victory-for-feminists.html |work=The Telegraph|access-date=August 22, 2013|date=June 7, 2013|location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first1=Ben|last1=Marcus|first2=Jeff|last2=Divine|title=Surfing USA!: An Illustrated History of the Coolest Sport of All Time|page=60|publisher=MVP Books|year=2005|isbn= 978-0-89658-690-1}}</ref> Although some regarded the bikini and beauty contests as bringing freedom to women, they were opposed by some [[feminist]]s<ref name=Alac /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.object.org.uk/campaigns/beauty-pageants |title=Why OBJECT to Beauty Pageants? |publisher=object.org.uk |access-date=May 1, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522065802/http://www.object.org.uk/campaigns/beauty-pageants |archive-date=May 22, 2014 |df=mdy}}</ref> as well as religious and cultural groups who objected to the degree of exposure of the female body.

[[Paula Stafford]] was an Australian fashion designer credited with introducing the bikini to Australia;<ref name=hicks>Sara Hicks, "[http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/05/19/2249403.htm The mother of all cheeky bikinis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120624071612/http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/05/19/2249403.htm |date=24 June 2012 }}", ABC Gold Coast, 23 May 2008</ref><ref name=stolz>Greg Stolz, "[http://www.couriermail.com.au/life/shoppingfashion/bikini-queen-paula-stafford-turns-90/story-e6frer4o-1225878133378 Bikini queen Paula Stafford turns 90 ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200314033846/https://www.couriermail.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/bikini-queen-paula-stafford-turns-90/news-story/c3bbbec98714c72aff184e353db47509?nk=f46201ee4382833b39ec931a649063d2-1584157125 |date=14 March 2020 }}", Courier-Mail, 10 June 2010</ref> in a famous incident in 1952, model Ann Ferguson was asked to leave a beach in [[Surfers Paradise, Queensland|Surfers Paradise]] because her Paula Stafford bikini was too revealing.<ref name=bikinicops>"[http://www.abc.net.au/gnt/history/Transcripts/s1193266.htm Bikini Cops] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120903233545/http://www.abc.net.au/gnt/history/Transcripts/s1193266.htm |date=3 September 2012 }}" (Transcript), ABC (Australia), 6 September 2004</ref><ref name=campbell>Janet Campbell, "[http://www.brisbanemodern.com.au/issue3-article.html Paula Stafford (b 1920)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111228032536/http://www.brisbanemodern.com.au/issue3-article.html |date=28 December 2011 }}", Brisbane Modern magazine, Issue 3</ref> The bikini was banned in Australia, on the French Atlantic coastline, in Spain, in Italy,<ref name=Alac /> and in Portugal, and was prohibited or discouraged in a number of US states.<ref name=timehistory>{{cite magazine|title=The History of the Bikini|url=https://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1908353,00.html |magazine=Time|access-date=August 17, 2013|date=July 3, 2009}}</ref><ref>Lena Lanček and Gideon Bosker, ''Making Waves: Swimsuits and the Undressing of America'', page 90, Chronicle Books, 1989, {{ISBN|978-0-87701-398-3}}</ref> The [[United States Motion Picture Production Code of 1930|United States Motion Picture Production Code]], also known as the Hays Code, enforced from 1934, allowed two-piece gowns but prohibited the display of navels in Hollywood films.<ref>{{cite book|first=Rachel|last=Moseley|title=Fashioning Film Stars: Dress, Culture, Identity|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781844570683/page/136 136]|publisher=BFI|year=2005|isbn=978-1-84457-067-6|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781844570683/page/136}}</ref> The [[National Legion of Decency]], a Roman Catholic body overseeing American media content, also pressured Hollywood and foreign film producers to keep bikinis from being featured in Hollywood movies.<ref>{{cite book|first=Frank A. |last=Salamone|title=Popular Culture in the Fifties|page=76|publisher=University Press of America|year= 2001 |isbn=978-0-7618-2103-8}}</ref> As late as 1959 one of the United States' largest swimsuit designers, Anne Cole of the [[Anne Cole]] brand,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Singer |first=Melissa |date=2017-01-12 |title=An ode to Anne Cole, inventor of the tankini, the friendliest swimsuit to women |url=https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/an-ode-to-anne-cole-inventor-of-the-tankini-the-friendliest-swimsuit-to-women-20170112-gtq3md.html |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}</ref><ref name="HUGHES">{{Cite web |last=Hughes |first=Aria |date=2017-01-10 |title=Anne Cole, Swimsuit Designer Who Invented the Tankini, Dies at 90 |url=https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-features/anne-cole-swimsuit-designer-dies-at-90-tankini-10744569/ |access-date=2022-05-16 |website=WWD |language=en-US}}</ref> said, "It's nothing more than a G-string. It's at the razor's edge of decency."<ref name="WOJSI">{{cite magazine |last=Johnson |first=William Oscar |date=February 7, 1989 |title=In The Swim |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1068171/3/index.htm |magazine=Sports Illustrated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020050948/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1068171/3/index.htm |archive-date=October 20, 2013 |access-date=August 18, 2013}}</ref> The Hays Code was abandoned by the mid-1960s, and with it the prohibition of female navel exposure, as well as other restrictions.<ref>Jeanne Nagle, ''Violence in Movies, Music, and the Media'', page 23, The Rosen Publishing Group, 2008, {{ISBN|978-1-4042-1795-9}}</ref> The influence of the National Legion of Decency also waned by the 1960s.<ref>Keith M. Booker, ''Historical Dictionary of American Cinema'', page 65, Scarecrow Press, 2011, {{ISBN|978-0-8108-7459-6}}</ref>

=== Rise to popularity ===
{{multiple image
| align     = left
| direction = vertical
| header    = Evolution
| image1    = Mimi Kok (1951).jpg
| caption1  = [[Mimi Kok]], Netherlands, 1951
| width1    = 140
| image2    = Dalida Senigallia 4.jpg
| width2    = 140
| caption2  = [[Dalida]], Italy, 1968
| image3    = Sietedias1272-Alfano.jpg 
| width3    = 140
| caption3  = [[Graciela Alfano]], Argentina, 1972
}}

Increasingly common [[glamour photography|glamour shots]] of popular actresses and models on either side of the Atlantic played a large part in bringing the bikini into the mainstream.<ref name=MMOA>{{cite web|last=Charleston|first=Beth Duncuff|title=The Bikini|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/biki/hd_biki.htm|work=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History|publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|access-date=August 15, 2013|location=New York|date=October 2004}}</ref> During the 1950s, Hollywood stars such as [[Ava Gardner]], [[Rita Hayworth]], [[Lana Turner]],<ref name=turner /><ref name=firstB>{{cite news|title=Photos: On this day–July 5, 1946–the first bikini goes on sale|url=http://photos.newhavenregister.com/2013/07/05/photos-on-this-day-july-5-1946-the-first-bikini-goes-on-sale/#4|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130823002850/http://photos.newhavenregister.com/2013/07/05/photos-on-this-day-july-5-1946-the-first-bikini-goes-on-sale/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 23, 2013|access-date=August 23, 2013|newspaper=New Haven Register|date=July 5, 2013}}</ref> [[Elizabeth Taylor]],<ref name=firstB /> [[Tina Louise]],<ref name=firstB /> [[Marilyn Monroe]],<ref name=firstB /> [[Esther Williams]], and [[Betty Grable]]<ref name=menkes>Suzy Menkes, "[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7D81430F93BA25754C0A965958260 Runways: Remembrance of Thongs Past]", ''The New York Times'', July 18, 1993</ref> took advantage of the risqué publicity associated with the bikini by posing for photographs wearing them—[[Pin-up girl|pin-ups]] of Hayworth and Williams in costume were especially widely distributed in the United States.<ref name=heritage /> In 1950, [[Elvira Pagã]] walked at the [[Rio Carnival]], Brazil in a golden bikini, starting the bikini tradition of the carnival.<ref name="rio">Colin M. MacLachlan, ''A History of Modern Brazil: The Past Against the Future'', page 184, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1993, {{ISBN|978-1-4616-6547-2}}</ref>

In Europe, 17-year-old [[Brigitte Bardot]] wore scanty bikinis (by contemporary standards) in the French film ''Manina, la fille sans voiles'' ("Manina, the girl unveiled"). The promotion for the film, released in France in March 1953, drew more attention to Bardot's bikinis than to the film itself. By the time the film was released in the United States in 1958, it was re-titled ''[[Manina, the Girl in the Bikini]]''. Bardot was also photographed wearing a bikini on the beach during the 1957 [[Cannes Film Festival]]. Working with her husband and agent [[Roger Vadim]], she garnered significant attention with photographs of her wearing a bikini on every beach in the south of France.<ref>{{cite web|title=The History of the Bikini|url=http://www.elle.com/fashion/g2906/the-history-of-the-bikini-654900/#slide-6|publisher=ELLE|date=April 23, 2012 | access-date=August 21, 2013}}</ref>

Similar photographs were taken of [[Anita Ekberg]] and [[Sophia Loren]], among others. According to ''The Guardian'', Bardot's photographs in particular turned [[Saint-Tropez]] into the beachwear capital of the world,<ref name=Guard /> with Bardot identified as the original Cannes bathing beauty.<ref>Cari Beauchamp & [[Henri Béhar]], '' Hollywood on the Riviera: The Inside Story of the Cannes Film Festival'', page 165, W. Morrow and Co., 1992, {{ISBN|0-688-11007-X}}</ref> Bardot's photography helped to enhance the public profile of the festival, and Cannes in turn played a crucial role in her career.<ref name="a">Vanessa R. Schwartz, '' It's So French!: Hollywood, Paris, and the Making of Cosmopolitan Film Culture'', page 79, University of Chicago Press, 2007, {{ISBN|0-226-74243-1}}</ref>

{{multiple image
| align             = right
| direction         = horizontal
| image1            = Salgueiro-29.JPG (3028018098).jpg
| width1            = 152
| caption1          = A [[Samba (Brazilian dance)|Samba dancer]] in a bikini at the [[Rio Carnival]], 2009. The bikini tradition of Rio Carnival started in 1950.<ref name="rio"/><ref>Alexandra Wagner, [https://www.mybucketlistevents.com/history-tradition-costumes-rio-carnival/ The History and Tradition of Rio Carnival Costumes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629222501/https://www.mybucketlistevents.com/history-tradition-costumes-rio-carnival/ |date=June 29, 2020 }}, Bucketlistevent, February 7, 2017</ref>
| image2            = Nurnaningsih in bikini, c. 1955.jpg
| width2            = 130
| caption2          = Indonesian actress [[Nurnaningsih]], 1955
}}

[[Brian Hyland]]'s novelty-song hit "[[Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini]]" became a ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' No. 1 hit during the summer of 1960: the song tells a story about a young girl who is too shy to wear her new bikini on the beach, thinking it too risqué.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Suddath|first=Claire|title=Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2081310_2080985_2080983,00.html|magazine=Time|access-date=August 15, 2013|date=July 5, 2011}}</ref> ''[[Playboy]]'' first featured a bikini on its cover in 1962; the ''[[Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue]]'' debut two years later featured [[Babette March]] in a white bikini on the cover.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Gibson |first1=Megan |title=Top 10 Bikinis in Pop Culture |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2081310_2080985_2081023,00.html |magazine=Time |access-date=17 June 2018 |date=5 July 2011}}</ref> This has been credited with making the bikini a legitimate piece of clothing.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/07/28/sunday_am/doc44bec4c0d94a5233525588.txt | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706155241/http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/07/28/sunday_am/doc44bec4c0d94a5233525588.txt | archive-date=July 6, 2008 | title=The bikini celebrates 60 years | date=July 22, 2006 }}</ref>

[[Ursula Andress]], appearing as [[Honey Ryder]] in the 1962 British [[James Bond]] film, ''[[Dr. No (film)|Dr. No]]'', wore a [[White bikini of Ursula Andress|white bikini]], which became known as the "[[White bikini of Ursula Andress|Dr. No bikini]]". It became one of the most famous bikinis of all time and an iconic moment in cinematic and fashion history.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1314376/Former-Bond-girl-to-sell-Dr-No-bikini.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1314376/Former-Bond-girl-to-sell-Dr-No-bikini.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Former Bond girl to sell Dr No bikini|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=January 13, 2011|access-date=May 16, 2011|location=London|first=Will|last=Bennett}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="Bensimon2006">{{cite book|last=Bensimon|first=Kelly Killoren|title=The Bikini Book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=__DqAAAAMAAJ|access-date=May 16, 2011|date=June 5, 2006|publisher=Thames & Hudson|isbn=978-0-500-51316-3}}</ref><ref name="Lindner2009">{{cite book|last=Lindner|first=Christoph|title=The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vbIrAQAAIAAJ|access-date=May 16, 2011|date=August 4, 2009|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-8095-1}}</ref> Andress said that she owed her career to that white bikini, remarking, "This bikini made me into a success. As a result of starring in ''Dr. No'' as the first [[Bond girl]], I was given the freedom to take my pick of future roles and to become financially independent."<ref name="Telegraph" /><ref name="Weekes2007">{{cite book|last=Weekes|first=Karen|title=Women know everything!: 3,241 quips, quotes, & brilliant remarks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nTKgWEBhBeoC&pg=PA419|access-date=May 16, 2011|date=April 5, 2007|publisher=Quirk Books|isbn=978-1-59474-169-2|page=419}}</ref>

The bikini finally caught on, and in 1963, the movie ''[[Beach Party]]'', starring [[Annette Funicello]] and [[Frankie Avalon]], led a wave of films that made the bikini a pop-culture symbol, though Funicello was barred from wearing Réard's bikini unlike the other young women in the films. In 1965, a woman told ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' that it was "almost square" not to wear a bikini; the magazine wrote two years later that "65% of the young set had already gone over".<ref name="turner">{{cite web|first=Julia |last=Turner |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/life/fashion/2013/07/history_of_the_bikini_how_it_came_to_america.html |title=A Brief History of the Bikini |work=Slate |date=July 29, 2013|access-date= August 27, 2013}}</ref>

[[Raquel Welch]]'s [[Fur bikini of Raquel Welch|fur bikini]] in ''[[One Million Years B.C.]]'' (1966) gave the world the most iconic bikini shot of all time and the poster image became an iconic moment in cinema history.<ref>Cambridge Film Trust. (2016). [http://www.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk/film/one-million-years-bc/ One Million Years B.C.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113011558/http://www.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk/film/one-million-years-bc |date=January 13, 2017 }} Cambridge Film Festival. Retrieved December 5, 2016.</ref> Her deer skin bikini in ''[[One Million Years B.C.]]'', advertised as "mankind's first bikini",<ref name="Filmfacts">{{cite book |title=Filmfacts 1967 Vol. 10 No. 4 |date=June 15, 1967 |publisher=University of Southern California Division of Cinema, American Film Institute |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zbkvAQAAIAAJ |access-date=November 25, 2011}}</ref> (1966) was later described as a "definitive look of the 1960s".<ref name="Mansour2005">{{cite book|last=Mansour|first=David|title=From Abba to Zoom: a pop culture encyclopedia of the late 20th century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hK0rPUF85loC&pg=PA345|year=2005|publisher=[[Andrews McMeel Publishing]]|isbn=978-0-7407-5118-9|page=345|access-date=August 28, 2012}}</ref> Her role wearing the leather bikini made Welch a fashion icon<ref name="BBCW" /> and the photo of her in the bikini became a best-selling pinup poster.<ref name="Mansour2005" />

Stretch [[nylon]] bikini briefs and bras complemented the adolescent boutique fashions of the 1960s, allowing those to be minimal.<ref>Amy De La Haye, ''The Cutting Edge: 50 Years of British Fashion, 1947–1997'', page 183, Overlook Press, 1997, {{ISBN|0-87951-763-8}}</ref> [[DuPont]] introduced [[lycra]] (DuPont's name for [[spandex]]) in the same decade.<ref name="sydelle" /> Spandex expanded the range of novelty fabrics available to designers which meant suits could be made to fit like a second skin without heavy linings.<ref>Valerie Steele, ''Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion'', page 255, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005, {{ISBN|0-684-31397-9}}</ref> "The advent of Lycra allowed more women to wear a bikini," wrote [[Kelly Killoren Bensimon]], a former model and author of ''The Bikini Book'', "It didn't sag, it didn't bag, and it concealed and revealed. It wasn't so much like lingerie anymore."<ref name="sfgate">{{cite web|last=Rubin|first=Sylvia|title=Fashion shocker of '46: the naked belly button / But the bikini wasn't a hit until Sixties|url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Fashion-shocker-of-46-the-naked-belly-button-2493673.php|work=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=August 19, 2013 |date=July 2, 2006}}</ref> Increased reliance on stretch fabric led to simplified construction.<ref name="MMOA" /> This fabric allowed designers to create the [[string bikini]], and allowed Rudi Gernreich to create the topless monokini.<ref name="SFC">{{cite news |first=Sylvia |last=Rubin |url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Fashion-shocker-of-46-the-naked-belly-button-2493673.php | title=Fashion shocker of '46: the naked belly button |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=July 2, 2006|access-date=August 28, 2013}}</ref> Alternative swimwear fabrics such as [[velvet]], [[leather]], and [[crochet]]ed squares surfaced in the early '70s.<ref name="MMOA" />

=== Mass acceptance ===
<!-- Feel free to change images below, but do not alter the order of decades -->[[File:Micro Bikini.jpg|alt=Red-haired woman wearing green bikini|thumb|194x194px|A woman wearing a modern [[microkini]] in a casual outdoor setting; this neon green swimsuit features a triangle top and thong bottoms]]
Réard's company folded in 1988,<ref name="SFGate">{{cite news |last=Rubin |first=Sylvia |date=July 2, 2006 |title=Fashion shocker of '46: the naked belly button |work=San Francisco Chronicle |url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Fashion-shocker-of-46-the-naked-belly-button-2493673.php |access-date=August 28, 2013}}</ref> four years after his death.<ref name="independent">{{cite news |last=Cornwell |first=Rupert |author2=John Lichfield |date=June 17, 2006 |title=Boom and Bust: The nuclear age and the bikini age |work=[[The Independent]] |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/boom-and-bust-the-nuclear-age-and-the-bikini-age-404390.html |url-status=dead |access-date=September 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080502130024/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/boom-and-bust-the-nuclear-age-and-the-bikini-age-404390.html |archive-date=May 2, 2008}}</ref> Meanwhile, the bikini had become the most popular beachwear around the globe. According to French fashion historian Olivier Saillard, this was due to "the power of women, and not the power of fashion".<ref name="BBCW" /> By 1988 the bikini made up nearly 20% of swimsuit sales, more than any other model in the US,<ref name="WOJSI" /> though one-piece suits made a comeback during the 1980s and early 1990s.<ref name="independent" /> In 1997, Miss Maryland Jamie Fox became the first contestant in 50 years to compete in a two-piece swimsuit at the [[Miss America Pageant]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Photos: On this day – July 5, 1946 – the first bikini goes on sale |newspaper=New Haven Register |url=http://photos.newhavenregister.com/2013/07/05/photos-on-this-day-july-5-1946-the-first-bikini-goes-on-sale/#62 |url-status=dead |access-date=August 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130823002850/http://photos.newhavenregister.com/2013/07/05/photos-on-this-day-july-5-1946-the-first-bikini-goes-on-sale/ |archive-date=August 23, 2013}}</ref> Actresses in [[action film]]s like ''[[Blue Crush]]'' (2002) and ''[[Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle]]'' (2003) made the two-piece "the millennial equivalent of the [[Power dressing|power suit]]", according to Gina Bellafonte of ''[[The New York Times]].''<ref name="heritage" />[[File:Women in bikinis at an aerobics class at Hietaniemi beach.jpg|thumb|Women in bikinis at the [[Hietaniemi Beach]] in [[Helsinki]], [[Finland]], in 2014|left|212x212px]]According to Beth Dincuff Charleston, research associate at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "The bikini represents a social leap involving body consciousness, moral concerns, and sexual attitudes."<ref name="heritage" /> By the early 2000s, bikinis had become a $811&nbsp;million business annually, according to the [[NPD Group]], a consumer and retail information company,<ref name="SFC" /> and had boosted spin-off services like [[bikini wax]]ing and the sun tanning industries.<ref name="AgeL" /> The first bikini [[museum]] in the world is being built in [[Bad Rappenau]] in Germany.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kienzl |first=Philipp |date=2019-07-05 |title=Warum der Bikini das wohl skandalöseste Kleidungsstück der Geschichte ist |work=Ze.tt |url=https://ze.tt/warum-der-bikini-das-wohl-skandaloeseste-kleidungsstueck-der-geschichte-ist/ |access-date=2020-01-03}}</ref> The development of [[swimwear]] from 1880 to the present is presented on 2,000 square metres of exhibition space.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Goebel |first=Anne |date=2019-12-06 |title=Ewiger Sommer |work=Süddeutsche Zeitung |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/stil/neues-museum-ewiger-sommer-1.4707131 |access-date=2020-01-03}}</ref>

By 2017, the global swimwear market was valued at US$18,5 billion with a [[compound annual growth rate]] of 6.2%.<ref>Kiran Sable, [https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/swimwear-market#:~:text=Swimwear%20Market%20Overview%3A,6.2%25%20from%202018%20to%202024.Swimwear Market] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928220802/https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/swimwear-market#:~:text=Swimwear%20Market%20Overview%3A,6.2%25%20from%202018%20to%202024.Swimwear|date=September 28, 2020}}, Allied Market Research, June 2018</ref> Part of the increased consumption of bikinis and swimwears can be attributed to [[influencers]] who promote and endorse various brands around the year.<ref>Kellie Ell, [https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/24/swimwear-industry-on-fire-thanks-to-instagram.html Swimwear industry 'on fire' as Instagram's year-round summers fill feeds with string bikinis and exotic beach posts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627073611/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/24/swimwear-industry-on-fire-thanks-to-instagram.html|date=June 27, 2020}}, CNBC, July 12, 2018</ref> Soccer player and best selling author [[Mo Isom]] describes it as, "We're flooded with [[Instagram]] bikini pics."<ref>Mo Isom, ''Sex, Jesus, and the Conversations the Church Forgot'', page 59, Baker Books, 2018, {{ISBN|9781493412709}}</ref> It was estimated in 2016 that in 2019 the USA would be the largest swimwear market (US$10 billion), followed by Europe (US$5 billion), [[Asia–Pacific]] (US$4 billion) and Middle East and Africa (about 1 billion).<ref>[https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160324005076/en/Global-Swimwear-Market-Exceed-USD-20-Billion Global Swimwear Market to Exceed USD 20 Billion by 2020, According to Technavio], Business Wire, March 24, 2016</ref>

{{Gallery
|title=Evolution of bikinis
|width=160
|height=170
|align=center
|File: A girl in white bikini.jpg
|1970s
|File:Young woman in a yellow bikini with a drink.jpg
|1980s
|File:Tourism in Turkey, 1993.jpg
|1990s
|File:HDR Bikini on Waterfall.png
|2000s
|File:Woman posing on skateboard in bikini.jpg
|2010s}}
{{clear right}}

=== Outside the Western world ===
==== South Asia ====
{{multiple image
| align     = right
| total_width = 280
| image1    = Topmodel Africa Contestant Bikini.jpg
| caption1  = ''Topmodel Africa'' contestant in [[Harare]]
| image2    = Saree bikini.jpg
| caption2  = Indian model wearing bikini with [[saree]]
}}

The 1967 [[Bollywood]] film ''[[An Evening in Paris]]'' is mostly remembered because it featured actress [[Sharmila Tagore]] as the first Indian actress to wear a bikini on film.<ref>Stuff Reporter, "[http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/article3190174.ece Being Sharmila, all through life] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903212011/http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/article3190174.ece |date=September 3, 2015 }}", ''The Hindu'', April 3, 2006</ref><ref>Lalit Mohan Joshi & Gulzar, Derek Malcolm, ''Bollywood'', page 20, Lucky Dissanayake, 2002, {{ISBN|0-9537032-2-3}}</ref> She also posed in a bikini for the glossy ''[[Filmfare]]'' magazine.<ref>[[B. K. Karanjia]], ''Blundering in Wonderland'', page 18, Vikas Publishing House, 1990, {{ISBN|0-7069-4961-7}}</ref><ref>[http://idiva.com/news-entertainment/sharmila-tagore-actresses-today-can-drink-smoke-and-live-in/20034 Sharmila Tagore] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204052923/http://idiva.com/news-entertainment/sharmila-tagore-actresses-today-can-drink-smoke-and-live-in/20034 |date=February 4, 2014 }}, First Indian actress to wear bikini</ref> The costume shocked a conservative Indian audience,<ref>Various writers, ''Rashtriya Sahara'', page 28, Sahara India Mass Communication, 2002</ref> but it also set in motion a trend carried forward by [[Zeenat Aman]] in ''[[Heera Panna]]'' (1973) and ''[[Qurbani (1980 film)|Qurbani]]'' (1980),<ref name=avi /> [[Dimple Kapadia]] in ''[[Bobby (1973 film)|Bobby]]'' (1973),<ref name=avi /> and [[Parveen Babi]] in ''[[Yeh Nazdeekiyan]]'' (1982).<ref name=avi>{{cite news|first=Avijit |last=Ghosh |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/special-report/Bollywoods-unfinished-revolution/articleshow/1696458.cms |title=Bollywood's unfinished revolution|work=The Times of India |date=July 2, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow-times/That-itsy-bitsy-thing/articleshow/1655251.cms |title=That itsy bitsy thing|work= The Times of India|date=June 16, 2006}}</ref> Indonesian actress [[Nurnaningsih]]'s bikini clad photos were widely distributed in early 1950s, though she was banned in [[Kalimantan]].<ref>Ramadhian Fadillah, [https://www.merdeka.com/artis/nurnaningsih-artis-yang-dicap-sebagai-bom-seks-pertama-indonesia.html Nurnaningsih, artis yang dicap sebagai bom seks pertama Indonesia] (language: Bahasa), Merdeka, 29 Desember 2015</ref><ref>Rindi Ayunda, [https://www.sisidunia.com/2015/12/30/nurnaningsih-artis-panas-indonesia-pertama-di-tahun-50-an/64982 Nurnaningsih, Artis Panas Indonesia Pertama Di Tahun 50-an] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629131930/https://www.sisidunia.com/2015/12/30/nurnaningsih-artis-panas-indonesia-pertama-di-tahun-50-an/64982 |date=June 29, 2020 }} (language: Bahasa), Sisidunia, 30/12/2015</ref><ref>[http://www.sooperboy.com/sooper-hot/nurnaningsih-legenda-artis-panas-pertama-di-indonesia-150512c.html Nurnaningsih, Legenda Artis Panas Pertama di Indonesia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630025329/http://www.sooperboy.com/sooper-hot/nurnaningsih-legenda-artis-panas-pertama-di-indonesia-150512c.html |date=June 30, 2020 }} (language: Bahasa), Sooperboy, 12 May 2015</ref>

Indian women generally wear bikinis when they vacation abroad or in [[Goa]] without the family. But, despite the conservative ideas prevalent in India, bikinis also become more popular in summer when women, from [[Bollywood]] stars to the middle class, take up swimming, often in a public space.<ref name=HTBikini>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20150328175814/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-2617354071.html Are Indian girls bikini ready?]", ''Hindustan Times'' (New Delhi, India), March 25, 2012</ref><ref>Rachel Lopez, "[https://www.hindustantimes.com/brunch/who-s-afraid-of-wearing-a-bikini/story-cwIsVblXI31KKqPOHezcUJ.html From Bollywood to middle class India, no one is afraid of wearing bikini]", ''Hindustan Times'', May 15, 2016</ref> A lot of [[tankini]]s, shorts and [[maillot|single-piece swimsuits]] are sold in the summer,<ref name=HTBikini/> along with real bikinis and [[bandeaukini]]s.<ref name=ShoDhar/> The maximum sales for bikinis happen in the winter, the honeymoon season.<ref name=HTBikini/> For more coverage, designers [[Shivan Bhatiya]] and [[Narresh Kukreja]] invented the bikini-[[saree]] popularised by TV anchor [[Mandira Bedi]].<ref name=ShoDhar>Shobita Dhar, [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/freedom-in-a-two-piece-indian-women-now-rock-their-bikinis/articleshow/73121755.cms Freedom in a two-piece: Indian women now rock their bikinis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200119024048/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/freedom-in-a-two-piece-indian-women-now-rock-their-bikinis/articleshow/73121755.cms |date=January 19, 2020 }}, ''Times of India'', Jan 7, 2020</ref>

==== East Asia ====

By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the Chinese bikini industry became a serious international threat for the Brazilian bikini industry.<ref>Justin Rowlatt, "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/9348299.stm Brazil's raw materials and the Chinese bikini problem] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819063301/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/9348299.stm |date=August 19, 2014 }}", BBC, January 8, 2011</ref> [[Huludao]], [[Liaoning]], China set the world record for the largest bikini parade in 2012, with 1,085 participants and a photo shoot involving 3,090 women.<ref>[http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/3000/largest-bikini-parade Largest Bikini Parade] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029203659/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/3000/largest-bikini-parade |date=October 29, 2013 }}, Official Website: Guinness Book of World Records</ref><ref>[http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2011/9/new-largest-bikini-photo-shoot-world-record-set-in-china/ Largest Bikini Photo Shoot] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029203656/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2011/9/new-largest-bikini-photo-shoot-world-record-set-in-china/ |date=October 29, 2013 }}, Official Website: Guinness Book of World Records</ref> "[[Beijing bikini]]" refers to the Chinese urban practice of men rolling up their shirts to expose their midriff to cool off in public in the summer.<ref>Anna Fifield, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/a-mainstay-of-the-chinese-summer-thebeijing-bikiniis-under-threat/2019/07/04/b8519ea6-9e31-11e9-a1fc-7337aeb9179e_story.html A mainstay of the Chinese summer, the 'Beijing bikini,' is under threat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629164647/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/a-mainstay-of-the-chinese-summer-thebeijing-bikiniis-under-threat/2019/07/04/b8519ea6-9e31-11e9-a1fc-7337aeb9179e_story.html |date=June 29, 2020 }}, ''Washington Post'', July 4, 2019</ref> In Japan, wearing a bikini is common on the beach and at baths or pools. But, according to a 2013 study, 94% women are not body confident enough to wear a bikini in public without resorting to [[sarong]]s, zip-up [[sweatshirt]]s, T-shirts, or shorts.<ref>Casey Baseel, [https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/94-of-japanese-women-dont-feel-confident-in-a-bikini-survey-reveals 94% of Japanese women don't feel confident in a swimsuit, survey reveals] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627065155/https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/94-of-japanese-women-dont-feel-confident-in-a-bikini-survey-reveals |date=June 27, 2020 }}, Japan Today, July 21, 2013</ref> Japanese women also often wear a "[[facekini]]" to protect their face from [[sunburn]]s.<ref>Anna Fifield, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/08/30/what-women-around-the-world-actually-wear-to-the-beach/ Burkini, meet facekini: What women around the world wear to the beach] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701010622/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/08/30/what-women-around-the-world-actually-wear-to-the-beach/ |date=July 1, 2020 }}, ''Washington Post'', August 30, 2016</ref>

==== Middle East ====

In most parts of the [[Middle East]], bikinis are either banned or are highly controversial. On March 18, 1973, when [[Lebanon|Lebanese]] magazine ''Ash-Shabaka'' printed a bikini-clad woman on the cover, they had to make a second version with only the face of the model.<ref>Noha Mellor, ''The Making of Arab News'', page 39, Rowman & Littlefield, 2005, {{ISBN|978-0-7425-3819-1}}</ref> In 2011, when [[Huda Naccache]] ([[Miss Earth]] 2011) posed for the cover of ''Lilac'' (based in [[Israel]]), she became the first bikini-clad Arab model on the cover of an Arabic magazine.<ref>Amy Kaslow, "[http://fortune.com/2014/09/22/israeli-arab-women-jobs-economy/ Arab Israeli women have been hampered by a society that has accorded Arabs and women, much less Arab women, second-class status] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028185512/http://fortune.com/2014/09/22/israeli-arab-women-jobs-economy/ |date=October 28, 2014 }}", ''Fortune'', September 22, 2014</ref><ref>Shatha Yaish, "[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arab-israeli-model-huda-naccache-makes-history-with-bikini-shoot/story-e6frg6n6-1226164166847?nk=877dc7afd90db22caf5327f021337eb3 Itsy bitsy teen weeny Arab bikini revolution] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160618064718/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arab-israeli-model-huda-naccache-makes-history-with-bikini-shoot/story-e6frg6n6-1226164166847?nk=877dc7afd90db22caf5327f021337eb3 |date=June 18, 2016 }}", ''The Australian'', October 12, 2011</ref><ref>Pierre Klochendler, "[http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/05/arab-magazine-challenges-attitudes-about-arab-women/ Arab Magazine Challenges Attitudes About Arab Women] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028175102/http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/05/arab-magazine-challenges-attitudes-about-arab-women/ |date=October 28, 2014 }}", ''IPSNews'', May 17, 2013</ref> [[Lebanese-Australian]] fashion designer [[Aheda Zanetti]] created the "[[burkini]]" as a modest option to the bikini, which has become very popular among Muslims.<ref>Hafsa Lodi, [https://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/fashion/the-rise-of-the-burkini-how-the-modest-swimwear-has-gone-global-1.921794 The rise of the burkini: how the modest swimwear has gone global] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730063026/https://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/fashion/the-rise-of-the-burkini-how-the-modest-swimwear-has-gone-global-1.921794 |date=July 30, 2020 }}, ''The National'', Oct 10, 2019</ref>{{Failed verification|date=June 2024|reason=Source does not mention the bikini and does not assess the burkini's degree of popularity among Muslims.}} Rehab Shaaban, an Egyptian designer, tried an even more [[abaya]]-like design, but her design was banned due to safety reasons.<ref>Youssra El-Sharkawy, [https://www.ozy.com/the-new-and-the-next/egypts-extra-long-burkinis-the-latest-flashpoint-in-religious-swimwear/96664/ Will this new swimwear for conservative Muslims sink or swim?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628203712/https://www.ozy.com/the-new-and-the-next/egypts-extra-long-burkinis-the-latest-flashpoint-in-religious-swimwear/96664/ |date=June 28, 2020 }}, OZY, October 11, 2019</ref>