Editing Bikini (section)

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