Before the Bikini: Vintage Bathing Suits of the Past | The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel

The fashion of the time has changed, but the charm of a beach day has not worn off over the decades.

November 18, 2016


A row women show off some unusual and original swimwear on the beach in 1929.

(Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)


November 2016 has been unseasonably warm. It may make you long for August's beach vacations. Beach vacations have been a staple of summer's charm since the turn of the 20th century. 

Weather in your inbox
By signing up you agree to the Terms & Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe at any time.


Holiday-makers enjoy the beach in France, 1913.

(Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)


Swimwear was much different in the past. Bathing suits often consisted of full gowns and bloomers.


Bathing belles paddle at Southend-on-Sea, Essex, circa 1919.

(Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)


(MORE: When Thanksgiving Looked More Like Halloween)

By the early 1900s, beach resorts were becoming a popular destination. But swimming and diving weren't easy in these bulky Victorian-style swimsuits, Victoriana Magazine reported


Bathing belles paddle at Southend-on-Sea, Essex, circa 1919.

(Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)


Eventually, designers started cutting back on all the fabric. By the 1920s, fitted swimwear that modestly conformed to the body became popular on beaches around the world. 


A young woman emerges dressed for the beach at Ostend, a Belgian city, circa 1911.

(Hulton Archive/Getty Images)



Two bathing beauties relax on the beach in 1929.

(General Photographic Agency / Getty Images)



Victorian bathing belles relax on the beach at Paris-Plage in 1915.

(Hulton Archive/Getty Images)



Bathers hold hands and wade at Ostend in Belgium, circa 1911.

(F J Mortimer/Getty Images)


"Earlier in the century the sexes were often segregated on the beach, and women were chaperoned, even though today, their swimsuits look ridiculously modest," Susan Rugh, an American history professor at Brigham Young University told weather.com in an interview.


A group is seen on a beach circa 1924.

(Fox Photos/Getty Images)



Girls apply their make-up on Manhattan Beach, New York, where they are holding a water carnival in 1924.

(General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)


(MORE: Nostalgic Images of Famous Landmarks Under Construction)


A French colored postcard of two bathing belles posing by a bathing hut on the beach, circa 1902.

(Hulton Archive / Getty Images)


As the years passed, bathing suits became smaller and smaller. Rationing during World War II contributed to the use of less fabric for women's bathing suits. In 1946, the bikini was introduced. The fashion of the time has changed, but the charm of a beach day has not worn off over the decades.


A bathing beauty wears the beach garb of the era in 1918.

(Hulton Archive / Getty Images)