Couple in Swimwear, 1920s

Couple in Swimwear, 1920s

1920s

This is a black and white, candid photo of a couple in swimwear. They are standing in front of a 1920s-era car with trees around. The woman is fixing the man's hair, combing it back. The man is holding a lit cigarette. The man is wearing a black bathing suit, consisting of a long tank top and sorts. He has a mustache. The woman's bathing suit is a black one-piece, the top like a tank top and the bottom like shorts that end far above the knee. There is a light-colored belt loosely around her waist. She has short, wet hair. Swimming attire, specifically for women, had changed drastically between the late 1800s to early 1900s. With society insisting that women cover up and be respectable, we see the beginning of women’s swimwear consisting of multiple pieces of clothing. Early swimwear for women had a large dress-like top made of thick flannel that puffed out around the waist and arms. Along with the dress there were matching pants made of the same material. Since swimming was seen as a sport that women did not participate in, there was no need to use lighter materials since the women would surely not be swimming but merely just frolicking and enjoying the water. The main idea behind these early swim suits was to hide the female body and show no curves or contour. But as time went on and society changed we see a drastic change. As people became less conservative and more open to embracing the female body we see shorter swimsuits and eventually we get what we see in the picture here. A one-piece bathing suit that shows a lot of flesh, almost all the leg up right up about 6 inches under the waist. The material is also a lot thinner and capable of getting wet without soaking up all the water and becoming to heavy to effectively move around in the water.

Clothing, vacation

Photographs

Mahwah Museum

Photo

6.5 cm x 11 cm