The History of the Bikini

Contrary to popular belief, the bikini was actually an ancient invention, as illustrated by this 4th century Roman mosaic from Villa Romana Del Casale in Sicily, Italy. Going back even further, two-piece garments were worn by women (for athletic purposes) as early as 1400 B.C. and are depicted on Greek urns and paintings from that period.



A dressing room on wheels was considered essential for preparing for a swim at Europe's beaches in the 1890s. Ladies would sew weights into the hems of their garments to prevent them from riding up and showing their legs.



Layers of petticoats eventually gave way to a single-piece costume that no longer hid the contours of the female body. The precursor to the modern bikini emerged in 1907, when Australian swimmer and performer Annette Kellerman (not pictured here) was arrested on a Boston beach for wearing a formfitting one-piece.


During the 1940s, fashion houses pushed the boundaries of bathing suits, exposing considerably more flesh than ever before. War rationing provided the stimulus for the two-piece, when the U.S. government ordered manufacturers to reduce the amount of fabric they used, resulting in the bare midriff. But it would be a Frenchman sitting on a beach in the South of France who worked out that there was money to be made from navel-gazing ...



On July 5, 1946, French engineer Louis Réard designed a garment "smaller than the world's smallest bathing suit." Four days earlier, the U.S. military had conducted nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll. Réard hoped that his invention would be as explosive as that test and so called his new creation the bikini. But at first none of the Parisian models would dare to wear his design.



Actress Raquel Welch poses in that legendary cavewoman bikini for a publicity shot for her 1967 movie One Million Years B.C. By this point, many famous actresses had donned the bikini — including Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and, of course, Bardot.


The U.S. professional-volleyball player (and model) Gabrielle Reece promotes her sport in 1997. Her team took first place at the first ever Beach Volleyball World Championships, but she's probably now best known for her work on television.