Vintage Swimwear Reviews

With summer on the way out, this  may seem like an odd time to talk swimsuits, but actually this is the perfect time to get a really great bargain on a bathing suit or two.  The bathing suit isn't just a staple of summer, even if you live in a decidedly colder climate there's always the sauna or the hot tub, even a public pool or the hope of a tropical vacation, so that a bathing suit is something that nearly every woman owns.

You know I'm partial to vintage styles even when it comes to swimwear and not just because I'm 40.  I wouldn't be caught dead in string bikini at 20 either!  No, I love vintage fashion because I think that women's fashion in many ways peaked in the 1960s.  Lots of skin looks cheap and shallow to me.  It says look at my body instead of admire my beauty.  I'd rather show off my shape and my style, than my body if that makes sense, and keep my modesty and my dignity in the process.  So, in today's blog post I'm going to review vintage style swimwear but I thought the best place to start would be with a little history of the swimsuit.

During the 1800s the western world saw an emergence of a middle class with a little extra income to spend and the construction of railroads made for easier access to vacation destinations.  Homes were somewhat larger and more comfortable.  It became fashionable to have a maid and perhaps a governess for the children and of course the fashionable middle class family would take their holidays at the seaside.  In the early 1800s, also referred to as the Regency Era, fair skin was prized and so ladies donned white or pale pink frocks  of lightweight fabric which were shorter and featured trousers underneath, but these were not suitable for swimming, only for walking along the beach. 

By the 1860s the attire had become shorter so that ladies could go in the water and the style was often a sailor style dress with a broad square collar at the back and white piping which created a very dashing look.  However, as adorable as this was, the fabric had switched from airy muslin to black flannel.  This was done so that one could not tell if the fabric were wet or not and thus preserved some modesty while simultaneously adding discomfort.  Notice that these outfits are not complete without black stockings and shoes.

I will say though that while wool flannel sounds uncomfortable, British and German beaches are significantly cooler in the summer than the beaches I've been to in the US and so perhaps wool wasn't such a bad choice after all.  To add to the discretion required for ladies to swim the bathing machine was invented.  Essentially this was a changing room on wheels which took ladies out to the water, allowed them to change into their swim dresses and then to swim with some privacy.

The 1920s brought a lot of changes to women's fashion.  No more puff sleeves and tight corsets; women of the 1920s were letting it all hang out.  Remember that the bra was only just invented in 1914 and at that time the material was rather light and flimsy so this was more a time of women's freedom, so to speak, than ever before. It was the age of sleek, form fitting flapper girl dresses with short skirts and even shorter hairstyles, and this really when swimwear begins to look more like the distant relative of our modern fare.  

Notice in these photos that two of the women are still wearing black stockings.  These were likely taken around 1915 as the style continued to transition.  The fabric however had not yet met the style, as swimwear was now often made of jersey cotton and in the photo below you can see how that would leave little to the imagination when emerging from the water after a swim.

The 1930s and 40s brought wartime to the world and with it came utilitarian designs and innovative fabrics.  In this era we begin to see the emergence of performance fabrics and rather classy women's swimsuits styles that flatter every shape.  High waists, a little leg coverage and just enough cleavage with that classic bullet bra shape to the tops.

And finally, the 1960s brought us the prevalence of the two-piece swimsuit with visible skin between those two pieces, also known as the bikini.  Although first created by Louis Réard in 1946 (see photo above).  Réard called his little invention the bikini after Bikini Atoll, the island where the atomic bomb was tested.  Yes, as I mentioned in my Bullet Bra post, it seems that everything was being weaponized in the wartime of the 1930s & 40s.  However, the bikini didn't gain widespread popularity until the late 1950s and 1960s thanks in part to the sex appeal showcased by Brigitte Bardot in The Girl in the Bikini in 1952 and later when Annette Funicello showcased how the two-piece could be more wholesome in 1964's Bikini Beach.  And the 1960s is where we'll end our history lesson on swimwear.  Now it's time to talk about modern reproductions of vintage swimwear. 

Personally I haven't had a swimsuit that I absolutely loved since the one I bought from Victoria's Secret in 2012.  It made me feel like a Bond Girl and nothing has yet come along that looks as good.

For this post, I won't be discussing the inexpensive Amazon and other mass market brands and styles.  The main reason is that I have not had great success with those.  You'll notice in the photo on the left above, that what was billed at a high-waist stopped at my hips creating skin spillover and squeezing my legs so tight at the bottom I felt like I as walking around on turkey drumsticks.  And while I the second suit was better, it had the same issue with the waist falling below my navel instead of above it as high-waists should, which created hip spillover and in order to get bottoms that fit, the top was way too roomy.  They're inexpensive and they're cute, but they fall short of being true vintage style.  So, today we're going to talk about three brands that have attempted to stay true to the vintage styles:  Collectif, Esther Williams, and Bettie Page. (before we dive in to the swimsuit pics, please excuse the bruises on my leg.  I recently moved some furniture to vacuum under it and didn't move it back quite far enough, so I've run into three times in the night and by morning I forget to move it until I run into it again.

1. Playful Promises X Collectif Clothing.  Collectif is quirky, whimsical, and the prints are ever so novel, but they do try to stay true to vintage styles.  Over all, I've never been disappointed in  anything I've ordered from Collectif over the years.  These suits typically range from $60 to $100.  I love the vintage flare.  Because it's the end of the season, I got each of my swim suits for about $15.  The first I chose was little green one piece because it reminded me of this vintage 1930s illustration.

I have to say that this Green High Shine Skirted Swimsuit is not worth its original $60 price tag.  $15 seems more appropriate to me.  The bottom part was quite tight and showed a line through the skirt which was pretty unflattering.  The material is thin but comfortable, there is no bra padding or support of any kind, and the skirt portion is not attached so when I pull the halter up high enough the skirt rolls up and when I pull the skirt down, the halter is too low.  Very cute style, really love it, but if I'd paid full retail I would have been disappointed.  (You'll have to forgive the fish-eye warp on this photos.  I was in a huge hurry and using a new camera.  I don't know what went wrong, but I haven't had time for a retake.)

The second suit, the Toucan Frilled Balcony Swimsuit, had so much flare and looked just like it stepped out of a 1960s fashion magazine.  With padded cups, underwire, and adjustable straps, plus thick material this suit rocket to the top of my list.

The only thing I did not care for was that this suit came up much, much higher on my hips that it appears to on the model in the photo.  While it's possible I did something wrong, how many ways are there to put on a swimsuit?  I'm not exactly sure why it fits me so differently that the photo appears, but other than that aspect, this suit was a total winner.

Last but not least, I chose this two Lobster Ruched Triangle Top and Lobster Skirted Brief.  I ordered the bottoms in a bigger size since the other Collectif was a bit snug on my bum, but I'm afraid we went too far in the other direction with this bikini.

The skirt is loose to the point of being baggy and I feel that a smaller size would have looked better.  Other than a small piece of boning at the side of the top, it had no support or padding and like the green suit was rather thin material for such a steep price tag.  Perhaps with these suits, though, so much has gone into the print and the design that you are paying for the novelty and the style more than anything.  They are incredibly cute, but I'm glad I got them on clearance.

2. Esther Williams.  This swimsuit brand has named and styled itself after movie star, swimming champion, and original bathing beauty, Esther Williams.  Williams movies created a new genre called the "Aqua Musical" in which  her aquatic talents could be showcased.  Continuing her style this brand of swimwear features many of the classic styles she wore with a few prints in the mix.  These suits tend to retail for around $80 and can be found at lots of marketplaces like Unique-Vintage, ModCloth, and even Wal-mart.

I found my suit on Poshmark at a little shop that specializes in vintage styles and so I paid around $50 for mine instead of the $80 which is typical of most other marketplaces.  I chose this red and white polka dot one piece because it looks like this vintage photo of a Florida beach-goer in the 1950s.

This suit has tummy control panel and a flexible support band in the front and the fabric is thick and strong, but pay close attention to the sizing because I ordered two sizes up from my usual and it was still so tight I was popping seams while putting this suit.  There's also some serious boob flattening going on here, which isn't my favorite look.  Other than that, I do feel like it is worth the $80 price tag.

3. Bettie Page.  Much like Esther Williams, Bettie Page brand swimwear can be found at many different marketplaces like Playful Promises and Amazon.com  While Bettie was probably better known for her tiny bikini pics, I did manage to find this example of her in a tasteful skirted one piece and this speaks much more to my style.  I decided to size up one more (three sizes up total) on this suit just for comparison with the others.  These suits tend to cost about $98 for a one piece or $88 for a bikini.   I found mine at the same shop on Poshmark for only $50.

As you would expect with a pear-shape like mine, sizing up meant the bottom fit great and the top was too big.  The top might not have been such an issue, but while the halter strap is removable, it is not adjustable.  This is a pretty big oversight for such an expensive suit.  If it were a cheap suit, I'd expect nothing less, but a suit that typically retails for this much should have been adjustable.  The fabric was not as thick as the Esther Williams or as thin as the green Collectif.  It was very much a middle of the road kind of suit, which also makes me think one is paying more for the style than the quality.  Even though I paid $50, I'd say $30 is more accurate for this suit.

This little experiment in vintage swimwear was lots of fun, but in the end I don't think I've found anything to replace my dear old favorite suit that I've had for about a decade now.  It has held up incredibly and still looks great, so I won't be getting rid of it anytime soon, but it is nice to have some other options.

Sources:https://dustyoldthing.com/evolution-of-the-swimsuit/ 

http://www.victoriana.com/Etiquette/bathingmachine.htm

http://www.victoriana.com/library/Beach/FashionableBathingSuits.htm

http://recollections.biz/blog/19th-century-bathing-suits-hot-seaside-fun/

https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/life/bikini-520430