by Eric McKeever

Created on: July 22, 2010

The bikini has had a fascinating history.  The tantalizing two-piece has evolved into a fashion icon appearing regularly at beaches around the world, in sporting event rings featuring ultimate fighters and within the pages of the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. 

The two-piece suit which would later be called the bikini, made its first appearance around the 4th century.  Female gymnasts in Rome often wore garments consisting of tops made from bandeau and bottoms that were briefs.  Of course, propriety overtook the world and the idea of showing some much skin became scandalous.

In the 1940s, the two-piece would return to prominence with names like Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner donning a halter top and bottom combo that exposed very little of the very controversial naval which was to be kept under wraps.  The creation of the world’s first bikini is credited to two Frenchmen Louis Réard, an automotive engineer who was moonlighting in his mother’s lingerie shop and Jacques Heim, a French designer who specialized in furs. 

Réard had noticed that young French girls were adapting their two-pieces to reveal more mid-drift and with inspiration in mind he put together two triangles of fabric on top covering the chest and two triangles of fabric to cover the front and rear of the wearer on the bottom.  Connecting these tiny triangles was string that tied the whole look together literally and figuratively.  In 1946 the little creation that showed quite a bit of itself was simply too taboo for a respectable girl to wear (not even a model,) so Réard used stripper Micheline Bernadini to unveil his bikini.  As she was used to being naked, she saw no problem in wearing the exposing ensemble.  A few days before Réard showed his two-piece creation, Jacques Heim introduced the atome, his version of the bikini that was small, sexy and very revealing. 

As the French began to embrace the skimpy new swimsuit, American audiences remained unimpressed.  Actresses of the day continued to flaunt the traditional two-piece and gave no thought to the shrinking tops and rising bottoms of Réard and Heim.  It wasn’t until Brigitte Bardot appeared in a 1953 photo on the beaches of Cannes that the bikini was kicked into high gear.  By 1960 American girls were donning the bikini and it was appearing in films and songs.  Brian Hyland scored a hit with “Itsy

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