- Here’s what you probably didn’t know about the skimpiest piece of clothing ever designed.
Happy International Bikini Day! Well, it’s a belated celebration since the day was yesterday, July 5.
Nonetheless, International Bikini Day celebrates the most famous of women’s swimsuits. Considering that there’s not much to a bikini (by design) it sure has made a big impact on popular culture.
Although the modern bikini is a relatively new invention — having existed barely 80 years — it has a colorful history. Let’s dive into the world of skimpy swimwear and explore these 8 fun and strange facts about the bikini.
1. The Bikini Got Its Name From U.S. Nuclear Tests
When you see a bikini, you probably don’t think about destructive devices capable of wiping out thousands upon thousands of lives instantly. But maybe you should, because that’s where the name comes from.
The bikini gets its name from the Bikini Atoll, the site of the first U.S. peacetime nuclear weapons tests. The first of these tests happened on July 1, 1946—four days before Louis Réard introduced the first modern bikini.
Réard was inspired to use the name “bikini” because he wished his swimwear would have an “explosive commercial and cultural reaction” comparable to a nuclear bomb. Kind of poor taste there, Monsieur Réard.
2. The Inventor of the Bikini was a Car Engineer
Speaking of Louis Réard, you might think the inventor of the bikini was a seasoned fashion designer. Yet, Réard was everything but — he was an automotive engineer.
He only took over his mother’s lingerie business in 1940, a mere six years before introducing the bikini. Réard definitely didn’t live and breathe fashion, yet he still managed to reach success.
He originally got the idea to develop the bikini when he saw women on Saint Tropez beach roll up their swimsuits for a better tan. Inspired by the sight (and possibly feeling other emotions we won’t delve into deeper) he resolved to develop the “world’s smallest bathing suit.”
3. The Bikini is Thousands of Years Old
Although Monsieur Réard contributed a lot to the bikini, it’s not really right to call him its “inventor.” After all, the basic concept of a bikini — strips of clothing covering a woman’s chest and hips — is thousands of years old.
The first possible depiction of a “bikini” has been found in the bronze age settlement of Çatalhöyük in Turkey. A mural dating back to 5600 BCE depicts a goddess riding two leopards, wearing what looks a whole lot like a bikini.
The Ancient Romans liked their bikinis as well. Archeologists have discovered mosaic beach scenes of women wearing what are unmistakably bikinis.
4. WWII Helped Popularize the Bikini
The history of the bikini is tied to warfare in more ways than just nuclear weapons. We can thank World War II — one of the greatest tragedies of human history — for playing a big part in popularizing the swimsuit.
During WWII, governments in Europe and the U.S. put strict rations on fabric. That also affected swimsuit makers, and the rationing didn’t end immediately with the war.
Starved of fabric, swimsuit manufacturers could either stop making their products — or they could make the swimsuits skimpier. Lo and behold, Réard’s bikini was a godsend since it really doesn’t have much fabric.
5. The First Bikini Model was a Stripper
When Monsieur Réard introduced his bikini on July 5, 1946, he obviously wasn’t going to wear it himself (although that sure would’ve made for quite a show). He needed models — but none of the usual models at the time wanted to wear the bikini.
They considered it way too inappropriate.
What was Réard to do? Well, he hired Micheline Bernardini, a 19-year-old stripper at Casino de Paris, to model the swimsuit.
She didn’t have a problem showing up on stage in skimpy clothing.
6. The Bikini Is the Official Uniform for Women’s Olympic Beach Volleyball
A sporty bikini is the official uniform for women’s beach volleyball at the Olympics and has been so since 1996. And it’s not just because of lecherous competition organizers.
The players themselves vouched for the bikini. Olympian Holly McPeak, for instance, went on record complaining that the previous one-piece uniform just collected sand and made the players uncomfortable.
Since 2012, the ladies have been free to choose to also wear a bodysuit or a top and shorts. Nonetheless, the bikini remains the official uniform.
7. The World’s Most Expensive Bikini Costs $30 Million
The most expensive bikini in the world was created by jeweler Susan Rosen in 2012. This outrageously expensive piece of clothing consists of more than 150 carats’ worth of diamonds embedded in platinum.
The bikini was worn by model and actress Molly Sims for the 2012 edition of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
It’s ironic how much the thing costs, considering that… Well, it doesn’t exactly cover a whole heck of a lot.
No, we’re not posting the pictures. You can put that in your own Google search history.
8. Seeing Bikini-Clad Women Makes Men Impatient… And Depressed
You’d probably expect men to just get excited from seeing a lovely lady in a teeny weeny string bikini. Sure, they do, but it also produces other effects.
First of all, it makes men impatient — for everything. One study found that images of women in skimpy swimsuits made men grave instant gratification in everything they did.
Another one found that men could become insecure and even depressed from looking at pictures of bikini-clad women. The researchers speculated that men might consider the attractive bikini models to be so far out of their league that it crushes their sense of self-worth.
For such a tiny piece of clothing, the bikini sure holds huge power.
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