First, let me start with a little story. Right now, my wife and I are in Mexico. Because we are both expert packers, we only take a mid-sized backpack. What that means is that I am not one of those women who bring multiple swimsuits. I have one. Two days ago, I was bent over fixing the towel on my lounger, and my wife alerted me to an issue. She pointed at my ass and said, “You have a huge hole in your suit.” I’d noticed that my suit bottoms were getting a little worn, but I thought they’d last until I returned home. They didn’t. Of course, I grabbed my quick-dry shorts and put them over my suit bottom. She’d been talking to another couple who had overheard the entire exchange. What else could I do? I joked about it. I proceeded to state that I was starting a new trend…forget those thong suit bottoms, mine sports a large hole, right in the center! It’ll be all the rage next year. Mark my words! With over a week left in Mexico, my quick-dry shorts are now my backup suit bottoms. It works. But this whole debacle got me thinking about how women’s swimsuits have evolved over the years. So I had to do the research…

In the 18th century, while swimming in the sea became popular, it was discouraged for women to immerse themselves completely. What evolved were loose, open gowns, similar to the chemise. These early swimsuits were called bathing gowns and were more comfortable to wear in the water, especially compared to the more restrictive day clothes. Small lead weights were sewn into the gown to keep it from lifting up in the water.
In the 19th century, those loose-fitting gowns became more fitted and consisted of a bathing dress (high-necked), drawers, and stockings, often made of wool or cotton. This was a terrible substitute because they were so heavy, making them entirely unsuitable for swimming. Because of that, women often used bathing machines (small houses on wheels that were drawn in and out of deeper water by horses).
Towards the end of the Victorian era, the Princess suit became popular. This was a one-piece suit in which the blouse was attached to the trousers. On top, women wore a mid-calf-length skirt, which diverted attention from the wearer’s figure. And the suit was often in dark colors, so people could not tell whether it was wet. These suits also restricted women’s movement and were terrible for swimming in. However, this suit was the beginning of the evolution of the popular one-piece.
During the twentieth century, as swimming became a competitive sport with the first Olympics in 1896, women’s swimwear underwent significant transformations, including tighter, less restrictive garments. In the 1910s, Jantzen was the leading producer of bathing suits, referred to as ‘woollen suits’ for rowing clubs. It was not until 1921 that Jantzen referred to the garment as a swimsuit. Speedo, the Australian clothing company, began experimenting with swimwear in 1914, and the all-in-one garment was born. This suit typically featured short-sleeved or vest-style tops with long legs.
By the end of the 1920s, tanned skin became fashionable, leading to the patented backless swimsuit in 1932, with a built-in brassiere for the sole purpose of avoiding tan lines from swimsuit straps whilst sunbathing.
In 1931, Lastex yarn was invented. No more knitted swimsuits made from wool, which would lose shape when wet. Lastex would often be combined with artificial fibers such as rayon, resulting in a stretchy and shiny fabric. At the end of the 1940s, Christian Dior launched suits with nipped-in waists and full skirts, accentuating the female form.
The first bikini came about as early as 1946. Hollywood boosted the bikini when in 1952, Bridget Bardot starred in the French film Manina, The Girl in the Bikini. And that bikini was quite skimpy!
But for competitive swimwear, Speedo introduced the first nylon suit in 1956. Then, in the 1970s, Speedo introduced elastane into its swimwear, and the combination of elastane and nylon significantly reduced water drag and improved durability.
The modern thong swimsuit was officially introduced in 1974 by fashion designer Rudi Gernreich. Then in 2026, on a beach in Mexico, Annette Mori introduced the hole in the ass swimsuit design….Just kidding!

If I can ever get back into writing, I’ll definitely have to include my embarrassing swimsuit story. Perhaps I can even embellish it a bit. In the meantime, you’ll have to check out other stories where the characters are lounging on the beach or swimming in the ocean. Just a reminder that I have a new book, a collection of shorts, that just came out. Many of the stories feature characters from my other books, in case you just couldn’t part with some of your favorite characters. Click the cover link below to check out Cherry on the Top. Also, I hope you will check out A Moment in Time…it needs a bit more love! It’s a fun ride, I promise.