Evolution Of Swimwear For Ladies

For many people holidays are synonymous to travelling. Some like doing sightseeing, some prefer active sports, some opt for sunny beaches. It goes without saying that it is not only pleasant to stay at the seaside, but also good for health. The fashion industry allows women to remain stylish even at the beach where not so many clothes can be worn. Mums-to-be can feel trendy too as designers of maternity clothes offer special maternity swimwear which can provide comfort and support. 

If modern ladies decide to have a look at swimming costumes of their grannies, they might smile at them. Swimming costumes have undergone many changes since the time when women were allowed to uncover their bodies. The first swimwear for ladies did not differ much from dresses. Yet it should be mentioned that some scientists claim there is proof that in the fourth century well-off women in Greece wore some bathing costumes that looked like modern bikinis. Later, when water sports lost their popularity, swimming costumes for ladies got forgotten for centuries. It goes without saying that expectant mothers could not enjoy bathing procedures as there was no maternity swimwear.

Public swimming came back in the 18th century. Women were allowed to swim at one side of the beach while men were supposed to be on the other, at some distance from ladies. Yet tastes were rather conservative, and bathing costumes of women resembled gowns and were quite uncomfortable when women entered the water. So ladies had to introduce some amendments to their swimming costumes and started to sew in lead weights. It is natural that it was rather uncomfortable to swim in this swimwear and women could only dip in the sea a little bit.  It should be mentioned that nobody thought about designing special swimsuits for ladies, including maternity swimwear for mums-to-be. Moreover, swimming costumes were made of wool as it didn’t get transparent when wet but at the same time it was rather heavy. Additional weight of wet clothes couldn’t suit expectant mothers.

Swimming was getting more and more popular and women wanted to participate in it more actively. Designers of swimwear had to consider such variants of bathing costumes which didn’t expose bodies so much but were comfortable for swimming. The first variant of bathing costume for ladies consisted of trousers and a blouse. Later, swimming costumes were getting shorter and shorter, and once women started to wear swimming costumes which consisted of two separate pieces. Now, one-piece designs are especially popular as sport and maternity swimwear and can come in a wide variety of fashionable monokinis. In the middle of the 20th century swimsuits came as made of cotton which replaced flannel wool. Such elements as bra cups were introduced to provide support for the breasts. Also, swimsuits had some elastic parts in the belly area which served to make body lines look smoother.

It goes without saying that modern swimsuits come in a variety of colours and designs. Such materials as nylon and lycra make swimwear stretchy and allow to practice water sports. At the same time ladies, including mums-to-be, are able to boast of their fashionable swimsuits and maternity swimwear at beaches or in swimming pools.

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