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The Bikini Pinup One gets a very different view of the development of the bikini if one compares pinup media vs. the mainstream. Without question by the late 1950s the bikini has become de rigeur for all starlets (e.g., MA5810), and increasingly a requirement for movie stars as well. The Bikini Girl, Brigitte Bardot continues to introduce increasingly lower-waistline bikinis (BB5635, BB5810, BB5950), but few of her American counterparts are able to play catch-up. The standard pinup costume features waistlines dancing three inches (and sometimes more) below the belly button, and tops that display abundant cleavage, uplift (DO5810), and reduced lining. Harem silhouettes rediscover the late 1800s (GL5910-20). Only the rarest birds discover the string halter and the vector to the future (SA5810). Indeed, in the hands of illustrators like Peter Driben and magazines like Wink and Flirt, the bikini is sometimes little more than two handkerchiefs tied on the body. Nor is the fashion world immune to these developments; in Europe especially the waistline is plummeting (EL5701, CR5710) and the soutien-gorge shrinking. Underwear styles also reflect the reduction (JL5701). Foundations dominate much of the 1950s, and large breasts and foundation tops play a major role, both in halter, bra, and bandeau (MA5830) silhouettes. Belly buttons and bandeaux are more a theme of the 1950s (KG6030) and will wane with the new decade. The space age is never far from the bathing suit, especially the pointed nose cone bra cups that often dominate both the sweater-girl look and the soutien-gorge. Sometimes the cone cup is melded into the overall foundation of the bra; sometimes they are free-standing constructions, made with a ring of steel around the cup connecting to a center ring, the back strap, and an optional shoulder or neck strap. But still, foundation is headed for extinction. The Mainstream Position Despite Brigitte Bardot and the American pinup magazine, the mainstream swimsuit in the late 1950s often remains very conservative. Sandra Dee, in anticipation of the 1960s beach movie, barely displays her belly button in Gidget (SD5901), while Mitzi Gaynor (SP5801) and a United Artists movie starlet doesn't even reveal their umbilicus (UA5910). Many suits completely cover the navel, and require fasteners to secure (JM5610). Perry Mason, Earl Stanley's Gardner's fictional defense attorney, finds photos of a lady in a "Bikini" (not caps) scandalous; in keeping with the times (RC5710). Swimsuit manufacture Cole finally introduces its first mass-produced bikini at the end of the decade, a concoction that combines a slightly stiffened constructed bra that balances tension between bandeau and halter ties, and which contains an inner lining (C195910). It is not as rigid as the pointy torpedoes of earlier 1950s, but it does display the navel, a big step forward for mainstream. Lining is the norm, and a slightly lengthened legline can compensates for the little bit of belly-down (LR86AB). Maillot Developments In America, attention in the 1950s focuses on the bosom and the possibilities of the strapless maillot (TJ58B0). Bustline is well-defined, indeed often generous. Boning, wire, and elastic help to hold up the tops, and should nature not provide adequate size, padding does. Lining remains, elasticized fabrics shape to body, and foundations, especially in the 1950s, play a big role, in only because the maillot's larger structure and corset shape invite shaping the body with boning, wiring, girdling, shirring, cording, elasticized side panels, and separated bra cups (VS5610). The cantilever is the tool of the architect, the rocket scientist, and the bikini scientist. As the 1950s progress the erogenous zones shift from the leg to an obsession with bosom and cleavage; foundations enable the straps to be reduced to halter strings (BO5610), and even discarded as the lure of the maillot strapless emerges to combat bikini. The new maillot also dramatizes the back, and forces strapping to be re-examined (JC5620). Between the 1920s and 1950s, backing has evolved from the sleeveless tank (Kellerman), to narrow bra-like straps, to backless (Harlow-style), to halter tie, and now to strapless. The mid-1950s maillot, cast against the steady revelations of bikini, also encapsulates truly regressive elements: Claire McCardell's hooded beachwear, high necklines, baggy bottoms (EL5702), and long sleeves made of tight-fitting elasticized wool jersey (fig. 29-6). To their credit, these directions become devoid of linings, boned bustlines, and corseting. But these options, which sacrifice layering for cover-up, fail to capture popular appeal. Less remains more and the emerging bikini dominates sales. It is an era of midriff. The post-1950s maillot re-establishes straps, tank tops and backless silhouettes--indeed, during the 1960s the bare back will scoops down to below the dimples, around toward the belly, and into the sides of the breasts, mimicking bikini exposures (fig. 29-13 ). The 1960s maillot also gets thinner, losing its lining and foundation (fig. 29-7), and becomes increasingly stretchy, so that the strapless becomes poised to rolldown. But that is another page in our story. |
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