|
The Unitard Defined By definition a unitard is a full-body costume that covers the torso, legs, and feet. It may have a high or low neckline, and have any sleeve length. that is it may be longsleeve, shortsleeved, sleeveless, strapped, and although there is no defintional prohibition on it being strapless, its loss of utility makes this an unwitnessed silhouette. The strapped variety is also called a tank unitard, or a unitard tank. Usually the unitard covers the feet, but it may leave the foot bare or it may have a strap underneath the sole of the foot and leave the toes and heels bare. The sleeve length, neckline, and foot variations provide for many variations. Topologically the unitard is a union of the maillot (or leotard) and stockings. And especially with performers it may be hard to tell the difference (RS1650). Assuming the feet are covered a unitard has three edges, and if the hands are also encased, it has but one edge (the neckline). The Unitard is Invented The unitard springs from an era of stage performance and is closely related to the leotard, a garment which bears the name of its inventor. Unitard costumes emerge as stage costumes as well as in photography around 1900 to provide an illusion of nudity. They are thin, flesh colored, and cover the entire body with the exception of the face and hands, and often combine with a necklace and bracelets to obscure their cheating nature. The hug the body tightly, and display every curve and recess, but the performer is not nude. This use of them remains up to the present; belly dancers performing in public sometimes wear unitards underneath their dance costumes to dampen the effect of bare skin. The Unitard Swimsuit The creation of the unitard swimsuit in 1906 is told in detail in the Annette Kellerman story (AK0650, C1909A) and need not be repeated here. The short version is that Kellerman sews together a men's leotard and black hose to create her swimsuit breakthrough Kellerman's "full body suit" on one hand appears additive, but in 1906 it is also subtractive, given that the more revealing beachwear of the day consisted of a bathing dress over underwear and tights or stockings. So in this regard the unitard involves exfoliation--eliminating the bathing dress but maintaining a body covered by tight fitting fabric. This suggests on of the latent themes in the early unitard is layering; more precisely, the unitard involves an unlayering action. For Kellerman and the athletically minded, the unitard was a practical consideration that made swimming less constrained, more practical, and safer. If moralists are worried that the bathing unitard was more revealing and suggestive they are correct--especially when wet. And if they are worried that it is a step in a minimization direction, they are correct also. Because uncovering the feet and then baring the legs is an emerging battleground. Keystone Girls and Others Kellerman may introduce the unitard to the movies (AK0915), but the costume is quickly adopted by others. These include fashion model turned movie star, Mable Norman, the first Keystone pinup girl, in the movie Water Nymph (MN1250). Ruth Rowland, still a starlet in 1913 does a similar unitard (RR1350) and will go onto a lasting career in the movie business. Musidora, the first vamp wears a unitard that includes what appears to be a built-in head piece (MV1510). And unitards are a consistent costume for a bevy of swimming beauties who adorn a set of cards from Pan Handle Scrap chewing tobacco (PS1350). Unitards will continue to worn by Hollywood sweethearts into the late 1910s (DB1650). That the unitard is the mid-point between the bathing dress sleeveless and the maillot is nowhere better illustrated than the evolution of the Keystone Bathing Girls themselves (KY1650). The Modern Unitard If indeed the unitard vanishes as the swimsuit reduces a twist of history revives it almost 100 years later--the fitness movement. The modern unitard emerges in the early 1990s as exercisewear acquires popularity as a specialized costume. Spandex is the driving material, so in this incarnation the unitard is tighter and stretcher than ever, worn with nothing underneath, sort of like a maillot with legs and sometimes sleeves. As with its original incarnations the variations include sleeve length, neckline, and the footed and strap variations (KP88G3). The modern unitard is also brightly colored, a striking difference between the flesh-colored unitard of the stage performer or the black unitard of the Annette Kellerman suit. Frequently other garments are layered over top of, as if the athlete within wears only a culotte or tanga, except over top of their second skin (KP88G1, KP88G2). Sometimes this is for additional support, sometimes it is simply a colorful fashion display. History repeats itself. |
|
