Gone Swimming…

It’s been hot here in NYC, and people in the library have taken turns going on vacation.  (Including me, which is why we skipped a post.)   Some people have been staycationing here in the city, a few others have traveled overseas, but a lot of us are heading to the beach.  To celebrate the lazy days of summer, we thought it would be fun to look through swim suits in our magazines.

 

 

Here’s a young woman’s suit from the 1940s:  It’s got the South American influence that was popular in the late ’30s-early ’40s.  This is a pic from May, 1944, Glamour magazine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This hot pink number is from Glamour magazine, June 1946.  For the 1940s, this two-piece suit was pretty daring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

European ideas about the body were always a bit less conservative.  This glamour-girl layout is from L’Officiel de la Couture, June 1953.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the 1960s, two-piece suits had gotten barer and more common.   People think of the 1960s as “everything goes” and in swimsuits that’s right on.  These two suits from French Elle’s June 8, 1966 edition are very different from each other, but both look completely contemporary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These colorful suits are from the Vogue UK, May 1970 issue.  Definitely signs of the geometric influence of the time’s graphic design.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The suntan oil ad above from (June 1986) is daringly bare, to hint at the product’s supposed Caribbean origins. Remember before we knew about skin cancer and all laid out using baby oil and iodine?  The model’s deep tan looks strange now.

But the 1980s were a heyday of wild prints and the one-piece suit, as seen in the editorial pages of the same issue of Glamour below.

 

 

 

This 1990s image from Vibe magazine sums up what we hope you are up to this weekend.  Enjoy the end of summer, hang out with friends, and come back to school soon!