Swimsuit

File:Swimsuithistorysign.jpeg SC-285, located in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, about the danger of swimsuits made of wool. Marker put in place in 2022 by the Delaware Public Archives.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=198811|title=Surf Safety Line Historical Marker|website=www.hmdb.org}} Photographed in 2023.]]

Prior to the 1930s, swimsuits were typically made of wool; however, such suits did not hug the body and became heavy with water.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Rayon began to be used in the 1920s in the manufacture of tight-fitting swimsuits,{{cite web|last=Sydelle|first=John|title=The Swimsuit Industry |url=http://smallbusiness.chron.com/swimsuit-industry-18779.html|work=The Houston Chronicle|access-date=August 29, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019123822/http://smallbusiness.chron.com/swimsuit-industry-18779.html|archive-date=October 19, 2013}} but its durability, especially when wet, proved problematic,{{cite book|title=Textiles|edition=9|author1=Kadolph, Sara J. |author2=Langford, Anna L. |name-list-style=amp |publisher=Prentice Hall|isbn=0-13-025443-6|year=2001}} with jersey and silk also sometimes being used.{{cite web|title=Vintage Swimwear Timeline|url=http://www.glamoursurf.com/swimwear_timeline.html|publisher=Glamoursurf.com|access-date=August 29, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019142213/http://www.glamoursurf.com/swimwear_timeline.html|archive-date=October 19, 2013}}

In the 1930s, new materials were being developed and used in swimwear, particularly latex and nylon. Swimsuits incorporating nylon dry more quickly then swimsuits made of common organic fibers, which can create a more comfortable experience for the wearer.{{cite book |title=Mountaineering |date=2017 |publisher=Mountaineers Books |isbn=978-1-68051-003-4 |page=18 |edition=9th}} Swimsuits gradually began hugging the body,{{cite web |url=http://www.carnaval.com/bikini/#In%20Brazil |title=History of the Bikini |publisher=Carnival |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626130548/http://www.carnaval.com/bikini/#In%20Brazil |archive-date=2017-06-26 }} especially women's swimsuits.

In the 1960s, spandex (Lycra) began to be used in swimsuits, usually combined with nylon, to make them fit snugly to the body. However, spandex is not particularly strong or durable, especially in chlorinated water in swimming pools and hot tubs.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Polyester is becoming more common as a durable, lightweight fabric for swimsuits, although it is not as stretchy as spandex.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Some companies have started to focus on recycled materials for their swimwear. They are working with companies that transform fishnets, nylon waste, and recovered plastic from shorelines, waterways and coastal communities into textile components.{{cite news

| url =https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/whats-in-your-landfill-lots-of-textiles/2020/01/27/7d43830c-364c-11ea-bb7b-265f4554af6d_story.html

| title =Do you know what's happening to your clothing donations?

| newspaper =The Washington Post

| access-date =January 30, 2020

}}

File:Beach Jump.jpg

In Western culture, men's swimsuit styles include boardshorts, jammers, swim trunks, briefs (also known as "Speedos"), thongs, and g-strings, in order of decreasing lower body coverage, and women's swimsuits include one-piece, bikinis, or thongs. While they go through many trends in color, pattern, length, and cut, there is not much modification to the original variety of suit.

A recent innovation is the burqini, favored by some Muslim women, which covers the whole body and head (but not face) in a manner similar to a diver's wetsuit. These are an updated version of full-body swimwear, which has been available for centuries, but conforms with Islam's traditional emphasis on modest dress. In Egypt, the term "Sharia swimsuit" is used to describe full-body swimwear.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/910379.stm |title=Warm welcome for 'Sharia swimsuit' |publisher=BBC News |access-date=2009-01-10 |last=Hawley |first=Caroline |date=2000-09-05 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217020533/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/910379.stm |archive-date=2009-02-17 }}

Swimsuit color affects swimmers' safety. A blue, white, or gray swimsuit may be nearly invisible when the swimmer is underwater, which can make it more difficult for a lifeguard to spot a drowning swimmer.{{Cite news |last=Ruggeri |first=Amanda |date=15 June 2023 |title=How the colour of your swimsuit can save your life |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230615-how-the-colour-of-your-swimsuit-can-save-your-life}} The most visible swimsuits underwater have large, solid blocks of bright neon colors, such as neon pink or neon orange. Solid neon colors are more visible than red or multi-colored swimsuits.

File:History of Women's Bathing Suits, Liangyou, 1927-03-30.jpg

Swimsuits can be skin-tight or loose-fitting. They are often lined with another layer of fabric if the outer fabric becomes transparent when wet.

Swimsuits range from designs that almost completely cover the body to designs that expose almost all of the body. The choice of swimsuit primarily depends on the activity of the wearer, from tight briefs for men for competitive diving and water polo to boardshorts for surfing; although ironically female competitive divers usually wear full one-piece suits while female competitive surfers often wear bikinis. Secondary considerations are personal and community standards of modesty depending on the location and social setting, how much sun protection is desired, and prevailing fashions. Almost all swimsuits cover intimate body parts including genitals and pubic hair, while most except thongs or g-strings (also called Brazilians) cover much or all of the buttocks.Suzy Menkes, "[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7D81430F93BA25754C0A965958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 Runways: Remembrance of Thongs Past] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202185622/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7D81430F93BA25754C0A965958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 |date=2009-02-02 }}", The New York Times, July 18, 1993

Most swimsuits in western culture leave at least the head, shoulders, arms, and lower part of the leg (below the knee) exposed. Women's swimsuits generally cover at least the areola and bottom half of the breasts.

Both men and women may sometimes wear swimsuits covering more of the body when swimming in cold water (see also wetsuit and dry suit). In colder temperatures, swimsuits are needed to conserve body heat and protect the body core from hypothermia.

{{Anchor|Competitive}}

{{Main|Competitive swimwear}}

File:Tyler Clary (7707350946) (cropped).jpg of U.S. walks wearing men's swim briefs, while Michelle Bremer of New Zealand looks on in a racerback one-piece swimsuit, 2012]]

{{:Competitive swimwear}}

Germs, bacteria, and mold can grow very quickly on wet bathing suits. Medical professionals warn that wearing damp swimwear for long periods of time can cause a number of infections and rashes in children and adults,{{cite web|url=http://www.essortment.com/child-safety-public-swimming-pool-49723.html|title=Child Safety: Public Swimming Pool|date=16 May 1986|work=Essortment|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120730021624/http://www.essortment.com/child-safety-public-swimming-pool-49723.html|archive-date=30 July 2012}}{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/hygiene/disease/hot_tub_rash.html|title=Hot Tub Rash – Hygiene-related Diseases – Hygiene – Healthy Water – CDC|work=cdc.gov|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830112532/https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/hygiene/disease/hot_tub_rash.html|archive-date=2017-08-30}} and warn against sharing bathing suits with others.{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bathing-suit-health_n_5568155|title=The Gross Truth About Trying On A New Swimsuit|date=July 10, 2014|website=HuffPost}} They suggest that changing out of a wet bathing suit right away can help prevent vaginal infections, itching and/or jock itch.Nyirjesy and Bayer [http://www.drexelmed.edu/Home/HealthEncyclopediaArticles/DiseasesandConditions/Vaginalyeastinfection.html Vaginal yeast infection] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413060128/http://www.drexelmed.edu/Home/HealthEncyclopediaArticles/DiseasesandConditions/Vaginalyeastinfection.html |date=2012-04-13 }}, Drexel University College of Medicine[https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003159.htm Vaginal itching] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160704213442/https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003159.htm |date=2016-07-04 }}. Medline article[http://www.crutchfielddermatology.com/treatments/jockitch/ Jock Itch] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091215122152/http://www.crutchfielddermatology.com/treatments/jockitch/ |date=2009-12-15 }} Crutchfield Dermatology

In public swimming pools in France for reasons of hygiene, it is only permitted to wear closer fitting styles of swimwear. Men, for instance, must wear "Speedo"-style bathing suits and not baggy shorts or trunks.Marsh, Janine. [http://www.thegoodlifefrance.com/speedos-versus-trunks-in-swimming-pools-in-france/ "Speedos v Trunks in swimming pools in France"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223151946/http://www.thegoodlifefrance.com/speedos-versus-trunks-in-swimming-pools-in-france/ |date=2015-12-23 }} The Good Life France

{{main|History of swimwear}}

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Image:Bathing suit 1858.png

In classical antiquity swimming and bathing were done naked. There are Roman murals which show women playing sports and exercising wearing two-piece suits covering the areas around their breasts and hips in a fashion remarkably similar to the present-day bikini. However, there is no evidence that they were used for swimming. All classical pictures of swimming show nude swimmers.

In various cultural traditions one swims, if not in the nude, in a version in suitable material of a garment or undergarment commonly worn on land, e.g. a loincloth such as the Japanese man's {{Transliteration|ja|fundoshi}}.

In the United Kingdom, until the mid-19th century there was no law against nude swimming, and each town was free to make its own laws. For example, the Bath Corporation official bathing dress code of 1737 prescribed, for men:

It is Ordered Established and Decreed by this Corporation that no Male person above the age of ten years shall at any time hereafter go into any Bath or Baths within this City by day or by night without a Pair of Drawers and a Waistcoat on their bodies.Quoted in Byrde, Penelope. "That Frightful Unbecoming Dress: Clothes for Spa Bathing at Bath", Costume, No 21, 1987, p.50

In rivers, lakes, streams and the sea, men swam in the nude, where the practice was common. Those who did not swim in the nude stripped to their underwear. The English practice of men swimming in the nude was banned in the United Kingdom in 1860. Drawers, or caleçons as they were called, came into use in the 1860s. Even then there were many who protested against them and wanted to remain in the nude. Francis Kilvert described men's bathing suits coming into use in the 1870s as "a pair of very short red and white striped drawers".Quoted in Cec Cinder, PhD: The Nudist Idea, Ultraviolet Press, Riverside, California: 1998, p. 333. {{ISBN|978-0-9652085-0-5}}

File:Punch - Masculine beauty retouched1.png in Punch, 1877, showing men's and children's bathing suits]]

Female bathing costumes were derived from those worn at Bath and other spas. It would appear that until the 1670s, nude female bathing in the spas was the norm, and that after that time women bathed clothed. Celia Fiennes gave a detailed description of the standard ladies' bathing costume in 1687:

The Ladyes go into the bath with Garments made of a fine yellow canvas, which is stiff and made large with great sleeves like a parson's gown; the water fills it up so that it is borne off that your shape is not seen, it does not cling close as other linning, which Lookes sadly in the poorer sort that go in their own linning. The Gentlemen have drawers and wastcoates of the same sort of canvas, this is the best linning, for the bath water will Change any other yellow.Quoted in Byrde, Penelope. "That Frightful Unbecoming Dress: Clothes for Spa Bathing at Bath", Costume, No 21, 1987, pp.48–9

The Bath Corporation official bathing dress code of 1737 prescribed, for women:

No Female person shall at any time hereafter go into a Bath or Baths within this City by day or by night without a decent Shift on their bodies.

The Expedition of Humphry Clinker was published in 1771 and its description of ladies' bathing costume is different from that of Celia Fiennes a hundred years earlier:

The ladies wear jackets and petticoats of brown linen, with chip hats, in which they fix their handkerchiefs to wipe the sweat from their faces; but, truly, whether it is owing to the steam that surrounds them, or the heat of the water, or the nature of the dress, or to all these causes together, they look so flushed, and so frightful, that I always turn my eyes another way.{{cite book |last=Smollett |first=Tobias George |date=1906 |title=The Expedition of Humphry Clinker |location=New York |publisher=The Century Company |pages=38–39 }}

Penelope Byrde points out that Smollett's description may not be accurate, for he describes a two-piece costume, not the one piece shift or smock that most people describe and is depicted in contemporary prints. His description does, however, tally with Elizabeth Grant's description of the guide's costume at Ramsgate in 1811. The only difference is in the fabric the costumes are made of. Flannel, however, was a common fabric for sea bathing costumes as many believed the warmer fabric was necessary in cold water.{{cite web|url=http://www.jasa.net.au/seaside/Bathing.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514035307/http://www.jasa.net.au/seaside/Bathing.htm|title=Bathing – Jane Austen at the seaside|archive-date=14 May 2013|work=jasa.net.au}}

In the 18th century women wore "bathing gowns" in the water; these were long dresses of fabrics that would not become transparent when wet, with weights sewn into the hems so that they would not rise up in the water. The men's swim suit, a rather form-fitting wool garment with long sleeves and legs similar to long underwear, was developed and would change little for a century.

In the 19th century, the woman's double suit was common, comprising a gown from shoulder to knees plus a set of trousers with leggings going down to the ankles.

In the Victorian era, popular beach resorts were commonly equipped with bathing machines designed to avoid the exposure of people in swimsuits, especially to people of the opposite sex.

In the United States, beauty pageants of women in bathing costumes became popular from the 1880s. However, such events were not regarded as respectable. Beauty contests became more respectable with the first modern Miss America contest held in 1921, though less respectable beauty contests continued to be held. Miss America ended its swimsuit competition in 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/secrets-miss-america-bikini-battle-063058085.html|title=In 'Secrets of Miss America,' the bikini battle rages on|date=July 18, 2023|website=Yahoo Entertainment}}

File:Bathing suit MET 1979.346.18ab.jpeg|1870s bathing dress

File:Bathing suit MET CI58.67.3ab F.jpg|Bathing suit, {{circa|1885}}

File:Bathing suit MET 1975.227.6 F.jpg|Bathing suit, 1890–1895

{{more citations needed section|date=August 2013}}

Image:BathingMachineDontBeAfraid.jpg]]

The 1907 Sydney bathing costume protests were carried out in Australia after an ordinance was proposed that would have required males to wear a skirt-like tunic. In 1935, a similar ordinance was proposed, requiring males to wear the Spooner bathing costume instead of the 'disgraceful' swim trunks.

In 1907, the swimmer Annette Kellerman from Australia visited the United States as an "underwater ballerina", a version of synchronized swimming involving diving into glass tanks. She was arrested for indecent exposure because her swimsuit showed arms, legs and the neck. Kellerman changed the suit to have long arms and legs and a collar, still keeping the close fit that revealed the shapes underneath. She later starred in several movies, including one about her life. She marketed a line of bathing suits and her style of one-piece suits came to be known as "the Annette Kellerman". The Annette Kellerman was considered the most offensive style of swimsuit in the 1920s and became the focus of censorship efforts.{{cite web |url=http://www1.assumption.edu/ahc/vanities/default.html |title=Vanities |publisher=.assumption.edu |access-date=2013-06-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530160551/http://www1.assumption.edu/ahc/vanities/default.html |archive-date=2013-05-30 }}{{cite web |author=Meagan Hess |url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma04/hess/fashion/inthiscorner3.html |title=Skirting the Skirts at the Bathing Beach |publisher=Xroads.virginia.edu |access-date=2013-06-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619153105/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA04/hess/Fashion/inthiscorner3.html |archive-date=2013-06-19 }}

Despite opposition from some groups, the form-fitting style proved popular. It was not long before swimwear started to shrink further. At first arms were exposed and then legs up to mid-thigh. Necklines receded from around the neck down to around the top of the bosom. The development of new fabrics allowed for new varieties of more comfortable and practical swimwear.http://modadellacqua.com/blogs/news/32188611-history-of-male-swimwear-the-origins-of-the-bathing-suit-1880-1930-modesty-and-transgression{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=SheriffIsInTown |fix-attempted=yes }}

Image:Annette Kellerman1.jpg|Annette Kellerman in her one-piece athletic swimming suit

File:Cotton jersey bathing suit 1910s DSCF2210.jpg|Cotton jersey bathing suit ca.1910s

File:Bathing Beach 1920t.tif|Tank top and pants: group, 1920, Washington

File:Balokány fürdő. Fortepan 11944.jpg|Swimsuits, 1924, Hungary

File:Kettős portré, Rudas fürdő tetőterasza. Fortepan 8460.jpg|Swimsuits, 1936, Hungary

File:Portré, Palatinus strandfürdő. Fortepan 4125.jpg|Swimsuit, 1939, Hungary

File:Jantzen knitted Helanca nylon swimsuit 1955-1965.jpg|Jantzen Helanca knitted nylon swimsuit {{circa|1955–1965}}

File:JAG Bathing Suit hi-cut zipper swimsuit 1985-1995.jpg|JAG high cut zippered swimsuit {{circa|1985–1995}}

Due to the figure-hugging nature of these garments, glamour photography since the 1940s and 1950s has often featured people wearing swimsuits. This type of glamour photography eventually evolved into swimsuit photography exemplified by the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Beauty contests also required contestants to wear form-fitting swimsuits.

Louis Réard, a French automobile engineer and clothing designer, introduced the modern two-piece bikini on July 5, 1946.{{cite book|author=David Louis Gold|title=Studies in Etymology and Etiology: With Emphasis on Germanic, Jewish, Romance and Slavic Languages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l015C5vm1XkC&pg=PA99|year=2009|publisher=Universidad de Alicante|isbn=978-84-7908-517-9|pages=99–|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528015803/http://books.google.com/books?id=l015C5vm1XkC&pg=PA99|archive-date=28 May 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://corporate.britannica.com/press/inventions.html |title=Encyclopædia Britannica's Great Inventions |access-date=17 September 2008 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070105005042/http://corporate.britannica.com/press/inventions.html |archive-date=5 January 2007 }} He introduced his design four days after the first test of a nuclear weapon at the Bikini Atoll. The newspapers were full of news about it and Reard hoped for the same with his design, hence the name.{{cite news|last1=Wiesner|first1=Maria|title=70 Jahre Bikini: Vier Dreiecke und etwas Schnur|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/stil/mode-design/der-bikini-feiert-70-jubilaeum-nach-erfindung-in-st-tropez-14323637.html|website=FAZ.NET|access-date=17 May 2018|language=de|date=5 July 2016}}{{cite web|title=Operation Crossroads: Fact Sheet|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq76-1.htm|publisher=Department of the Navy—Naval History and Heritage Command|access-date=13 August 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024121304/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq76-1.htm|archive-date=24 October 2012}}

Through the 1950s, it was thought proper for the lower part of the bikini to come up high enough to cover the navel. From the 1960s on, the bikini shrank in all directions until it sometimes covered little more than the nipples and genitalia, although less revealing models giving more support to the breasts remained popular.

In 1964, the monokini, also known as a "topless bikini" or "unikini"), was designed by Rudi Gernreich, consisting of only a brief, close-fitting bottom and two thin straps; it was the first women's topless swimsuit. Gernreich's revolutionary and controversial design included a bottom that "extended from the midriff to the upper thigh" and was "held up by shoestring laces that make a halter around the neck." Some credit Gernreich's design with initiating, or describe it as a symbol of, the sexual revolution.

Anne Cole, later the inventor of the tankini (see below), designed several swimsuits for the Cole of California and Anne Cole Swimwear brand, including the “Scandal Suit,” a one-piece swimsuit with mesh inserts that became the first swimsuit to break $1 million in sales in 1964.

Also in 1964, Babette March became the first Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model.{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2113612/ |title=The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue: An intellectual history |last=Curtis |first=Bryan |access-date=2007-11-13 |date=2005-02-16 |publisher=Washington Post Newsweek Interactive Co. LLC |work=Slate |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127013208/http://slate.com/id/2113612/ |archive-date=27 November 2007 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/web/20060705-bikini-swimming-suit-louis-reard-micheline-bernardini-paris-brigitte-bardot.shtml |access-date=2007-11-13 |publisher=American Heritage Inc. |title=60 Years of Bikinis |author=Hoover, Elizabeth D. |date=2006-07-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113142052/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/web/20060705-bikini-swimming-suit-louis-reard-micheline-bernardini-paris-brigitte-bardot.shtml |archive-date=13 November 2007 |url-status=dead }}{{cite magazine| url=http://www.sicollection.com/html/swimsuit_issues.html|access-date=2007-11-13|magazine=Sports Illustrated|title= Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues 1964–2006|publisher=sicollection.com| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071020022357/http://sicollection.com/html/swimsuit_issues.html| archive-date= 20 October 2007 | url-status= live}} She was on the swimsuit issue cover of the January 20, 1964, issue.{{cite web|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/swimsuit/coverfeatured/7854/index.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090810204830/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/swimsuit/coverfeatured/7854/index.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 10, 2009|access-date=2007-11-13|title=SI Cover Search: 1964 swimsuit|publisher=Time Inc.|year=2007}}

In the 1980s the thong or "tanga" came out of Brazil, said to have been inspired by traditional garments of native tribes in the Amazon. However, the one-piece suit continued to be popular for its more modest approach.

Men's swimsuits developed roughly in parallel to women's during this period, with the shorts covering progressively less. Eventually racing-style "speedo" suits became popular—and not just for their speed advantages. Thong, g-string and bikini style suits are also worn. Typically these are more popular in more tropical regions; however, they may also be worn at public swimming pools and inland lakes. But in the 1990s, longer and baggier shorts became popular, with the hems often reaching to the knees. Often called boardshorts and swim trunks, these were often worn lower on the hips than regular shorts.

Anne Cole (1926–2017), the founder of the brand Anne Cole named after her, was the woman who invented the tankini in 1998.

Miss America ended its swimsuit competition in 2018.

Since the early twentieth century a naturist movement has developed in western countries that seeks to enjoy non-sexual nakedness when swimming and during other activities.{{Citation| title =British Naturism (BN)|journal = British Naturism | url =http://www.bn.org.uk/pages/pages.asp?page_Id=3| issn =0264-0406| access-date =2011-08-30| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20120331110705/http://www.bn.org.uk/pages/pages.asp?page_Id=3| archive-date =2012-03-31}} Some women prefer to engage in water or sun activities with their torso uncovered. The practice is often described as "toplessness" or "topfreedom". In some places around the world, nude beaches have been set aside for people who choose to engage in beach activities in the nude.

As an alternative to a swimsuit, some people wear trousers, underpants, or a T-shirt either as a makeshift swimsuit or because they prefer regular clothes over swimsuits. Using a T-shirt can also provide extra protection against sunburn. This practice may be more accepted at beaches than at swimming pools, which tend not to permit the use of regular clothes as swimwear{{cite web|url=http://www.elpasotexas.gov/parks/_documents/Appendix%20D%20-%20Swimming%20Pool%20Rules.pdf|title=El Paso, Texas, swimming pool rules Rules for swimmers. See rule 1|website=elpasotexas.gov|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425010732/http://www.elpasotexas.gov/parks/_documents/Appendix%20D%20-%20Swimming%20Pool%20Rules.pdf|archive-date=2012-04-25}} because regular clothes are unlined, they may become translucent.

File:Goa, India -- Calangute beach, one evening ... before the tourist deluge.jpg | Calangute Beach, Goa, India

File:Mid-Area for Beihai Silver Beach.jpg | T-shirts, Silver Beach. Beihai, China

Getting wet with clothes on - pool party - wetlook.jpg|Wearing regular clothes in a swimming pool

Swimsuits can also be worn outside the water, for example as a fashion item,{{cite web |last1=Beltran |first1=Frances |title=This Is How You Style A Swimsuit Outside of the Water |url=https://thread.zalora.com.ph/this-is-how-you-style-a-swimsuit-outside-of-the-water-18fd962a3b0c |website=Medium |access-date=6 July 2021 |language=en |date=29 June 2018}} for sports,{{cite news |last1=Blogging |first1=P. I. S. |title=Bikini Skater Girl |url=https://gonesk8ing.com/2013/07/31/bikini-skater-girl/ |access-date=8 July 2021 |work=Gøne ツ Ska†îηg |date=31 July 2013 |language=en |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184721/https://gonesk8ing.com/2013/07/31/bikini-skater-girl/ |archive-date=9 July 2021 }} or while sunbathing.

At the pool in the sun.jpg|A woman sunbathing in a bikini near the pool

Looking great in a Wow factor swimsiut (IMG 7671a) (5459493717).jpg|A woman modelling a one-piece swimsuit

File:Woman looking away from camera at beach.jpg|A woman frolicking at the beach in a bikini bottom

• 1907 Sydney bathing costume protests
• Bikini in popular culture
• List of swimwear brands

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• {{Commons category-inline|Swimwear}}
• {{wiktionary inline}}

{{Competitive swimwear}}

{{Clothing}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:17th-century fashion

Category:18th-century fashion

Category:19th-century fashion

Category:20th-century fashion

Category:Sportswear

Category:Swimming equipment