European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 21, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                100 years of taking it off bathing costumes shrink to bikinis Catalina bares Iti by Sid Schapiro secs new York Bureau Back in the late when grandma took to the she wore a swim outfit of about seven it often was skirted and caped and made of the Best Merino no other fashion Field has lost weight More drastically in a body coverage has been severely reduced that it takes Only one Square foot of i fabric to create a they dont talk about it at women liberation but one of the greatest blows struck for feminine Freedom began with bathing it even predates women suffrage in the evolution of american women swimwear from he cover Dup and colourless bathing suits for the late Eidos to today Bright string bikinis is currently Chroni shed in an in the swim 100 years of Beach at the los Angeles county museum of of the exhibition include five pre1900 the oldest an 1876 Blue Wool costume with belted tunic a Bob knee length two piece suit of Ivory and red striped silk Jersey a 1917 Long Wool knit suit by revolutionary swimwear designer Annette Kellerman a 1923 Black silk taffeta costume with four tiers of and a 1924 tank also included is a red velvet suit with Long skirt de signed for and worn by Esther Williams in 1946 the first Latex suit from the 1940s a heavily shirred and boned hourglass suit from the 1950s Rudi Gem Reichs controversial topless suit of 1964 and official suits from the water ski team and miss universe guest curator Maggie a noted fashion Consul Tant and member of the museum costume has chosen the suits to represent both the most popular and the most new making swimwear trends of each she has designed the exhibition in two parts a monochromatic gallery featuring pre1930 suits and a brilliantly color Ful gallery with brightly hued mannequins and backdrops displaying suits from the 30s to the by the says women swimwear had made the transition from the end be some bathing eos tunes of the previous decades to More practical arts designed for actual swim costumes in the exhibition have been drawn from the los Angeles county museums own extensive collection and supplemented by Loans from the metropolitan museum of the smithsonian the Oakland museum of private lenders and swimwear including Cole of de Weese Jantzen and Elisabeth the bathing suit world has its too to name a Annette Brigitte Bardot and Peggy although none considered themselves out right pioneers for Beach austrian bom a swimming and diving just wanted a suit that would give her More Speed in the water so she and her father designed a sleek she first appeared in it around 1910 in an Era of heavy costumes with Long stockings and according to press reports of the the Kellerman suit it still covered the legs was a Shock even greater than the Bikini 37 years later and was As controversial As the topless More than a Hal Century other than the Kellerman the first major change in bathing costume from the pantaloons and Over skirts of the 1880s and 90s came in when Jant zen introduced an Al Wool worsted the style was with a deep apron but still worn with Black that Wing two Yards of heavy weighed eight pounds when was the knitted rib stitch in by this ladies Knees were bared but below calf Matching stockings still were the weight of the suit was Down to 1314 using 1a Yard of fabric the 1950s brought lighter elasticized and stretch fab Sheath to weighed about 11v4 ounces and used w Yards of fabric a two piece took three fourths of a Yard and weighed eight to since Wilhour repeating designers have managed new permutations of this most Mem us the 1978 versions Are no the Bikini was launched in according to pans manufacturer Louis heard even patented piece Poge 14 the stars and stripes evolution of the Black