Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

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Some of you may remember a silly but very popular pop rock song called “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini”. However, the bikini had to be designed first before it could be worn. Way back on July 5, 1945, Louis Reard who was a French designer uncovered a very daring two-piece swimsuit at the Piscine Molitor. This was a popular swimming pool in Paris, France. He had a showgirl named Micheline Bernardini model the new swim fashion and referred to it as “bikini”. He said the name came to him because of the news of a U.S. atomic test taking place off of the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. European women first started wearing two-piece swimsuits which were a halter top and shorts in the 30s. The two-piece swimwear came to the U.S. during WWII. In 1946 two French designers were in competition with the bikini. One was Jacques Heim who called his bikini the “atom” and advertising it as “the world’s smallest bathing suit”. The other was Louis Reard whose swimsuit was a combination of a bra top and two inverted triangles of cloth that were connected by a string. Reard discovered that he had a problem in finding a professional model who would be willing to wear such a skimpy suit. Finally, he found Micheline Bernardini who was an exotic dancer at the Casino de Paris. As it turned out the bikini was an instant hit especially with men and Bernardini got around 50,000 fan letters. When bold and self-confident young women started wearing bikinis it created quite a sensation on the Mediterranean coast. In Italy and Spain bikinis were prohibited on public beaches but dropped the ban when the fashion became popular on European beaches in the 50s. The U.S. was more reluctant to accept the bikini but is made its splash on America’s beaches in the 60s. Singer Brian Hyland immortalized the bikini in his song “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini”. Then came all of those teenage “beach blanket” movies starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon and of course the California surfing culture helped along by surf rock groups such as the Beach Boys. The bikini was here to stay. What is your opinion about the bikini?