July 5 last year bikini is 77 years old, an important birthday, especially when you think about the impact it had on women’s rights claims and sexual battles.
Its birth takes place in 1946, in a seemingly unthinkable post-war climate: while one might think that the world has much to think about, the desire for a new revival and cultural and political organizational reorganization was very widespread, prompting creatives and scholars to take more active participation.
No retouching, from Kate Winslet to Matilda de Angelis: when actresses love their imperfections
Fashion Bomb: Bikini
Louis Reird father bikinibut before him Jacques Heimcreated in 1932 first swimsuit smaller compared to existing models, advertising them with the slogan “world’s smallest swimsuit” and calling it atom. At that time it was considered outrageouslyalthough the fabric was enough to cover even the navel.
However, more than a decade later, the time came and Réard made an even bolder attempt, exposing the belly, and therefore the navel, in response to women who rolled up their bathing suits to better see their tan. large body parts on the beaches of Saint-Tropez.
The effect produced was stunning and provocative, and Réard, to reinforce the concept, dubbed it bikiniinspired atoll marshall islands, which the United States has chosen as a test site for its atomic bombs. According to Riard, his invention was so important that it could compete with the event in question, so it was considered metaphorical bomb in the field of fashion of that time.
Provocative review
However, his rise to success was not simple and linear: among the first obstacles was find a model who wants to wear a bikinicomplex conventions and correct thinking.
Micheline Bernardini, dancer and stripper at the Casino de Paris, offered to parade in a bikini, performing in the Molitor pools of the French capital and making it even more provocative. Reard gained worldwide fame and received numerous orders for a new costume model and more. 50,000 letters of compliments (but written by men). Bernardini instead received 50 marriage proposals. In 1953, Reard made new changes to his bikini, inventing a version flying saucer bikini, whose bra was strapless and panties, renamed “sexyform”, had a push-up effect on the buttocks. However, for a long time, bikinis were frowned upon. ostracized: it was banned on various European and American beaches, and in some places its use was even punished as an insult to modesty.
Film and bikini
It was cinema that introduced it into the collective imagination, and it spread more and more among women who recognized the actresses who wore it as role models. It was bikinis that spread bikinis around the world. movie starwho have incorporated it into their professional and personal wardrobes: there are numerous cinematic scenes made immortal by the presence of the bikini and the actresses who showcased them, making them exclusive and desirable. The cinema helped spread it, but it turned the female body into an object, and the bikini, from a hitherto denied tool for asserting freedom, soon became an ideal means to enhance the forms, making them more sensual and attractive. The female body has always been at the center of visual representations that have often used it, but it is also true that, if we look at the issue more optimistically, we must recognize how much this invention and its distribution have benefited. To women’s claims to call themselves free beingsable to use their body absolutely freely, under the cry of the slogan My body and I decide.
Here’s an overview of the cinematic scenes that made the bikini (next) iconic.
Among the female icons who first showcased the bikini, turning it into iconic clothing, are Brigitte Bardotwho in 1952, at the age of only 17, in Manina, open girl, was filmed throughout the film in beachwear. This film was not an immediate commercial success, but after gaining notoriety for “Too many people like it“, returned to the cinema to experience a second youth and give even more impressive fame to a new and provocative swimsuit model.
Impressive with its presence in women’s wardrobes and suitcases, a concise and innovative model designed for the film Agent 007 – License to Kill, in which Ursula Andress he interpreted Honey Ryderfirst bond girl from the film series. The costume in question was white bikini aka Doctor No Bikini, to which was added a belt with a knife that entered the ordinary imagination, becoming one of the most memorable in the history of cinema, turning the actress into sex symbol.
Sue Lyon interpreted Lolita From stanley kubrick, protagonist of one of the most iconic and disturbing moments in film history: the first meeting between a very young girl in a bikini (but with her navel covered!) and Humbert Humbert.
IN Slowly, slowly, don’t be discouraged! since 1967, Sharon Tate An apple green bathing suit with fuchsia palazzo trousers and matching bracelets is a symbolic look that reflects the vibrant aesthetic of the sixties.
One of the chicest bathing suits in film history is the one worn by Tina Parks to the cinema Diamonds are forever 1971, the seventh in the 007 series. Paired with matching accessories, the canary yellow bikini has become iconic.
IN Star Wars – Return of the JediPrincess Leia’s slave costume, which is played by Carrie Fisher, is one of the most controversial in cinema. Her famous bikini was intended to provide visual pleasure to her captor (and viewers) by transforming into a highly erotic costume that entered the pop imaginary in a very short time.
It’s not a bikini, it’s a swimsuit Pamela Anderson V Malibu safeguards since 1992 is one of the most iconic ever.
The suit that was worn Rachel McAdam red and purple in Notebook2004, surprises us with the overflowing emotions of the film.
Although in the film Redemption 2007, the most iconic piece is a green tailored suit worn by Keira Knightley, even a white one-piece swimsuit with a matching cap can be considered an iconic detail that makes this scene infinitely sophisticated. This is not a bikini, but very memorable.
IN spring Breakers From Harmony Korin, four girls wear provocative bikinis throughout the film in an eternal struggle between feminism and male fantasies.
Film about Greta Gerwig, Barbiefrom 2023, presents us with the first example of a doll in a one-piece swimsuit: it takes us back in time and reminds us how iconic it was.
Beachwear and bikinis have evolved throughout history, but even today icons of the past continue to be important sources of inspiration and reflection in a constant return to the past looking to the future.