It is that time a year where many of us get to shed our clothes and soak in some rays down at the local water hole. This year 1970’s fashion is on the rise and I just can’t help but browse through some of favorite photos of 70’s swimwear. From European designer beach wear to southern California surf-wear, 1970’s swimwear had a a style and appeal all of its own.
Two major themes dominate the shrinking bikini throughout the 1960s and 1970s. One concerns the general narrowing and reduction of the bikini in general. This momentum to some extent drives the second, which is the mechanics of how the suit is fastened together in order to say on–and to be taken off of–the body. These elements include a rich tableau of soutien-gorge tying and fastening details.
By the early 1970s, the declining waistline of culotte nombril, now precariously below the pubic bone and not always covering the buttocks, collides with the slower-rising legline. The emerging point of contact–the side of the bikini brief–provides the focus for a flurry of design creativity. The resulting silhouettes include culotte sidegather, in which gathers and bow ties narrow the sides of the culotte, culotte sidering, in which rings hold the front and back of the culotte together, culotte sidestrap, in which the side of the culotte is reduced to a decorative strap (with or without a fastener), and culotte sidetie, in which the front and back of the culotte are tied together at the side in a knot.