Exposed! The Story of Swimwear

You wouldn't parade outdoors in your underwear in Sydney's CBD, but you'd think nothing of strutting your stuff in a teeny-tiny Brazilian string bikini or a revealing budgie smuggler before the crowds at Bondi Beach. So how did what is essentially underwear become outerwear?

A new exhibition at the Australian National Maritime Museum traces the history of swimwear. From 19th century bathing dresses so heavy they posed a drowning hazard, to French designer Louis Réard's famous 1946 bikini so small it was sold in a matchbox, each new incarnation of swimwear has caused a splash.

"It's always controversial. At one stage, it literally was shocking to show your ankles. As the hemlines rise, it's about exposing more of the body, and each level of exposure is always considered outrageous," says exhibition curator Penny Cuthbert.

Passive Victorian bathing for medicinal and therapeutic purposes gave way to recreational swimming in the early 1900s, when the term "swimsuit" was coined to refer to a one-piece leotard for active swimming.

By the 1920s, swimwear was evolving from a functional garment for sport into a fashion statement, with geometric patterns adding some flair. The swimsuit began drawing attention to the parts of the body considered ideal at the time, such as the low-back cut similar to evening dresses in the 1930s, or the midriff-baring two-pieces during the wartime fabric shortages of the 1940s.

The Maritime Museum's free swimwear exhibition, featuring 300 suits and photographs, highlights the local take on the cossie. 'Australia's mermaid,' the vaudeville star Annette Kellerman, boldly popularised a men's-style swimsuit among women, wearing it for aquatic tricks as early as the late 1800s.

Speedo, the iconic Aussie competitive swimwear label, is famous for the cutting-edge design of its racing costumes and, of course, those package-hugging briefs. Surfside fashion in this nation of swimmers and beach culture has come a long way since the days of Bondi inspector Aub Laidlaw, who escorted a bikini-wearing woman off the beach and into a tram amid a major commotion in 1945. The bikini only became legal in Australia in 1961.

Today, find you'll find both extremes on local beaches, and in this exhibition - from total modesty to wild exposure - including Australian designer Aheda Zanetti's burkini, or beach burqua, and Borat's fluorescent green mankini.

Cuthbert, the curator, says swimwear is about freedom, both of movement and of showing the body in public.

"It's really a garment that from the very beginning as been about liberating the body," she says. "It's constantly reinventing itself because it always has to look 'of the moment'. Swimsuits always really express the zeitgeist." Lisa Varano

Exposed! The Story of Swimwear is at the Australian National
Maritime Museum, 2 Jul-25 Oct.