bikini – We Heart Vintage blog: retro fashion, cinema and photography

1940s Fads: Indoor Sunbathing

The 1940s was a time when no one gave much thought to sunscreen and you could happily chain-smoke cigarettes and

Er, I can’t claim to tell you much about these photos except that they were labelled ‘wet proof paper’ 1953.

We tend to think of 1950s swimwear as being the height of style and sophistication, and some of it WAS

The sun is shining gloriously here for the first time in, well, what feels like months! Am I too early

Young ladies in 1940s bikinis overlooked by some giant seahorses at the municipal casino: Lido Beach, Florida. c. 1945. Don’t

Some very pretty 1960s bikini models running on the beach in Pensacola, Florida (1969). Aren’t they gorgeous?

Sarasota Sun-Debs from 1949 learning how to elegantly pick things up off the floor at Lido Beach, Florida. Which one of these two

A cheerful cherry-print 1950s bikini modelled by Shirley Deas from Florida, 1955. I’m not sure what to make of that

Another beautiful Cole of California advert from the 1940s. I don’t know why more people don’t wear high-waisted bikinis, if

Isn’t this a pretty bikini? I’m reveling in the weekend of sunshine we seem to be having (has the British

This photo was taken in Panama City, Florida in 1966. The model is Melody May. Fabulous bikini, fabulous view!

Some great 1940s bikinis modelled by the ‘Sarasota Sun-Debs’. The photo was taken at Lido Beach, Florida in January 1949.

A young girl wearing a knitted 1950s bikini top and shorts. The photos were taken in Leipzig in 1950. How

Publicity photo of Adele Mara wearing a polka dot bikini for Argentinean Magazine. Source and copyright: This work is in

Young girls in bikinis posing for a photo in Naples, 1948. Which is your favourite swimsuit? I think mine is

1950s fashion model Dovima wearing bikini photographed by Toni Frissell in Montego Bay, Jamaica, 1946. Similar image published in: Harper’s

Girl in a green bikini holding a starfish on a poster from the newly nationalised British Railways, advertising Whitley Bay

1940s photo of surf sirens on Manly beach in New South Wales, Australia. Which is your favourite? I think mine