Evolution of suits over the years

[Crail]

Byron. Wool ??? Gag me with a spoon !!! Unfortunately, I can relate. Long story; so I'll leave it at that

[SpeedoKid]

We're forgetting about "Ocean"!! They had "racing" suits well before Speedos started to be imported from Australia. Ocean "Champion" - a 7 or 8 inch side cut which was well over twice as much fabric as in the modern "Speedo".

And, yes, before that there were those horrible, itchy, heavy, water-logged wool suits which tended to drag you to the bottom of the pool.

Does anyone remember silk racing suits? I'm told that they existed before WW II. At that point all silk went into the war effort - parachutes.

If memory serves, Speedos were first imported into the US following the 1960 Olympic Games, I bought my first one in the summer of 1963 - a solid maroon nylon suit with ~7" sides.

[Byron]

I don't remember any silk racers but seem to have a fellow sufferer in Crail as regards woollen trunks.

Just to compare, here are swimming shorts in Dubai 2011 and in Hawaii 1953 (Deborah Kerr being the actress I could not recall in the famous wet clinch with Burt Lancaster - From Here To Eternity).

http://www.thenigeriandaily.com/2011...orange-bikini/

(Bring back Burt I say - he also made The Swimmer in 1968 of course)

[Byron]

http://www.thenigeriandaily.com/2011...friend-in-tiny orange-bikini/

[Torchwatch]

Any suit with a waist cord is designed for diving, whether you are diving from the side of the pool or from the high boards if your suit isn't totally secure it will end up around your ankles.
Suits not intended for such use may not have waist cords.

Isn't it annoying when the end of the string gets lost inside the suit.

[dorcas3]

The best way to fix a lost end is to pull the whole cord out-Pin on a small safety pin-reensert and work it back through-be surprised how fast that works.

[Byron]

Yes, and why are some suit manufacturers so mean with the length supplied? - does it mean a cent difference in profit for them ?

[Byron]

OK - hope this lot works:

Casino Royale:
The "daring pic" that launched a thousand newspaper articles in 2006
(007 Daniel Craig)

http://www.paulinlondon.com/2006/11/...-premiere.html


A potted history of swimsuit styles:

http://elupton.com/2009/10/swim-suits-stats/

Note that the US swimmers of 1948 are "streamlined"
(if that was at the Olympic Pool that would be the last
occasion the Games were hosted in London).

[Byron]

Silk suits:

Cannot find one but did see that they were at one time
standard issue to US Marines.

Ocean:
The company appears to have started in New York although
no history found.

Pic 5 here seems to be an Ocean Champion with a yellow side stripe
(and a club or brand logo hard to discern)

http://meninnylon.blogspot.com/2011/...8f0e31b3b5ccda


Also

http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/sto...647382136.html

and

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Oc...-/220871575592

[Byron]

Silk suits:

Cannot find one but did see that they were at one time
standard issue to US Marines.

Ocean:
The company appears to have started in New York although
no history found.

Pic 5 here seems to be an Ocean Champion with a yellow side stripe
(and a club or brand logo hard to discern)

http://meninnylon.blogspot.com/2011/...8f0e31b3b5ccda


Also

http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/sto...647382136.html

and

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Oc...-/220871575592