Stay Signed In
Do you want to access your site more quickly on this computer? Check this box, and your username and password will be remembered for two weeks. Click logout to turn this off.
Stay Safe
Do not check this box if you are using a public computer. You don't want anyone seeing your personal info or messing with your site.
A bikini or two piece is a women's swimsuit with two parts , one covering the breasts , the other the groin (and optionally the buttocks) , leaving an uncovered area between the two (optionally in the case of the Tankini) . It is often worn in hot weather or while swimming . The shapes of both parts of a bikini resemble women's underwear , and the lower part can range from revealing thong or g-string to briefs and modest square-cut shorts . Merriam - Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition) describes the bikini as "a woman's scarty two-piece bathing suit", "a man's brief swimsuit" and "a man's or woman's low - cut briefs" .
The bikini , which shocked when it appeared on French beaches in 1947, dates back to antiquity , in Catalhoyuk and the Greco-Roman world . The modern bikini was invented by French engineer Louis Reard in 1946 . He named it after Bikini Atoll in the Pacific , the site of the Operation Crossroads nuclear weapon tests in July that year . The reasoning was that the burst of excitement created by it would be like a nuclear device . The monokini , a bikini variant , interpreting the first syllable as the Latin prefix bi - meaning "two" or "doubled" , an substituting for it mono - meaning "one" .
Jacques Heim called his bikini precursor the Atome , named for its size , and Louis Reard claimed to have "split the Atome" to make it smaller .
From a 1949 Los Angeles Times report : "The bathing beauty queen - blond Bebe Shopp , 18 , of Hopkins , Minn. - got an enthusiastic welcome in Paris , but she said she hasn't changed her mind about French swim suits . ..."I don't approve of Bikini suits for American girls" , Bebe told her French interviewers . "The French girls can wear them if they want to , but I still don't approve of them on American girls" .
The bikini is perhaps the most popular female beachwear around the globe , according to French fashion historian Olivier Saillard due to "the power of women , and not the power of fashion" . As he explains , "The emancipation of swimwear has always been linked to the emancipation of women" .
By the mid 2000s bikinis had become a US$ 811 million business annualy , according to the NPD Group , a consumer and retail information company . The bikini has boosted spin-off services like bikini waxing and the sun tanning industries .
Link Directory | Add your link for free | LinkDirectoryPmdip directoryThe Adored Directory
