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Monday, August 9, 2010
Jantzen's founders showcase their mens vintage swimwear in this 1915 picture taken on the dock at the Portland Rowing Club. The swimwear is made out of wool, knitted in a refined rib-knit to make the swimwear a bit more stretchy.
Jantzen swimwear today celebrates 100 years. Jantzen first advertised their bathing suits in their 1915 catalogs. Although pure wool bathing suits sounds itchy and all but practical, it was already a big improvement from the "simply bath in your clothes" of earlier eras.
Having said that, in places without cameras nor Victorian modesty, people simply swam in the nude. Especially during Roman and Greek times, men and women bathed together, not bothered by bathing suits. Nothing to be surprised about when you go for a sauna and a swim in Finland.
It's only in Europe that people forgot how to bathe, forgot about bathing suits and tried to cover body odor with what is now known as refined French make-up and perfumes.
Some cultures still don't allow women to wear skimpy swimwear, some cultures simply still prohibit men and women to swim during certain periods of life. How come we forgot we were born without clothes in the first place?
I do agree that now people are going overboard with plastic surgery to create "the perfect beach body", when a simply daily routine of good exercise and healthy food would give everybody a decent bikini body in no time.
And did you notice that swimwear at the beginning of the previous century was unisex:
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