FASHION Magazine

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Flashback: How FASHION Has Looked at Swimwear

In the swim for 30 years.

By Jennifer Campbell

Photo from FASHION Magazine, 1987

It’s the piece of cloth that we fear the most. With nowhere to hide, we put our efforts into sloughing, waxing and toning, all before we’ll even contemplate its existence. A dress is a dress, but a swimsuit is legs, arms and back.

A trip through FASHION’s history yields two sides to the swimsuit story: It tells of spandex and sequins, yacht clubs and fetish clubs. One wears a bathing cap, the other a designer bag.

Our Holiday 1983 model looks sporty and wholesome, more Olympian than beach babe. Twenty years later, she is pure sex, decked out in leather, Prada heels and dance hall sweat.

But between these extremes lies the stylish ease that is the summer mode, to “breeze with ease from beach to boîte,” as our Holiday 1987 issue had it. On our Summer 2006 cover, the model is ready to march straight out of the ocean, suited for all seasonal eventualities with a few bangles and a cover-up.

Summer is not just about the beach, however, and flexible style will take you anywhere. Ready for a full day of trimming the main sail, the apple-munching model in our Summer 1978 issue embodies the “new sporting life” of the late ’70s, but her look is as modern as our socialite heroine from Summer 2004, whose activities likely include but a short move from deck chair to poolside bar at the Delano. Fashion changes venue, but it always comes around.

First published in FASHION Magazine June 2007

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sasha writes:

you need more swimming stuff because it is the summer.

—posted June 1, 2007 at 9:35 a.m.