Although attitudes toward sports were more enlightened by the 1880s,
many women continued to wear the old bathing dress with its belted
blouse extending to a long skirt and a pair of trousers. As an alternate
to this garb, the "princess style" was developed with the blouse and
trousers cut in one piece or else sewn permanently to the same belt. A
separate skirt extending below the knee was buttoned at the waist to
conceal the figure. This new style in bathing costume was probably
derived from an innovation in women's underwear. During the late 1870s a
new style of undergarment, the "combination" of chemise and drawers, had
come into use. Petticoats could be fastened to buttons sewn around the
waist of the combination. This streamlining of undergarments helped the
lady of fashion to maintain a desirably svelte figure. Apparently the
advantages of this streamlining were obvious, because it was not long
before women were quietly adapting this style to bathing dresses. By the
1890s the skirt was often omitted for swimming (fig. 12), giving the
more active women more freedom in the water. Following popular dress
styles, the top of the bathing costume was bloused over the belt. The
sailor collar, either large or small, was a great favorite, but a
straight standing collar with rows of white braid was also worn.
The "princess style" was not the only innovation available in bathing
dress. _Harper's Bazar_ reported in 1881 that imported French bathing
suits[43] for ladies were made without sleeves, since any covering on
the arm interfered with the freedom desirable for swimming.
Nevertheless, according to other contemporary fashion descriptions,
American bathing suits retained their long sleeves until the early 1880s
when the foreign fashion of short sleeves came to the United States. In
1885 it was reported that
The sleeves may be the merest 'caps' four or five inches deep
under the arm, curved narrow toward the top, and lapped there or
they may be half-long and straight, reaching to the elbows, or
else they may be the regular coat sleeves covering the arms to
the wrist. With the short sleeves it is customary to add the
sleeves cut from a gauze vest to give the arm some protection
from the sun.[44]
[43] The term "bathing suit" as opposed to "bathing dress" came into
use in the last quarter of the 19th century when the bifurcated
bathing garment with a shorter skirt was widely accepted. The two
terms, however, continued to be used interchangeably, with
"bathing dress" appearing less frequently.
[44] "New York Fashions," _Harper's Bazar_ (July 4, 1885), vol. 18,
no. 27, p. 427.
Sleeves were pushed up in 1890 and puffed high about the shoulders by
means of elastic tape in the hem. By 1893 fashion reports acknowledged
that sleeve length was a matter of individual choice.
Despite this neat resolution of the diminishing sleeve, contemporary
sketches of bathing scenes indicate that some women in the United States
were wearing the shorter sleeves even earlier.
Short full trousers, reaching just below the knee, accompanied by
knee-length skirts--sometimes worn even shorter--succeeded the long
Turkish trousers and ankle-length skirt. As the trousers diminished in
length, long stockings or bathing shoes with long stocking tops became a
necessary part of the bathing costume to cover the lower limbs,
particularly in mixed bathing (see fig. 1). The stockings, which were
cotton or wool, plain or fancy, and of any color or combination of
colors in keeping with the costume, were worn with a variety of bathing
shoes, sandals, or slippers when bathing off a rocky shore. Foot
coverings were usually made of white canvas; the slippers were held on
by a spiral arrangement of braid or ribbon about the ankles, while the
laced shoes were often made with heavy cork soles. A gaiter shoe or
combination shoe and stocking was made of waterproof cloth, laced up the
sides, and reached to about the knees. Low rubber shoes were also worn.
Bathing caps of waxed linen or oiled silk were used to protect the hair.
They had whale bone in the brim and could be adjusted by drawstrings in
the back. Blue, white, or ecru rubber hats were also used. These caps
had large full crowns--which held in all the hair--and wired brims. A
wide-brimmed rough straw hat, tied on with a strip of trimming braid or
with ribbon, was sometimes worn as protection against the sun (fig. 9).
Bathing mantles like those of the 1870s were still being worn by the
late 19th century and these were frequently trimmed with colored braid.
Cotton tapes sewn in parallel rows, mohair braid, or strips of flannel
were still being used to make the bathing dress more attractive.
Navy blue and white, as well as ecru, maroon, gray, and olive were
popular colors for the bathing dress. In 1890 the writer of a fashion
column thought it pertinent to add that "... black bathing suits are
worn as a matter of choice, not merely by those dressing in
mourning."[45] Apparently the wearing of black no longer had this
exclusive significance when bathing, but prior to 1890 it did.
[45] Ibid. (July 5, 1890), vol. 23, no. 27, p. 523.
As women became more active in the water and were learning to swim they
began to accept more practical changes in bathing costume. Not only the
style, as described previously, but also the fabric was considered for
its functional characteristics. Flannel was still widely used but was
being replaced by serge which was not as heavy when wet. Another
indication of this trend was that stockinet, a knitted material, was
gaining in popularity at the end of the century.
The "princess style" of the early 1890s combined the drawers and bodice
in one garment: the separate skirt fell just short of the ends of the
drawers which covered the knees. By the mid-1890s, however, the drawers
which were now called knickerbockers, were shortened so as to be
completely covered by the knee-length skirt. These knickerbockers were
either attached to the waist in the popular "princess style" or they
were fastened to the waist by a series of flat bone buttons.
During this same period, the mid-1890s, knitted, cotton tights were
sometimes worn in place of knickerbockers. Bathing tights differed from
the knickerbockers in that they were hemmed rather than gathered on an
elastic band at the lower edge and that they were not attached to the
waist. When tights were used they were completely concealed by a
one-piece, knee-length bathing dress. The use of the more streamlined
bathing tights was another step toward more functional bathing costume.
Despite these improvements, most women continued to wear stockings,
usually black, when they bathed or swam in public. The dictates of
fashion and standards of modesty continued to conflict with practical
considerations.
[Illustration: Figure 13.--BATHING DRESS OF BLACK "MOHAIR," c. 1900.
(Smithsonian photo 60383.)]
As with street dress, corsets seem to have been an important though
unseen bathing article necessary for maintaining smart posture. In 1896
it was reported that
Unless a woman is very slender, bathing corsets should be worn.
If they are not laced tightly they are a help instead of a
hindrance to swimming, and some support is needed for a figure
that is accustomed to wearing stays.[46]
[46] Ibid. (June 13, 1896), vol. 29, no. 24, p. 503.
While describing the bathing dresses available in 1910 an article noted:
"Some of these are made up with ... princess forms that are boned so as
to do away with the bathing corset."[47]
[47] Ibid. (July 1910), vol. 43, no. 7, p. 552.
The bodice of the bathing costume continued to be bloused, but by 1905
it was modified to be merely loose. An article appearing in 1896 noted
that bathing suits should be cut high in the neck, not tight around the
throat, but close enough to prevent burning by the sun. The sailor
collar continued to be used during the late 1890s but became less
fashionable shortly after the turn of the century. Nevertheless there
had to be some white around the neck for the bathing dress to be
considered smart. The puffed sleeves, which had become popular in the
late 1890s were modified in breadth and length to allow free use of the
muscles in swimming (fig. 13).
In 1897 fashion magazines were suggesting that skirts of bathing dresses
looked best when the front breadth was shaped narrower toward the belt,
while by 1902 the skirts were fitted over the hips in order to delineate
the figure. In 1905 pleated skirts again became fashionable, although
flared skirts were still acceptable.
Dark blue and black were the popular colors, although white, red, gray,
and green were also used. Flannel was no longer recommended for bathing
dress; serge and "mohair"--a fabric with a cotton warp and a mohair or
alpaca weft--were widely used. The impractical bathing dress of silk
fabric was worn by those who could afford this extravagance; thus, the
conspicuous consumption of the "leisure class" was even found at the
beaches.
Bathing hats were still being worn but it was considered more
fashionable to wear a rubber or oil silk cap covered with a bright silk
turban when there was a surf. For the bather who seldom ventured very
far into the water the most fashionable practice was to have no covering
at all.
Throughout the 19th century bathing costume followed an impelling course
toward becoming more functional. As the popularity of recreational
bathing and then swimming for women increased, the number of yards of
fabric required to make a bathing dress decreased. Nevertheless, by the
1900s, many women knew how to swim, but the majority were still bathers.
Thus bathing suits continued in use through the first quarter of the
20th century.