Retro Raunch Revisit

JUL 5, 1946: Former French nude dancer Micheline Bernardini becomes the first model to appear in a shocking brand new 2-piece swimsuit called the bikini which was named after the first public American post-war atomic weapons test (Operation Crossroads) in the Bikini Atoll which was a coral reef lagoon in the Marshall Islands, a part of Micronesia located in the Western Pacific southwest of Hawaii. While earlier versions of the 2-piece (halter top & shorts) had existed in the 1930's as well as loincloth variations/versions seen in some Tarzan films, by WWII the rationing of fabric saw appearances beginning to change into "scantily clad" as makers started removing skirt panels and Hollywood movie starlets such as Betty Grable, Rita Haywoth, Ava Gardner, Lana Turner, Jane Russell,Jayne Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe & Esther Williams posing in similar provocative beachwear became favourite pinups. [In artwork, images can be traced back to ancient Roman mural panels]. The bikini's designer -- auto engineer Louis Réard -- advertised in the French Riviera of wanting to create the smallest bathing suit in the world which caused controversy because for the first time, it exposed the wearer's navel. The daring debut took place at the Piscine Molitor, a popular public swimming pool in Paris. 19yr old Bernardini's exposed midriff caused a scandalous sensation with the press, was especially popular among men, and she received some 50,000 fan letters. Réard's business soared and with European women quickly fond of the revealing fashion (especially with 18yr old Brigitte Bardot at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival followed soon after by Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Anita Ekberg and Diana Dors), he would sell bikinis for 40yrs. In the interim, the Catholic Church declared it sinful, Communist groups condemned it as capitalist decadence, many in the media were prudish over the risqué clothing corrupting morals, prosecutors repeatedly sited indecent exposure, feminists criticized it as demeaningly sexist, France banned it from being worn on coastlines in 1949, Belgium banned it as did Spain & Portgual alongside Italy then Australia, Germany banned it from swimming pools until the 1970's, beauty pageants banned it from competitional display, Playboy and Sports Illustrated credited it with giving swimwear legitimacy, it produced the novelty hit 'Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini' in the summer of 1960, and it turned both Ursula Andress in 1962's Dr. No and Racquel Welch in 1966's One Million Years B.C. into iconic international sex symbols. Despite all the backlash, the bikini sold extremely well, beame a major component of female sports marketing, and would get even skimpier with the microkini. Réard died in Sept 1984.