The modern-day bikini is very young; just over the age of 60 but what tumultuous years they have been!

The bikini was very much prevalent in ancient civilizations as is evident from paintings that have been discovered from time to time. The bikini appears in wall paintings of the Minoan civilization that flourished in 1600 B.C. and Mosaic paintings in ancient Rome in 300 A.D. Wall paintings in ancient Sicily depict women dressed in bikinis. So what was the fuss all about when ancient cultures found nothing wrong in the bikini?

The modern-day bikini made its appearance in 1946 as opposed to the skirtini which came much later. Two French designers are credited with re-inventing the bikini independently; Louis Reard and Jacques Heim.

Heim owned a small shop on a beach in Cannes. He designed swimsuits and sold them through his shop. He designed a two-piece swimsuit and christened it the ‘Atome”. During the same time, Reard created his two-piece swimsuit and christened it the ‘Bikini’. The two-piece swimsuit got its name from the Bikini Reef where experimental atom bombs had been detonated after World War II. The sight of women in the bikini supposedly invoked earth-shattering reactions in people similar to that of detonation of the atom bombs!

The official name for the two-piece swimsuit soon became the ‘bikini’

Micheline Bernardinini modelled the swimsuit in a fashion show featuring swimwear on July 5, 1946. It created shock waves throughout the entire world.

The bikini went through pangs of acceptance by a moralist society but today is an accepted piece of clothing. Ever heard the number, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” by Brian Hyland? That sums up the bikini!

The newspapers are all agog, about the extraordinary performance of swimmers wearing the LZR swimsuits from Speedo. With the Beijing Olympics just around the corner, let’s wait and watch the outcome of Speedo’s latest offering to the swimming world.

It’s interesting to know what went to the making of LZR. It is amazing what technology can do to the ubiquitous swimsuit. From a piece of clothing to cover your body while swimming, swimsuits have gone hi-tech. In modern-day sports, records are broken at every meet, with the human body striving for achieving excellence every time. LZR is helping swimmers speed up by hundreds and tenths of seconds. Does it matter? Yes, it matters in competitions.

So how did LZR come about? Body scans of 400 athletes were done to get an idea on the optimum size, shape and contours of the human body. At the crucial areas of the body, polyurethane membranes have been placed instead of woven fabric. This has resulted in one piece swimsuits with lower drag. Stitching has been totally eliminated. Ultrasonic welding has reduced the drag further. Additional support in the form of a core stabilizer provides support to the swimmer. NASA was associated with the development of LZR; NASA’s wind tunnels were use to test the drag on various fabrics. Impressive!

The LZR was introduced in February 2008 and what a swimsuit it has been! Records have been broken by swimmers wearing the LZR. It doesn’t come cheap. It costs anywhere from $290 to $550 for a suit. But for those interested in making and breaking records, it is worth the price.

There are advantages and disadvantages in shopping for swimsuits online or buying it from a real shop.

When you go to buy a swimsuit from a shop, you experiment with trying on different kinds of swimsuits and see which one suits you the best. Many people take pleasure is spending hours in a shop before they make their final selection. There is a joke going around that women spend more time buying a swimsuit than buying a car!

If you love trying on swimsuits such as delta burke, christna, or longitude and then making a purchase, then it would be better to go to a small boutique style shop where the sales assistants can give personal attention. These people have better knowledge of swimsuits and would be able to give you advice on what flatters your figure the best. They would be able to recommend the in-season designs and also guide you to the color that suits you the best.

If you are the kind who doesn’t like the thought of spending endless hours, trying on countless swimsuits before choosing the right one, then buying online is the best option. But before you do so, make sure you have done your homework.

You need to know your body well and decide what will look best on you. When you go online, you can also read up a lot of articles on the best suited style for you. Don’t get swayed by the hour-glass figure models appearing in magazines. We have to accept ourselves for what we are. Remember what you see in a photo need not be the actual figure; you can always touch up photos through digital technology.

When you shop online, make sure you make your choice from the range that is time –tested. The website from where you order you the swimsuit should allow you to return it if the fit is not right. One main advantage of online shopping is that you can think on your choice before placing an order.

So what are you waiting for? Go on and make that purchase. The time to swim is here.

Let’s talk about some famous swimsuits models.

Do you know about Gisele Bundchen? Born in Brazil, the bikini land, Gisele has appeared in a number of ad campaigns. She was featured in magazines across France, USA, Brazil and Italy. She is about five-foot, eleven inches and is a world famous model. She has also met with success as an entrepreneur with the launching of designer sandals line called ‘Ipanema Gisele Bündchen’. She owns a hotel in Brazil. She has also acted in the movie The Devil Wears Prada.

Petra Nemcova is another name to reckon with in the world of swimsuit modeling.

Hailing from Czechoslovakia, Petra was born in 1981. She has modeled for agencies like ‘Why Not’ and ‘Next’.

Petra almost lost her life in the 2004 Tsunami. Holidaying in Thailand with her boyfriend Simon Atlee when the Tsunami struck, Petra was almost swept away but survived by hanging on to a tree for more that eight hours. Although she suffered from a crushed pelvis and many other injuries, she survived through sheer grit. Sadly, her boyfriend lost his life. Petra has still the sparks of the model she was with a bright future ahead of her. She models Christina swimwear from time to time.

Heidi Klum is one of the best known swimsuit models in the whole wide world. Hailing from Germany, Heidi has made a name for herself in other fields too. She has her own line of designer wear. She produces a fragrance named after her and has lent her name to Mouawad, the jewelry designer. Heidi and singer Seal are a couple and have three children.

Do you know what goes into the making a swimsuit? Here goes……

Raw Material: Lets us start with the raw material. The fabric used for the swimsuit is dyed with the help of synthetic dyes. There are a variety of ways in which dyes can be used to give different effects to swimsuits. Cloth dipped in dye and water solution is the simplest way. When an oxygen reagent is added to the dye, the color spreads evenly on the fabric. When tin, chromium and aluminium are added to the dye and a color is added, color forms within.  Colored patterns can be created by using fabrics made from different kinds of yarn like polyester and nylon.

Design: This is most important part of the making of a swimsuit. Designers take into consideration the latest trends in fashion before designing the swimsuit. Along with this, designers also consider fastness of color, elasticity of fabric and comfort. With the help of computer-aided design (CAD) and sketches made by hand, designers create new styles. There is a lot of creativity that goes into designing a swimsuit.  The swimsuit is then tried out on a mannequin and adjusted till the look desired by the designer is achieved.

Process of Manufacturing: This mostly takes place through a computerized process in factories from cutting to assembling to stitching, to loading for shipment.

Quality control: Swimsuits go through a number of quality tests before they are made available for sale to the public. Color and Fabric strength is tested by washing repeatedly in chlorinated, salt and fresh water and exposed in direct as well as simulated sunlight. Swimsuits are stretched and weighed down to check if the original shapes are retained. Plus size swimsuits are also tested with the help of volunteers who check for wearability and comfort. Brands such  as longitude and delta burke are experts at  creating and developing swimwear.

There is so much that goes into the making of a swimsuit. Now you know!

The inventor of synchronized swimming, Annette was multi-faceted person. Australian by birth, she was a professional swimmer, writer, film star and strong advocate for bringing a change in swimwear for women.

Annette had to wear steel braces at age of six to combat weakness in the legs. To overcome this, Annette’s parents made her take up swimming. By the time she was 15, Annette had become a good swimmer, mastering all strokes. She also was into diving displays.

Annette was the first woman to try and swim across the English Chanel. She gave up after three attempts saying, “I had the endurance but not the brute strength".

Annette advocated women’s rights to wear the one-piece swimsuit. This created a huge controversy in the conservative world of the 1900s. She was even arrested for indecency on a beach in Boston for wearing a one piece suit!

She established her own line of swim wear called "Annette Kellermans". This was the first signs of the appearance of modern swimwear.

Her physical proportions were perfect. In 1908, Dr.Dudley A.Sargent, from the Harvard University studied the physical attributes of 3000 women and dubbed Annette the Perfect Woman.

Annette acted in a number of films. Most of her films had aquatic adventures as the theme. She even performed stunts like diving into a crocodile pool from 60 feet and diving into the sea form 90 feet! The first mermaid swimming costume made its appearance in the film ‘The Mermaid” in 1911, in which Annette acted. She last acted in 1924, in a movie called “Venus of the South Seas”.

The International Swimming Hall of Fame honored her in 1974.  She died in 1975. She will always be remembered for her contribution to making the plus size swimsuit, comfortable for women.

The swimsuit has become associated with glamour. Every year, since 1964, during the month of February, the ‘Sports Illustrated’ has come out with the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Models in swimwear photographed at exotic locations are featured.

There are huge advertising revenues flowing to the company on account of this issue. In 2005, the issue grossed $35 million through advertisements.

Being featured in this issue is an honor for models and is an announcement that a model has arrived on fashion scene. Kathy Ireland featured on the 25th Anniversary issue in 1989 and it was totally sold out. Heidi Klum, Cheryl Tags, Paulina Porizkova, Rachel Hunter, Marisa Miller and Tyra Banks were some of the supermodels who had the privilege to grace the front cover of the swimsuit issue.

Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Angie Everhart and Stephanie Seymour have also featured in the pages of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue from time to time.

Among female athletes who have appeared are Steffi Graf in 1997, Serena Williams and Ekaterina Gordeeva in 2003 and the glamorous Anna Kournikova in 2004, Amanda Beard, Lauren Jackson, Venus Williams and Jennie Finch in 2005 and Maria Sharapova in 2006. Such is the glamour associated with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

In 2007, music was the theme of the issue and 10-time Grammy award winner, Beyonce Knowles appeared on the cover. Beyonce has her own line of swimsuits under the ‘House of Deron’ wear.

The issue has its share of opposition from feminists and moralists.  But it has brought swimsuits to limelight with one issue every year devoted only to swimwear!

It is time for the Swimsuit Wars at the Beijing Olympics starting from 8 August 2008.  Australia has sounded its bugle with the launch of the LZR Racer suits from Speedo. These seamless swimsuits are designed for the space age and the passive drag is 5% less than that of Speedo FS-PRO.

It is touted to be the ‘biggest evolution’ in swimwear for sports. Speedo, NASA, the University of Otago and the  Australian Institute of Sport worked together to produce this marvel. LZR is truly a technological wonder as it has helped swimmers wearing the LZR  break over 30 world records. The top swimmers of Australia, Leisel Jones and Grant Hackett sport the LZR.

LZR was launched in February 2008 and the swimmers wearing it have set 18 new world records so far.

Critics of the LZR say that swimmers wearing the LZR get an unfair advantage over other swimmers. In fact, Alberto Castagnetti, the Italian Coach has said that LZR was a kind of  "technological doping”.

Anyway, to give competition to the LZR, many other high-tech suits are going to make their appearance at the Beijing Olympics from Adidas, Mizuno and Arena. The Italian team is being sponsored by Arena. Laure Manaudou, the French Star also wears Arena.

Japan which is one of the main contenders, will have their swimmers wearing the range from Descante, Asics and Mizuno.  Asics uses a polyurethane material that squeezes the legs for producing powerful kicks, while Mizuno has incorporated a new material that tightens the body of the swimmer and reduced the friction in water. Come August, it will be interesting to watch the swimming wars at the Beijing Olympics.  May the best swimmer and the best swimsuit win!

In the olden times, people mostly swam in the nude. The first signs of a semblance of the modern-day swimsuit dates back to Pompei. We find them in the murals at Pompei. The murals depict women with two pieces of clothing covering the hips and breasts, a la bikini! Men in all cultures across the world normally wore an undergarment or loin cloth while swimming like Japan’s ‘Fundoshi’.

Coming to the 18^th century, women wore bathing gowns during this period. These were dresses covering your body up to your toes. They were made of material that wouldn’t become transparent on contact with water. The hems had weights sewn in to prevent the dress from rising up in the water. Imagine how cumbersome it must have been for women!

Men were more comfortable, wearing close-fitting, full garments made of wool. The garment was full-sleeved and had legs like that found in long underwear worn by men during that time.

The 19^th century saw the come-back of the two piece swimsuit for women but with a difference. One piece covered the area from the shoulder to the knees. The other piece was like trousers reaching up to ankle level.

The end of World War II saw the emergence of the first bikini. The bikini got its name from the ‘Bikini Atoll’ where many nuclear weapons were tested. The name denotes the explosive effect of the bikini!

Subsequently, swimsuits for men become shorter and shorter like that of women. ‘Speedo’ suits, G-strings, bikini style (for men? Yes for men in the tropics!) and Thongs are now worn by men.

The 1990s has seen a new style in swimwear for men; baggy shorts with hemline below the knees. Thanks are due to all those wonderful designers who have made the ubiquitous swimsuit so comfortable for us to wear in this age.