t hugged the body and was constructed to allow shoulder straps to be lowered for tanning. By the end of the decade, molded-fit suits were introduced, featuring the "nude look." The "panel suit" was also popular, retaining a small skirt.The 1940's had bathing beauties, pin-up girls, glamour girls wearing high heels, and jewelry to accessorize their bathing attire. The most exciting was on July 5, 1946, designer Louis Reard introduced a 2-piece creation called the "bikini" at a fashion show in Paris. The suit was named after a few small South Pacific islands called Bikini Atoll. It was proclaimed to be the smallest suit ever and helped comply with the war fabric rations.In 1951, bikinis, perhaps seen as an unfair advantage to the wearer, are banned from beauty pageants after the Miss World Contest. The tasteful one-piece reigns supreme. As late as 1959, a woman caught wearing a bikini on New York's Rockaway Beach could be fined $5.The 1960's were a daring time. Rudi Gernrich came out with his monokini (the topless swimsuit). In 1960, Brian Hyland sings "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," triggering a bikini-buying spree among American teens. In the 1970s in Europe, Rio and St. Tropez produce the Tanga suit-- also called the Thong, the string bikini or "dental floss." In 1983 Carrie Fisher, as Princess Leia, wears an ornate version of the bikini in "Return of the Jedi. When Reard, the bikini creator, died in 1984, the bikini made up almost 20% of all swimwear sales in the United States and Canada. Due to side effects of plastic surgery and implants, many women in the 1990's have returned to suits with intricately engineered wires, silicone inserts and other fiberfill push up devices. In 1993: the "sports bikini in the form of a hugging halter-top design becomes the rage, thanks to Volleyball queen Gabrielle Reece and MTV. In 1997, designer John Galliano created a maillot made of satin and jewels, priced at $25,000.Sec...
