Bathing costumes

While the 1920s started the trend for leisure activities like swimming, it was economic changes in the 1930s that made swimming a pastime for everyone -- not just those lucky enough to live near a beach. The New Deal funded community pools to open up around the country. Cheap entry prices made swimming an affordable

Scanned real photo postcard

Before we hit the pool or shore this summer, we're taking a look back at how the swimsuit has evolved through the years. From wool shorts to corsets, this might be what you need to appreciate your faithful tankini.

Cardigans, rain macs and Wellington boots have inspired the beachwear collection of John Lewis. It took the British summer as inspiration as recession-hit families choose to holiday in the UK.

Policemen measure a woman in a bathing suit, circa 1920.

These vintage photos show Edwardian men in swimsuits that are pretty simple and funny.

Think it’s hot at the beach these days? Imagine wearing wool, which is what the first garments we’d recognize as swimsuits were made of. But maybe wool had its charms. Just check out these interesting vintage photographs below and see how swimsuits evolved from Victorian times to the bikini Age. A woman wearing a fashionable bathing costume, circa 1870. (Hulton Archive—Getty Images) Holidaymakers posing in bathing suits in the ocean surf at Santa Monica, Calif., circa 1890. (American Stock…

Flashback to the 1960s and 1970s, where the modest swimsuit of the 1950s went out and in came the cute two piece bikini and flashy one piece bathing suit. 60s swimsuits with contrasting Mod colorblocks were one fad and jewel tone bathing suits were another. Pink, green, orange, black were common. Gingham checks, stripes, and