The History of the Bikini

Fleshing It Out
During the 1940s, fashion houses pushed the boundaries of bathing suits, exposing considerably more flesh than ever before. War rationing provided the stimulus for the two-piece, when the U.S. government ordered manufacturers to reduce the amount of fabric they used, resulting in the bare midriff. But it would be a Frenchman sitting on a beach in the South of France who worked out that there was money to be made from navel-gazing ...

• The Evolution of the Bikini