Sports and Leisure

Men generally bathed without any clothing before the middle of the nineteenth century, and even up tol the 1870s when bathing drawers in striped flannel were increasingly adopted for modesty. The Rev Francis Kilvert described "running down naked to the sea" in 1872, but by 1874 prudery had set in, and he felt compelled to start wearing drawers to cover his nudity. A campaign to ban public nudity took off and during the 1880s most seaside corporations issued edicts forbidding bathing without costumes. Certainly by the 1890s, all-in-one costumes were common for men, along the lines of some female costumes, and often made of striped jersey or cotton.

This costume of about 1900 is typical of that date, and can be distinguished from a woman's by its relative simplicity, its centre front buttoned opening, and its lack of any modesty-piece as a short skirt. It is remarkable to think that in contrast to this garment, only twenty years later, men were wearing bathing trunks similar to today's styles.

Full item descriptions:

"bathing costume & swimsuit" [1965.20]

Related Themes:

Early Swimwear