The Early Seaside Fashion History

The fashion history of swimwear took its lead from ordinary dress and the outfits were very modest, almost totally covering the body.

One of the early images of swimwear is the dress shown in this Yorkshire picture right and depicting coastal life in Georgian Britain in 1813. Note how the bather is assisted into the sea from a bathing machine.

One reason people often find themselves on this webpage, is that they are looking for a swimming costume for re-enactment. One website I have found with a selection of swimming costume patterns is the online site Ageless Patterns and there is Link further down the page Check which style you really need before visiting them.

Late Victorian Swimwear

Even when bloomers were accepted by many late Victorians as cycling wear in the 1890s they still remained only on the fringes of fashions of the day.

Swimwear fashion changes moved very slowly. Differences in swimsuit styles were simple such as the introduction of short cap sleeves. Eventually sleeveless styles with more ankle showing beneath the bloomers became usual.

Today's popular swimwear like Vix swimwear is far different from Victorian swimwear.

Edwardian Swimsuits

Edwardian Swimsuits were very similar to Victorian styles. They were still made of wool and now consisted of bloomers and a wool over dress.

The dress was now a sleeveless version and the outfit was worn with black stockings and laced footwear.

Pictures of Edwardian swimwear.

Retro Re-enactment Swimwear

If you are seeking fully made up garments at reasonable cost and suitable for re-enactment in Victorian and Edwardian style then try those by Marianne at Recollections . I am a long time fan of Marianne and her period clothing website Recollections. Recently Marianne introduced several retro ladies swimming costumes to her extensive range of over 500 costumes. You can see for yourself in the photographs below good these look.

Victorian Swimwear

Once the railway arrived in Britain the masses visited the seaside regularly and it spawned a need for new fashions.

In the early Victorian era women had worn serge or dark flannel bathing dresses, but by the 1860s two piece belted costumes replaced the earlier styles.

The swimwear bodice top was jacket like and the swimsuit bottom part three quarter trousers which had been rejected only a decade earlier when Amelia Bloomer urged women to adopt them.