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An itsy bitsy anniversary
70 years of that essential Riviera wardrobe item; the bikini
Each year without fail hundreds of thousands of women prepare for the arrival of summer with the purchase of a new bikini or two. This essential holiday item caused a stir when it was introduced 70 years ago, and today, nothing seems to have changed.
The very first outing of the revealing two-piece was during a swimwear competition at Paris' chic Molitor pool. French engineer turned lingerie designer Louis Reard created what he claimed was "the world's smallest bathing suit" which "reveals everything about a girl except for her mother's maiden name."
Covering just 30 square inches of skin with four triangles covering the essentials, he named it the 'bikini', after an atomic bomb test at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands just a few days before.
The design caused quite the stir with none of the swimsuit models willing to wear the skimpy number. In fact, Reard eventually recruited an exotic dancer for Casino Paris to step out in the revealing outfit. It took some time to for the tiny item to be accepted into the fashion world, and it wasn't until the mid 50's that the bikini became commercially popular.
A 19-year-old Brigitte Bardot was spotted wearing a bikini on the beaches of Cannes during the 1957 Film Festival, and five years later the two piece emerged from the sea in 'that' scene from James Bond with the stunning Ursula Andress. Raquel Welch caused a stir in 1966 with a fur bikini in the film One Million Years BC - still known as one of the best bikini bodies of all time. And who could forget Carrie Fisher in the 1983 film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Every school boys dream, Princess Leia in the gold bikini.
Since then the media have continued to be fascinated with the item. Whenever a star or celebrity is spotted on a beach or in the sea, the bikini is deemed worthy of a mention. Numerous adverts in the run up to summer are aimed at achieving that 'bikini-body' and each year the fashion brands display their new and improved versions of this essential wardrobe item.
