Bathing Costume thumbnail 1
Not on display

Bathing Costume

1964 (made)
Artist/Maker
Gernreich, Rudi (designer)
Place of origin
United States (made)

Topless bathing suit of knitted black and white checked wool with black straps. It consists of a shaped, high waisted pair of pants with cutaway legs and two cross-over black stretch-knit straps. The legs and waist are elasticised, and it has a black nylon gusset.

Delve deeper

Discover more about this object
read Knitted underwear Whether socks or swimwear, long johns or leggings, knitting has been as important to what we put on under our clothes as to the clothes themselves. Some of the earliest knitted items were underwear and the growth of the machine-knitting industry was based on underwear's popularity. Even on...

Object details

Categories
Sport
Fashion
Clothing
Object type
Bathing costume
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Bathing Costume
  • Gusset
Materials and techniques
Knitted wool, nylon gusset
Wool
Brief description
Bathing costume of wool, designed by Rudi Gernreich, United States, 1964.
Physical description
Topless bathing suit of knitted black and white checked wool with black straps. It consists of a shaped, high waisted pair of pants with cutaway legs and two cross-over black stretch-knit straps. The legs and waist are elasticised, and it has a black nylon gusset.
Dimensionsapproximate footprint (mm): W500 x D500 x H1600
Production typeReady to wear
Marks and inscriptions
Woven label, black on white 'RUDI GERNREICH - Design for HARMON KNITWEAR'
Credit line
Given by Mrs Smith
Object history
Historical significance: Rudi Gernreich was the first designer to design and have manufactured a topless bathing costume. The design caused great controversy and generated a massive amount of publicity and notoriety for the designer. It was modelled by Peggy Moffitt in what has become a famous photograph.
Association
Moffitt, Peggy
Bibliographic reference
Fashion : An Anthology by Cecil Beaton. London : H.M.S.O., 1971 no. 341
Collection
Textiles and Fashion Collection
Accession number
T.257:1, 2-1974

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJuly 16, 2007
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O137433/bathing-costume-gernreich-rudi/
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest