Overview
‘From their suburban homes New Zealanders head east or west to settle along the coast like so many migratory birds, making their temporary homes in tents, caravans and baches. For a society already greatly egalitarian, the beach is the final levelling, where labourers and executives, farming folk, and townies blend together in a confusion of jandals, shorts and t-shirts, togs and towelling hats.’ (1)
Wherever in New Zealand you are, the beach is just a drive away, and sun, sand, and surf have become vital ingredients in kiwi culture. Swimsuits, or togs as we call them in this country, are our favourite holiday attire.
This long-line, one-piece woman’s swimsuit is a typical 1930s design. It is made from petunia-pink wool knit, and has a black border with pink lacing at the front edge. Roslyn Woollen Mills in Kaikorai Valley, Dunedin produced it. They began operating in 1879, and became one of our country's first and most well-known producers of woollen clothing.
Bathing wasn’t popular among the British and Europeans until the eighteenth century, when the medicinal properties of spa and sea waters began to be appreciated. Back then, there were no special bathing costumes. Men bathed naked, while women wore long-sleeved flannel shifts, and were expected to change inside a horse-drawn hut which was then backed into the sea, so they could slip into the water unseen.
Not until early in the nineteenth century, when bathing became a more public activity, did swimwear design become important. By the 1860s women in England and France were wearing bathing bloomers. They covered the woman from top to toe, and, to our modern eyes, look more like ski suits than togs! However, by the beginning of the twentieth century these outfits were becoming skimpier. Swimsuits, or bathing costumes, often consisted of short-sleeved tunics over loose pants that reached the knee. They were generally made of dark material because light colours were see-through when wet!
By the 1920s, the latest swimsuits, for both men and women, were sleeveless all-in-one outfits, that clung to the body and reached mid-thigh. In their time, these were considered very daring.
The 1930s saw togs become even shorter. For both men and women, they were one-piece outfits with small modesty skirts. Sunglasses also became fashionable at this time. They had appeared on the world market in 1885 but, back then, they hadn’t caught on.
There were further new innovations in the mid-1930s: women could now wear a two-piece swimsuit, and many men got rid of the top half of their bathing costume altogether. Togs of this era were mostly knitted. They weren’t very comfortable, being hot and scratchy when they were dry, and heavy and saggy when they were wet.
Over the next decade or so, woollen swimsuits fell out of favour, and were increasingly replaced by cotton ones - often with elastic stitching to make them cling.
In 1946 the women’s bikini arrived. The first bikinis were patterned with bright floral or abstract motifs as boldly as they were designed. The bikini got tinier and tinier until, in the 1970s, the ‘string bikini’ with string ties for the halter bra and the brief pants, caused a sensation.
A pair of swimming togs, like that other New Zealand symbol of outdoor life, the Swanndri, is still an essential item in the wardrobe of the average fresh-air-loving kiwi.
Reference
(1) Barnett S. and Wolfe R. (1989). New Zealand! New Zealand!:
in praise of Kiwiana. Auckland: Hodder and Stoughton. p 142.
Text originally published in Tai Awatea, Te Papa's onfloor multimedia database (1998).