A bikini or two-piece is a type of women's swimsuit, characterized by two separate parts — one covering the breasts (optionally in the case of the Monokini), the other the groin (and optionally the buttocks), leaving an uncovered area between the two garments. It is often worn in hot weather or while swimming. The shapes of both parts of a bikini closely resemble women's underwear, and the lower part of a bikini can therefore range from the more revealing thong or g-string, to briefs, and modest square-cut shorts.
Bikini was invented by French engineer Louis Réard in 1946 and he named it after the Bikini Atoll, which was the site of a nuclear weapon test called Operation Crossroads on July 1, 1946 in the Pacific. The reasoning for the name was that the burst of excitement created by it would be like a nuclear device. Monokini, a bikini variant, derives its name, as a back formation, from bikini, interpreting the first syllable as the Latin prefix bi- (meaning "two" or "doubled") and substituting for it mono- (meaning "one"). Jacques Heim called his bikini precursor the Atome (named for its size), while Louis Réard claimed to have "split the Atome" to make it smaller.
Bikini is the most popular beachwear around the globe, which is, according to French fashion historian Olivier Saillard, due to "the power of women, and not the power of fashion", as he explains, ""The emancipation of swimwear has always been linked to the emancipation of women."By mid 2000s, these two-piece bathing suits eveolved into an US$ 811 million business annually, according to the NPD Group, a consumer and retail information company. The bikini has boosted spin-off services like bikini waxing and the sun tanning industries.
Source : Wikipedia
Bikini was invented by French engineer Louis Réard in 1946 and he named it after the Bikini Atoll, which was the site of a nuclear weapon test called Operation Crossroads on July 1, 1946 in the Pacific. The reasoning for the name was that the burst of excitement created by it would be like a nuclear device. Monokini, a bikini variant, derives its name, as a back formation, from bikini, interpreting the first syllable as the Latin prefix bi- (meaning "two" or "doubled") and substituting for it mono- (meaning "one"). Jacques Heim called his bikini precursor the Atome (named for its size), while Louis Réard claimed to have "split the Atome" to make it smaller.
Bikini is the most popular beachwear around the globe, which is, according to French fashion historian Olivier Saillard, due to "the power of women, and not the power of fashion", as he explains, ""The emancipation of swimwear has always been linked to the emancipation of women."By mid 2000s, these two-piece bathing suits eveolved into an US$ 811 million business annually, according to the NPD Group, a consumer and retail information company. The bikini has boosted spin-off services like bikini waxing and the sun tanning industries.
Source : Wikipedia
