There’s so much talk of cruise or resort collections, holiday wear for chic and genteel people with money to spend on colourful clothes to wear on tropical islands and luxury liners in January and February. But there was a time in the ‘80s when many Italian lingerie companies produced high quality, extremely beautiful and affordable beachwear that could be worn on a cruise, on the beach, on your balcony or in your garden. Such beachwear wasn’t designed for elite buyers or for a niche market but for ordinary people who cared about quality and fashion.
Most of these companies produced bikinis and swimsuits with matching dresses, tops, skirts, trousers, cocktail dresses, shorts and sarongs generally called “copricostumi” (literally “swimsuit cover-ups”) and accessorised them with matching sandals and bags.
Nowadays it’s rare to go to a beach in Italy and actually see anybody wearing such things, the choice is in fact for mismatching beachwear, but in the ‘80s mismatching equalled to a deadly fashion crime. I guess this change in trends was also caused by a social issue: during the ‘80s most people had regular jobs, so they would dress up to go to the beach during their holidays. But Italy has been in a constant financial crisis for the last few years and people who can’t afford holidays or have irregular jobs and live in or around a seaside resort, just wear regular working clothes hiding under them their beachwear, so that they are ready to rush to the beach whenever they have time.
I remember my mum and aunts used to have beautiful matching beachwear you could have definitely dressed up in. In the ‘80s Fiorucci produced very practical bikinis and swimsuits with matching bags: one of my favourite ensembles was a Fiorucci top and huge plastic bag with pop art Hawaiian prints of Mickey and Minnie Mouse that my mum wore for years. Italian lingerie brand Faber used to produce elegant and affordable “copricostumi”, perfect for a dinner at the captain’s table, a poolside cocktail party or a yachting trip around the Mediterranean. Affording these things wasn’t possible, so we would go to the beach and pretend we were on a tropical island just by wearing our wonderful matching beachwear.
Last year while tidying up in the house, my aunt and I found a little treasure at the bottom of a drawer, an early ‘80s Faber two-piece swimsuit and matching dress. 
The former is rather basic, in blue and red with flower prints here and there and a bandeau bra with a triangle of red sequins in the middle and the Faber trademark apple fastening at the back; the belted crepe wrap dress has a red and blue front and an explosion of colourful flower prints on the back (in the picture the dress is worn with a red and black chunky plastic vintage necklace from Noelle Carroll).
My aunt used to wear this ensemble with sandals that had a strap in the same colours of the swimsuit and a beautiful bejewelled cork high heel. Though fascinated by the soft cork of the sandals, I remember my brother and I used to think they were a bit over the top, but I guess when you’re a stylish woman, you make an effort even when you’re just walking down the beach.
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Well written article, and I agree entirely. Thank you for your fresh point of view. Keep up the good work.