Yesterday's post focused on Californian designers and mentioned among the others swimwear created by Rose Marie Reid. As stated in that feature the designer came up with figure flattering details in her swimsuits, experimenting with fabrics and shapes that provided support and comfort at the same time.
During the 1950s Reid enjoyed particular success with the "hourglass suit", a garment that reshaped the upper part of the body thanks to a corset-like design and that fell more gently around the hips. One advert celebrating the swimsuit featured three women modelling the design in three different pastel colours. The models in the advert completed the ensemble with matching bathing caps.
Swim caps were introduced around the early 20th century: originally they were made in natural rubber or rubberized fabrics, and by the 1920s the added chin strap introduced wearers to the aviator's style. In the '30s they also inspired felt, lamé or velvet hats ideal for travelling or to wear during sport events, as shown in the illustrations by René Gruau, for the magazine Lidel (15th March 1930).
After the Second World War bathing caps were worn as part of matching swimwear outfits that could include swimsuit, beach towel, robe and tote bag.
But the golden age of the swim cap arrived in the 1950s with caps that presented intriguing textures and prints or elaborate embellishments such as floral petals, bows and synthetic ribbons.
The most flamboyant styles went out of fashion in the 1960s – as Space Age introduced indeed a less extravagant and more linear and minimalistic trend – and around the 1970s. But by then fashion had already introduced the swim cap in editorials that went on to become iconic.
Two examples? Norman Parkinson's portrait of Jerry Hall with a turquoise telephone receiver ironically stuck in her latex cap (an image that became a Vogue cover), and Hall photographed by Parkinson as she posed ready to dive from a styrofoam plinth in Russia wearing a red swimsuit by Martil and heeled sandals by Manolo Blahnik.
In the 1980s latex, Lycra and other materials were employed, while silicone was introduced in the last few years and is favoured by both amateur and professional swimmers who want to diminish underwater drag caused by hair.
If you like bathing caps and the effect they create when matched with ordinary clothes, you may be happy to hear there may be a come back next Spring/Summer – Miuccia Prada relaunched indeed the item during Miu Miu's S/S 17 runway show.
On the runways the models donned indeed ruched shorts and bikinis decorated with cross-stitched motifs, bloomers, and terry-towel skirts.
In some cases the designs were characterised by prints reminiscent of the vintage beach towels with geometric motifs in a clashing palette – think contrasting shades of green and turquoise, orange and brown and you get the idea.
The bathrobe-like coats – in shaved mink, in shiny pool blue plastic or covered in checkered or optical striped patterns – were often matched with bathing caps covered in blooming flowers and petals and fastened under the chin, a trend that looked borrowed from the '60s, while shoes included wedge sandals with elaborate carved platforms (at times in transparent blue plastic View this photo) featuring embossed shells and starfish, flip-flops with flat-soles and sandals with vinyl appliques that called to mind Prada's pumps from the A/W 2008 collection.
Quite a few looks were remniscent of Prada A/W 2011-12 collection, that, as fashionistas may remember, featured several chinstrap caps that looked like crossovers between bathing caps and vintage aviator's helmets (View this photo).
The result was vintage poolside glamour with a sci-fi twist, even though the playful yet kitsch mood was interspersed with gloomy shades of black that introduced a sort of somber atmosphere, as if Miuccia Prada had in mind not just climate changes, but also the apocalyptic colours in Mihalis Kakogiannis' The Day the Fish Came Out or the nuclear disaster in Stanley Kramer's On The Beach. In a way, that's nothing new since for Miuccia there has always been a double side to glamour, but, hopefully, disaster isn't awaiting us too soon and we'll still have the chance to rediscover the allure of bathing caps in the Spring/Summer 2017.
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