--- title: The Bikini: Photos of a Summer Fashion Classic Through the Years description: LIFE celebrates a suit that's enjoyed dizzying array of permutations through the years: the bikini canonical: https://time.com/3696501/bikini-swimsuit-life-photography/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-18T23:11:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:05:50.551Z og:title: The Bikini: Photos of a Summer Fashion Classic Through the Years og:description: LIFE celebrates a suit that's enjoyed dizzying array of permutations through the years: the bikini og:url: https://time.com/3696501/bikini-swimsuit-life-photography/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteaee8134102daa3d/69877db6428a9e0fa9cc6f9a/bikini-swimsuit-life-01.jpg?branch=production&width=974&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 974 og:image:height: 548 og:image:alt: bikini-swimsuit-LIFE-01 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Bikini: Photos of a Summer Fashion Classic Through the Years twitter:description: LIFE celebrates a suit that's enjoyed dizzying array of permutations through the years: the bikini twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteaee8134102daa3d/69877db6428a9e0fa9cc6f9a/bikini-swimsuit-life-01.jpg?branch=production&width=974&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Two-Piece Be With You: In Praise of the Bikini > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove May 18, 2014 11:11 PM UTC  Model June Pickney, 1960. Model June Pickney, 1960.Stan Wayman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove May 18, 2014 11:11 PM UTC On July 5, 1946, less than a week after the United States detonated an atomic bomb above tiny Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific, a Frenchman named [Louis Réard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis%5FReard) — an automobile engineer moonlighting as a fashion designer — introduced to the sunbathing public what was billed as the world’s smallest swimsuit. Réard called his creation the bikini, a name inspired, he later said, by the sight of women rolling up their bathing suits in order to acquire a more complete tan. Two-piece swimsuits had, of course, been around for a long, long time before Réard came along. Greek urns and mosaics created more than 3,000 years ago depict women athletes wearing two-piece outfits. But Réard’s genius was to devise a garment, out of as little fabric as possible, that one could still legally wear in public. He marketed his new fashion brilliantly, as well — pronouncing, for example, that a bathing suit wasn’t a _true_ bikini unless both pieces could be pulled through a wedding ring. Here, LIFE.com offers a celebration of a bathing staple that, through the years, has enjoyed — and endured — a dizzying array of permutations while always remaining, unmistakably, itself. Some of the early photos in this gallery depict two-piece bathing suits that might, at first glance, look like bona fide bikinis — but, in Réard’s eyes, would not fit the bill. After all, can be wearing a genuine bikini if, say, one’s bellybutton is covered by a swath of nylon, no matter how elegant or tasteful that swath might be. Bikinis are not for everyone. There are, _thankfully_, as many styles of bathing suit as there are human body types and temperaments. That said, it remains incontestably true that few sights can evoke thoughts of summer’s delights with quite the same visceral punch as the unmistakable silhouette of Monsieur Réard’s ingeniously simple, timeless design.  Model June Pickney, 1960. Stan Wayman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Actress Linda Christian, the first "Bond Girl," in 1945. Bob Landry—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Sunbathing in France, 1945. Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Actress Dona Drake playfully takes aim with a rifle on the balcony of her Los Angeles home, 1942. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Model Lynn Jones, 1955. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  French actress Barbara Lange in a makeshift two-piece bathing suit she cut from one yard of cloth, 1945. Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Young woman in a bikini, Santa Monica, Calif., 1940. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Sun tan with creative "tattoos," 1941. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Rita Hayworth at home in Los Angeles, 1945. Peter Stackpole—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Bather, Florida, 1945. Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Florida, 1945. Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Florida, 1945. Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Sunbathing in France, 1945. Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Sunbathing in France, 1945. Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Sunbathing in France, 1945. Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Sunbathing in France, 1945. Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Beauty pageant winner Jackie Lee Barnes poses poolside in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1949. Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Model in a bikini, 1950. Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Model in a bikini, 1950. Ed Clark—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  French fashion model Christiane Richard wears a bikini while drinking her morning coffee, 1950. Nat Farbman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Jayne Mansfield poses with hot-water bottle likenesses floating around her, 1957. Allan Grant—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Skin diving in Israel, 1960. Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Sunbathing, 1961. Allan Grant—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Jayne Mansfield and unidentified man, 1961. Stan Wayman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Actress Philomene Toulouse, cradling a pet fox, vies for attention at the Cannes film festival, 1962. Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Cannes, France, 1962. Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1964. Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Hungarian model, 1965. Walter Sanders—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Model Naty Abascal shows off designs on her chest and stomach, Bahamas, 1968. Bill Eppridge—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Near Malibu, California, 1970. Co Rentmeester—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Southern California, 1970. 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