FASHION: The Galateam Look

The American woman is not likely to be pushed into any radical bathing suits next year, but she may have to be pulled into them. Reason: skintight sweater-a nd sheath-like suits will dominate the 1957 lines. As the first fall showings got under way in New York last week, it was plain that bathing-suit manufacturers had taken their style cues largely from Broadway: a trend to the My Fair Lady look, with Empire bosoms, the half-shell bra, wide shoulder straps, Gay-Nineties stripes, and knee-length pants that can be rolled up for swimming.

“Inner secrets,” says Rose Marie Reid, “create a foundation fit,” for a maillot of zephyr wool and Lastex. Catalina’s striped suit, resembling a TV channel that needs focusing, is made of lisle cotton, clings to the bodice, has loose, boy-length shorts. Cole of California’s “Venus” is a wrapped-to-the-figure white drape. “It’s putty in your hands,” says Cole, “but on your figure it sculpts you as Pygmalion sculptured Galatea.”