Swimwear for men and women in the 1920s


I was looking through the Duke University site ROAD (Resource of Outdoor Advertising Descriptions), and stumbled on a series of ads for Jantzen swimwear, from various eras. This one is labelled 1929, and seems to be a fair indication of what men and women wore to the beach. Or at least I think so? Let's take a closer look.


Since I'm a man, I'll start by taking a look at what I would be wearing, which looks from the front to seem just like a tank top, but cut out at the sides. So the girls could see the side of my ribcage I guess. And a lot of leg!


From the back is where it gets weird for me. Speaking for myself, I'd really rather not get those suntan lines on my shoulders, if you know what I mean (and I think you do). But let's look at the ladies.


From the front, both men and women's swimwear looks very similar. The backs really aren't that much different, either if you ask me. Of course, this was just an illustration, and I doubt that women really wore heels to the beach, and their heads were probably not so narrow. Artistic license!


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