1960 : A FUNNY LITTLE SONG TO POPULARIZE THE BIKINI.

No recent decade is more fascinating and prodigious than that of the sixties (1960-1970).  The conservatism of the fifties (1950-1960) was followed by a period of extraordinary liberalism.  New times marked by incredible vitality, tremendous inventiveness and audacity never seen before.

These years can be designated by the word «revolution» as the changes were numerous and radical compared to previous eras.

In 1960, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved «the pill», an oral contraceptive, which would be at the origin of the new age of sexual liberation, of «free love».  This is also the prelude to the emancipation of women and the liberation of morals.

The sixties revolution also manifested itself in culture and the arts.  This was the advent of «Pop Art» with, among others, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.

In music, rock & roll and psychedelic sound electrified the atmosphere with bands like : the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, the Doors, and Jimi Hendrix (picture above).

In the sixties, the progress is enormous on the scientific and technological levels (computers, first heart transplant, conquest of space, etc).

We are also witnessing a generational change.  Young people are very numerous and they shake up the established order (students revolt in Paris, May '68).  This translate into multiple demonstrations and demands : against the war (Vietnam), for civil rights, those of women, homosexuals and minorities.

In 1964, singer Bob Dylan summed up these upheavals well in his song «The Times They Are a-Changin» (video below, at the White House in early January 2011).

In politics it is also a complete renewal.  The conservatives cede power to the liberals (John F. Kennedy in the USA, Lester B. Pearson in Canada).  In Asia and Africa, it is decolonization.

Let us make no mistake.  Many people say the sixties were the «golden years».  This was not a golden age.  In 1961, this is the construction of the shameful Berlin Wall.  In 1962, the world is moving to a hair's breadth of atomic war, with the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Then will follow the Kennedy brothers (John & Bobby) and Martin Luther King assassinations, the Vietnam war...

Despite the Peace & Love movement of the hippies, the world remains violent and dangerous in the sixties.

In these years, clothing fashion is also undergoing major transformations.  For women, more and more liberated, and who do not want to look like their mother, it is the total shock with the fashion of tights, pantsuit, miniskirt and acceptance of bikini on the beaches.  The use of synthetic materials is spreading for clothing.

It is a radical break with the fashion of the fifties.  Such an important revolution that has a major impact that is still felt today.  Periodically, in the decades that followed, the vintage fashion of the sixties reappeared or was readapted.

For fashion, it was a prosperous time with the domination of great couturiers such as : Saint-Laurent, Courrèges, Mary Quant, Paco Rabanne, Pierre Cardin...  They can count on fabulous models or lovely stars to wear their creations : Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Ursula Andress, Raquel Welch, Marilyn Monroe, Jane Birkin, Catherine Deneuve, Twiggy (photo above), etc.

The silhouette of women is redesigned.  The desire for thinness is exacerbated.  Weight Watchers launched its diets in 1963.  Two years earlier, Wonderbra had created its first push-up bra.

All accessories also go into «revolutionary» mode : whether glasses (futuristic style), jewelry (very showy and oversized), shoes (mid-calf boots), handbags (mini and flashy) and, of course, the famous miniskirt.  From the mid-calf skirt of the fifties, we boldly switched to the mid-thigh miniskirt.  Quite a leap into space !

On the bikini side, in the sixties we finally move to popular acceptance.  Because in the fifties, women, in general, do not yet dare to wear it in public.  Firstly, because in many countries it is prohibited under penalty of fines.  And also, because it was considered indecent, according to the morality of the time, still strongly influenced by religion.

It's funny to note that in 1960, it was a funny little song that helped popularize the bikini, causing a marked increase in sales of this tiny bathing suit.  Indeed, Brian Hyland is a great success with his song «Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini» (video below).  Another proof that art can greatly influence culture and society..

CHEERLEADERS IN THE 1960s : HERE COME THE SISTERS !

In 1960, cheerleading took another giant step. The prestigious National Football League opens its doors for the first time to professional cheerleaders. It is the Baltimore Colts who have the honor and the happiness to make this gesture which is both a recognition of the enviable status already achieved by cheerleading but which will also serve as a springboard for the evolution of this future sport.

The sixties were the battle of civil rights for black people in the United States. These times of uproar and confrontation will especially disrupt the lives of students on university campuses. In the American society, these are progressive places par excellence to feed the demands of blacks, who are more and more numerous in these institutions of higher education. 

In the south of the country, where they are still in greater numbers, blacks often protest against the fact that they are not sufficiently well represented in cheerleader teams. At certain hotspots in the United States, this will result in demonstrations, boycotts of classes and even riots.

The integration of the "blacks" in cheerleading will be done little by little but it will experience some difficulties due to the differences in styles. Because of their culture and genetic background, blacks are more adept at a rhythmic acrobatic style. Whites are more oriented towards figures or choreographies that focus more on the beauty and grace of gestures than on high-flying prowess. The marriage of the two styles will be very beneficial to cheerleading and it will later lead it to its peak.

In 1968, when this marriage began to bear fruit, another innovation helped to make the Pom Pom Girls show even more attractive: it was the vinyl pom pom created by Fred Gasthoff. Lawrence Herkimer, however, retains his rights (patent) to this sparkling object that so enhances and embellishes the "work" and the physique of the charming slap leaders.

In the photograph at the top of the article, we see a typical "home coming", a traditional welcoming ceremony made by the cheerleaders of the Baltimore Colts. This happened in 1959 when the Colts players returned after a game played abroad. In the photo montage below, you will be able to see in pictures the subjects I have just addressed. Also on a music of NFL movies, Times of Glory..

HISTORY OF THE BIKINI : BRIGITTE BARDOT AND THE PIN UP GIRLS OF THE 1950s

Brigitte Bardot

In 1946, two Frenchmen, engineer Louis Réard, and fashion designer Jacques Heim, were in a strange competition in Paris.

The challenge : make the smallest two-piece bathing suit for women...

But, given the mores of the time, an obstacle stands in this race with minimal dress : the navel !  In the 1940s, showing it was still considered obscene or forbidden.

In fact, many historians consider that Heim already won this race to the tiniest swimsuit in 1932, by creating his prototype called "The Atom" (pictured above).It was a two-piece somewhat similar to the model that will take the name "bikini" after World War II.

What inspired Louis Réard for his own version of the minimalist swimsuit was a phenomenon he had observed on the French beaches of that time.  He had noticed that, in order to get a better tan, some women rolled the edges of their two-pice bathing suit, surreptitiously discovering their "scandalous" navel !

In his engineering head, Réard (pictured above) understood that this need for women to shorten their own bathing suits by rolling the edges, should lead to an adjustment in the making of the garment.

After all, like many scientific inventions, this is how the bikini was born.  First, the observation of a problem, a need, a desire, or a questionable fact.  Then, the imagination gets to work to find a solution.  This solution then takes shape on the drawing board.  And it is carried out with material means and a skin-fine that proceeds by trial and error.

Thus, in 1946, with more or less accuracy, Réard developed the bikini we know today : a top covering most of the breasts; a stocking, with a triangle at the front to hide the inner part, and at the back enough fabrics to cover more or less half of the buttocks.

Once his invention was made, Louis Réard planned to sell it, as he was also a businessman operating his mother's lingerie shop near the Folies Bergères in Paris.  In order to attrack customers or buyers of his new product, the engineer had to show case it, market it and advertise it.

To do this, Réard was looking for a mannequin -an alive one- to make demonstrations in public.  But his bikini was so daring for the manners of the time, that no one wanted to wear it.

Running out of volunteers, Réard takes great measures.  To present his creation to the world, he hires a nude dancer from the Casino de Paris, Micheline Bernardini (pictured above).

On July 5, 1946, she caused a sensation by appearing, almost completely naked, at the Molitor Pool, in front of the public and photographers, in Réard's minimalist bathing suit !  An instant star, Bernardini has a multitude of admirers, especially among men.  In the days following her audacious presentation, she received no less than 50 000 letters !

But Louis Réard is too far ahead of his time.  His bikini is scandalous and he can't sell it.  Worse, his competitor, Jacques Heim, was more successful in selling a more conservative two-piece bathing suit (like the one pictured above), revealing less of the female anatomy.  However, the clientele remains quite marginal.  It is limited to a small number of wealthy and sophisticated Higher-class Europeans.

Esther Williams

For the bikini to return to store shelves, it will take a bang.  And it is a young woman, many considered the most beautiful in the world, who will give this momentum, so desired by Réard, to take off and boost the sales of his invention hitherto sullied by the ordinary people.

Indeed, at the Cannes Film Festival, in 1953, the blonde and very beautiful French actress Brigitte Bardot dazzled the world by posing in a very sexy bikini.  Bardot launched a fashion that then spread to the adjacent beaches of Saint-Tropez, a town on the French Riviera that quickly became the bikini capital of the world.

Ava Gardner

Other movie and show business stars and pin-up girls will emulate Bardot in the 1950s.  These resplendent and illustrious fans of the new bikini include : Esther Williams, Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, Anita Ekberg and Sophia Loren.

Marilyn Monroe

But, in several American states, or European countries (such as Italy, Spain and Portugal, the bikini is banned.  Wearing it is illegal.  Violators can be fined.  The Pope also condemns the wearing of the bikini.

Sophia Loren

And if, as we approach the 1960s, some magazines or newspapers are showing people in bikinis, these pictures are retouched or censored so that readers can't look at this outrageous navel that no one should see !

Here are some photos of bikini models of the 1950s on a grestest hit of the year 1953 : «Look at that Girl», by Guy Mitchell !