Although Seaside Beach, along Oregon’s northern coast, is viewed as a family vacation destination, the town is better known for its many “young people” events, to include numerous “National Bikini Day” events July 5th at local Seaside bars and clubs. At the same time, Marci and Julie think a day set aside to honor the bikini is “bogus, because it’s just guys getting their kicks in a weird way ‘cause you don’t see guys being jeered at in their bikinis?” Either way, Marci and Julie admit that they will put on one of their wee little swim suits so not to be viewed as prudish. In turn, their boyfriends say “they love it.”
National Bikini Day an excuse for seaside cheesecake
While researching National Bikini Day and bikini’s in general poses a lot of distractions, there’s numerous history reports about how the French engineer Louis Reard came up with the first bikini; including photos of the actress Micheline Bernardini wearing the first bikini,1946.
In fact, there’s a clear relationship between the bikini and being French, states Jacques Laurent and Cécil Saint-Laurent, in their book “A History of Ladies Underwear,” that points out how the bikini is more than just a “two-piece swimsuit.” The authors point out the bikini was created in response to “hot weather” and that the bikini “is viewed along the lines of women’s underwear,” because the bikini bottom can be a thong, a g-string or a brief.
Moreover, when the French engineer Louis Reard invented the bikini, history reports state that he named it after the “Bikini Atoll” in the Pacific that’s famous for being the site of the French nuclear weapons tests on July 5, 1946, per the official birthday of Reard’s bikini invention.
Another Frenchman, the fashion historian Olivier Saillard, also noted that the bikini is the most popular female beachwear around the globe, due to “the power of women, and not the power of fashion.”
According to various histories of the bikini, this very tiny swimsuit is also credited with the “emancipation of women” after the “emancipation of swimwear” from the early 20th century when both men and women were wearing full length swimming suits that covered all their body parts.
In turn, the NPD consumer and retail information company puts bikinis as a major billion dollar a year business worldwide. And, bikini’s are also liked by men, say bar promoters here in Seaside, Oregon.
Image source of Micheline Bernardini wearing the first bikini, 1946: Wikipedia