Bikini's birthday

This year the bikini celebrates its 60th birthday. It has evolved from a scandalous invention to the must-have fashion statement. The first bikini was invented by engineer Louis Réard and was worn by nude dancer Micheline Bernardini during a beauty contest on 5 July 1946 - no self-respecting model would don the two-piece. The bikini caused an uproar, although the invention had - in a more modest version - featured in several late 1930s movies. However, back then the navel was never bared. According to the Hays Production Code, actresses were prohibited from revealing their navels before a rolling camera. Réard's design was therefore a veritable breakthrough, but caused such a scandal that his subsequent designs had to be far less revealing to help boost sales. The bikini was initially banned by the Church in Italy, Spain and Portugal. An anti-bikini society was formed in Rio de Janeiro (oh the irony!) in 1947 and even the French were slow to adopt the "the little bit of nothing". Hollywood succumbed to the charms of the bikini, featuring shapely young actresses like Brigitte Bardot, Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth and Jayne Mansfield. Eventually, when Life magazine featured Mansfield wearing the two-piece, it became acceptable in the US.

German-speaking countries were much less accepting. A1957 issue of "Das Mädchen" reads: "We don't need to waste any words on the so-called bikini. After all, it is unthinkable that a decent girl with tact would ever wear such a thing." Only in the 60s did the bikini gain acceptibility in Germany, thanks largely to Ursula Andress' legendary bikini scene in James Bond's Dr No in 1962. Now the bikini is as much a part of our lives as the one-piece. In fact it has gained in popularity and one can't help but trip over women wearing one at the beach. To paraphrase the Virginia Slims ad: "You've come a long way, baby!"