Women's Bathing and Swimming Costume in the United States

Before women could vote, they were drowning in wool. This meticulous scholarly work traces the remarkable transformation of women's bathing attire from floor-length, hundred-pound garments that nearly sank their wearers to the practical swimsuits of the modern era. Claudia Brush Kidwell documents how each shift in fabric, cut, and coverage reflected broader battles over women's place in public life: the rise of seaside resorts, the emergence of women's athletics, the health craze of the early twentieth century, and the long fight for recreational equality. Through court records, fashion periodicals, patent filings, and photographs, Kidwell reconstructs a material history that is ultimately about autonomy: what women were permitted to do in the water, and what their bodies were permitted to reveal. This isn't just for fashion historians. Anyone curious about how freedom of movement became women's birthright will find here a surprising and deeply researched account of liberation, one stitch at a time.