The swim shorts and their history

People have been swimming for as long as humanity has existed. Not only to save your life if you unexpectedly fell into the water, but also purely for pleasure. But how did people swim in earlier times? That is what we at goedkopezwembroeken.nl wanted to know. Did they wear swim shorts or other garments?
 
We looked into it, and the answer is simple: no swim shorts at all. Naked! Let’s go back, for example, to the time of the Roman Empire (300 BC). There was a bathing culture at the time. And bathing was done not in swim shorts, but naked. Or in a toga, which was hardly practical. Even when we take a huge leap forward in time to the 19^th century, swimming naked was still considered perfectly normal. Recreational swimming consisted of swimming in the sea; swimming pools did not yet exist. Men and women did not swim together, by the way. A solution had been devised for that. The men-without-swim-shorts had their place on one half of the beach, while the women stayed on the other side. Also naked.
 
The history of swim shorts began around 1850-1870. We know this because a painting from that period (1869) by Frédéric Bazille depicts several bathing men wearing swim briefs. Indeed, it began with swim briefs, the type of swimwear with short legs. And they looked stylish right away, very fashionable for the time. Plain black swim shorts with a white trim, striped patterns and leopard prints can all be seen in the painting in question!
 
Nevertheless, people continued to swim naked frequently until the end of the 19^th century. In certain more “upscale” places, regulations on wearing swimwear were introduced. I say swim shorts, but of course I mean swimsuits. No, really! Men swam in woollen swimsuits, the so-called swimming costumes. It should be noted that being tanned was not particularly desirable at the time, which explains a lot. A tan was associated with labourers, so the upper classes were pale. That signified status. And so swim shorts were actually swimsuits, because heaven forbid you should get a tan. Swimming was still segregated, too.
 
As more and more people began swimming in “swim shorts” and swimsuits, companies logically emerged to manufacture swimwear. Until the end of the 1930s, swim shorts were still mainly made of wool. That changed when nylon was discovered around 1940.
It was also around that time that tanned skin became fashionable, even among the better-off classes. And so men’s swimsuits underwent a metamorphosis into the swim brief (with a high waist) as we know it today.
 
Swim shorts then became smaller and smaller, until in 1960 an Australian company called Speedo made a pair of swim shorts. They were the first to introduce swimwear with a high-cut leg. The swim brief was born and proved a great success. In the 1970s, inspired by flower power, swim shorts became very colourful. You saw both swim briefs, often with wide sides, and swim briefs with extra-short legs. These are all styles we now call retro swim shorts; we have an entire section dedicated to them.
 
By then, swim shorts had become a true fashion item. If you wanted to buy swim shorts, you went shopping for them. In the 1990s, there was another development in swimwear. The loose-fitting swim shorts spread over from America. The swim shorts we now know as swim shorts. For years, these were the most commonly worn swim shorts. Between 2005 and 2010, however, there was another shift. Swim briefs gained popularity year after year, and in recent years the swim brief has also made a full comeback. Looking at the order of events in history, the next step should be that we eventually start swimming naked again. Whether that will actually happen, however, I doubt. Besides, it would be very undesirable for us as goedkopezwembroeken.nl. So please keep buying swim shorts and say no to nudity!