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Natural Materials Materials are a central modifier of bathing costumes (BSD8808) and bikinis have been made out of just about every material known. Wool is the initial swimsuit material and is popular throughout the 19th century. In the 20th century the mainstay becomes cotton (a fabric made from the soft fibrous flower of the cotton plant). Other fabrics also important include linen (a fabric woven from flax), rubber (a waterproof and elastic substance made of the sticky, milky sap of the rubber tree and used in swimwear and bathing caps, especially in the 1940s and 1950s), and occasionally silk (a fine, glossy, translucent fiber produced by silkworms), fur, leather and suede (a soft leather). The Bikini Scientist will also encounter some material standards: calico (a plain-woven cotton cloth named after a town in India, and printed with a pattern on one side), gauze (a thin, translucent fabric of cotton, silk, or linen that may be used to manufacture see-through-when-wet bikinis), gingham (a firm, light-weight cotton fabric, woven in solid colors, stripes, checks, or plaids), and terry cloth (a woven fabric, often of cotton, that is used for towels and beach robes because it absorbs water). The fabric weight is the weight of a square yard of flat, uncut fabric. In general, newer bikinis have less weight. Metals, shells and plastics are a sample of rigid materials and a devoted a separate section in Bikiniology. Synthetic Fibers The first synthetic fiber to play a role in swimsuit development is Lastex, a trade name for an elastic, two-way stretch textile from the fine thread of Latex, a chemically modified rubber. Lastex is introduced about 1925 and is quickly incorporated into bathing suit fabric to give it stretch, revolutionizing swimsuit design. The most important of these is nylon, the first completely synthetic fabric, invented by DuPont in 1938. Nylon is derived from coal, air, water, and other substances and may be spun into yarn. It has wide use as a fashion fabric, including hose as well as swimwear. Europeans also call it polyamid and polyamide. And since the 1940s synthetic fabrics have made major contributions to swimwear. Besides nylon these include: Dacron (a trademark for a brand of synthetic polyester fiber invented by DuPont in 1946), rayon (a synthetic fiber made from solutions of cellulose by drawing the cellulose through a die and solidifying it into a filament), and especially Spandex. Spandex, a synthetic fabric invented by DuPont in 1958, and marked by them under the brand name Lyrca, is a very stretchy material and ideal as an ingredient in swimwear. Thin, strong and lightweight, Spandex can be made to stretch on only one or on both axes. The result is a form-fitting garment that hugs the body, like a second skin. It is also called elasthanne and elasthan. Another modern synthetic is Neoprene, a rubber used in fabricating wetsuit garments, and used for swimsuits in the late 1980s. Material Advances Bikinis Advances in materials have always advanced the bikini. The use of cotton made the swimsuit more practical, and the increased reliance on stretch fabric after 1960 simplified construction; in fact the new stretch fabrics encouraged designers to abandon construction entirely. By 1970 the thinner, tighter fitting Spandex contoured to the skin, outlining nipples and genitals of both sexes (fig. 23-1). When wet, especially with cold water, this effect is amplified; the material becomes even more contoured, and erections in males and hardened nipples in females (an phenomena called "headlights") are impossible to conceal. Caption This pucker fabric combines a special weave with a blend of nylon and Spandex. |
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