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Why Maillot? Although the focus of Bikini Science is indeed the bikini, it is not possible to fully understand the development of the bikini without understanding its one-piece cousin and predecessor, the maillot. The Leotard Relationship In many respects, the silhouette of the basic maillot is identical to that of the leotard, a one-piece garment with long sleeves, short sleeves or is sleeveless, and a bare leg. The leotard is invented by the 19th century by French aerial gymnast Jules Léotard (1842-1870) and has been worn ever since by acrobats, gymnasts, dancers, thespians and circus performers. Wikipedia reports that Léotard himself called the garment a maillot, a French word derivative of maille, or flexible armor. Another etymology suggests the term derives from the French phrase for swaddling clothes or "shirt," and still another that is the name of a costumier at the Paris Opera circa 1925. Wikipedia reports the word is inducted into the English dictionary in 1928. Given that the silhouette did not exist as a swimsuit prior to the 1910s-1920s, it appears that its naming, or in Bikini Science terms, its species labeling, occurred only after the silhouette had fully evolved. The Maillot Swimsuit Emerges As a silhouette, the maillot emerges around 1907 and acquired full seductive maturity during the late 1910s. Much of its development during this period focuses on neckline, armhole, legline, and back. Its early development is also related to the regression of stockings; remember that a maillot and stockings effectively define a unitard. The emergence of the deux-pièces in the 1940s jeopardizes the maillot species. It looses market share and becomes a tighter-fitting silhouette. Its last vestiges of modesty--short skirts or sheaths that obscure the crotch, are sacrificed to progress. The new order is symbolized by Betty Grable's famous wartime pinup in which the seam up her buttocks carefully separates them. In its full maturity maillot may be longsleeved, shortsleeved, sleeveless, or strapless. And it may have any neckline and backline, from high-collared to scooped to plunging below the navel. It may have a full back or be bare-backed. Click the "Up (Maillot)" on the Main Menu to see the many species. Maillot's Near Extinction Maillot battles with the deux-pièces throughout the 1950s in a gigantic struggle between tightness and cleavage vs. a bare belly. But as the deux-pièces itself is supplanted by the bare-naveled bikini, the maillot finds itself in a deadlock for cleavage and leg, and outgunned at navel maneuvers. Youth and bikinis win, and maillots are driven out with old age. Maillot is almost rendered extinct by the bikini in the 1960s and 1970s. Only in the early 1980s, do rising leglines, cutouts, and new fabrics resurrect the maillot from the static form defined in the 1950s. These factors breath new life into what is now a 50-year-old silhouette. Some of the rejuvenated maillots result from new silhouette possibilities and some from combinations with the bikini itself. All of these are discussed under the various maillot species located via the Main Menu. |
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