And then there was Bailey's Beach at Newport, RI where men 'bathed' in the
Buff!? Women, of course had another section of the beach where they changed
from street ensembles to bathing attire in bathing wagons (think gypsey) which
hauled them into waist high water.
-----Original Message-----
From: "Lynn Downward" <lynndownw...@gmail.com>
Sent 1/14/2010 9:08:18 PM
To: "Historical Costume" <h-cost...@indra.com>
Subject: Re: [h-cost] 1920s Men's bathing suit patternI've seen one too, in San
Francisco. It was one that was rented at
Sutro Baths, the large pool near Ocean Beach from the 1870s until the
1920s, I believe. There were several separate pools in the complex
overlooking Seal Rock and men could rent a heavy swim suit for the
day. I have no idea how they cleaned them. Yick.
At any rate, the one I saw was heavy as AlbertCat said, heavy like a
sweater. It weighed, dry, about the same as a heavy winter sweater. I
can't imagine how heavy they were wet, but there are photographs of
swarms of men in identical swimsuits on the edge of the pools. The one
I saw also had the woven cotton underwear sewn into the bottom.
LynnD
On 1/14/10, albert...@aol.com <albert...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> just a bit heavier than T-shirt fabric.
>
>
> ****************
>
>
>
> The two real one piece tank top vintage bathing suits for men I found at a
> flea market were knit but sweater weight (perhaps a bit denser, tighter
> stitch than a sweater). They also had a woven cotton underwear- like thing
> sewn into the bottom part. One was navy with a wide white stripe running
> horizontally at chest level. The other was black. Both were wool.
>
>
> Wool, y'know, will still keep one warm when wet. And sometime in the 1870's
> I believe it was considered a healthy thing to break into a sweat. Thus, a
> "sweater" was proper attire for tennis and the like. These ideas linger into
> the 20th century.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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