I have heard that , in water, clothes do not weigh any more than when dry.
It is after you get out that you feel the weight of the water. Clothes do
create drag, though. 

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Lynn Downward
Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 6:08 PM
To: Historical Costume
Subject: Re: [h-cost] 1920s Men's bathing suit pattern

I'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, [email protected] <[email protected]> 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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