Needle Arts Corner

Madonna Terlizzi - July 2007

Three cheers for the red, white and blue! Happy 4th of July and to one of the best month's of the year! There is no place like America and I am proud and happy to live here. A special thanks to our troops around the globe, they make it possible for us to be safe (relatively) in the U.S.A. Come home soon, we are all waiting for you.

Last month, I mentioned that I was moving my store located at the Bernat Mill. At the time I wrote this information, I was moving. By June 1, I was not. It was not the right thing to do at that time. So, like any fabric addict, I stayed put, bought more (you guessed it) FABRIC and did some great things to my spot instead. I have around 850 bolts in stock. I hope that you will come in and get some, as I am willing to share it with you. The books are 20% off this month and I am having a summer clearance. My Christmas lines are also in, so you may want to get a move on with those projects over the summer. Thank you for your interest in the store!!

This month I am going to talk about bathing suits. Most of us own at least one and will probably wear it over the summer months. So I thought this would be an interesting topic.

Swimsuit time:

As you might have guessed, most early swimmers did not wear a fancy suit or anything for that matter. Wall carvings found in Pompeii's ruins showed a type of swimming outfit similar to the bikini of the 1960's. Swimsuits or bathing costumes did not seem to become popular until the lavish Victorian times. Even then most men and women were still covered from head to toe, women had weighted heavy outfits made of many layers of fabric so that you could not see through them when they got wet. Men wore long sleeved, form fitting tunics made of wool. Bathing was then segregated, so men and women used bathing machines. They were windowless, roofed walled carts that they could change their clothes in and enter the water to dip their bodies without being seen. It was deemed improper to be seen in public improperly clad. These carts were rolled into the water in various ways, on rails, by horses, steam powered pulleys, etc. then when the bather was finished they raised a flag attached to the roof and were then dragged back to shore.

First documented bathing machines date back to 1736 in the U.K. They became extinct by the late 1920's due to the desegregation of bathing. Mixed gender bathing became very popular as you can well imagine. Synchronized swimming also became popular in the 1900's, this is when suits started to become smaller, not by much though. The first bikini was introduced after WWII, it was similar to the 1920's models, except that they had a gap to allow for a bare midsection. These suits were named “Bikini Atoll”, the site of several nuclear weapon tests, for their supposed explosive effect on the viewer. The glamour photos of the 1940's and 1950's came along with just a little more skin showing with each shot. Women now have many types of suits to choose from. The monokini (yep, one piece!) which is mostly found in Europe and South America, razorback or unitards for competitions, traditional one piece and tankini are also popular, covering all the basic parts in a colorful, stylish fashion. Bathing suits and the beauties that wear them have since worked their way into sports magazines, beauty pageants and product marketing. Next month, we will talk about what fabrics make up the suits of today, hint it is not wool.

Have a safe vacation season, hope to see you at the Fabric Addiction which is air conditioned to perfection. Peace. Madonna Terlizzi