English Every Day: Invention of the Bikini

Your Daily English Programme #6 - Invention of the Bikini (Reading B1-B2) 

Think Before You Read

1) What differences in women's swimwear do you see in the two photos below?
2) Which is the older photo? Which one is newer? How do you know?

Washington beach: inspector measures bathing costumes' length

Micheline modeling the first bikini (Paris, 1946)

Time to Read

Look at the title of this short reading. How do you think the bikini appeared on the market?

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A SHORT HISTORY OF THE BIKINI

On July 5 1946, French engineer Louis Réard's invention, the bikini, transformed the world of female swimwear forever. Fashion magazines at the time ran headlines and full-length articles describing and depicting the newly-arrived two-piece: 'smaller than the world's smallest  swimsuit'. Louis Réard himself had reportedly said 'a bikini was not genuine unless it could be pulled through a wedding ring'. 

No model at the time was brave enough to wear this controversial invention in public, until 19-year old dancer Micheline Bernardini rose to the challenge. On July 11 1946, Micheline became the first woman to wear a bikini during a press show at a swimming pool in Paris.

At first, the garment met with strong public resistance. It was the first time that the wearer's navel had been exposed, and this came as a shock to many people. It was soon banned on beaches in Belgium, Italy and Spain, and in the United States it was considered 'unacceptable'.

It was not until the 1950s and early 1960s that significant breakthrough s led to the popularity of bikini. In France, barriers were broken when the French actress, singer and fashion model Brigitte Bardot wore the two-piece in cinema screenings of And God Created Women. The bikini's sales took off to an unprecedented level as more and more women began to want to wear one. Louis Réard continued selling them from his Paris shop until 1980. He passed away in 1984 at the age of 88.

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Time to Practice

Here's a summary of the passage above. Fill in the blanks with vocabulary from the passage:

In 1946, Louis Réard's 'bikini' (1)___________ what women wore to the beach. Prior to that date, women's (2)__________ only displayed a small portion of their belly. But Réard came up with a (3)________ creation that would give women a new taste of freedom.

There was a lot of initial (4)_________ to the outfit. Beaches in many European countries and the USA (5)______ women from wearing it. A (6)__________  (7)___________ took place when famous actresses and models such as Brigitte Bardot began wearing the bikini. Sales soared to an (8)___________ level as increasing numbers of women showed interest in wearing the costume.

Your Turn

What have been the turning points in men's and/or women's wear in your country in the past 100 years?

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Congratulations! You've finished yet another installment to our English Every Day series here on Engramme. We hope you enjoyed this. Click HERE for a full list of the vocabulary from this post. Also see the first 'comment' for the summary answers.

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