The Endless Summer
After that, the first mixed bathing occurred in 1907
. Forthwith, the men, who previously swam nude, zentai bodysuit were obliged to hide not just their manhood but also their abdomens and part of their chests, first in the revolutionary unisex Canadian suit -- a two-piece that was part knitted cotton over-dress, part pantaloon -- and eventually in the knitted tank suit, which was also adopted for women and must have been wonderfully liberating for all concerned. Both sexes promptly started waving, not drowning.Which brings us to a key fashion muse of the exhibition, Annette Kellermann, the early Australian swimming star and one of the first women to appropriate the tank suit previously worn only by men. In homage to her pioneering efforts, a handful of contemporary Australian swimwear designers have each created an LBS -- little black swimsuit -- inspired by Kellermann for the museum.
The Woollen Mermaids collection features designs by the likes of Zimmermann, Seafolly, Tigerlily and Jets, who have concocted modern takes on Kellermann's cossies made from wool.
Kellermann was a champion swimmer from Marrickville in Sydney, a style maven, sports heroine and all-round gutsy girl who wanted a piece of the one-piece action with the express purpose of beating the guys at their own game. As early as 1904, Kellermann was wearing the tank suit in Melbourne, although hers was made of silk.
''Annette was a very important figure who championed a new look for women swimmers, which was active and athletic and also glamorous,'' Cuthbert says.
''We know she went to England in 1905 and was swimming against men. She tried, unsuccessfully, to swim the English Channel three times. In Paris she raced men swimming up the Seine.''
According to the US-based International Swimming Hall of Fame, in Paris Kellermann beat 16 men and drew spider man costume record crowds: half a million spectators lined the banks of the Seine to see her in action.
But despite her achievements, Kellermann's choice of swimsuit made her a controversial figure. ''Kellermann was seen as indecent,'' Cuthbert says. ''In about 1907 she was performing in Boston and apparently staged her own arrest; there was a lot of kerfuffle. She deliberately went on to beaches in these suits to make her point.''
Yet despite Kellermann's efforts and her glamour -- she became a vaudeville performer in London, diving on stage into specially built tanks, before moving to Hollywood to become a silent movie star -- prudery persisted.
There was plenty of fuss when Paula Stafford wore her skimpy two-piece on the Queensland sands a full year before Frenchman Louis Reard created the bikini proper in 1946, and Australian beach inspectors were still measuring the sides of women's bikini bottoms as late as the 60s.
Even Speedo, the official swimwear manufacturer for the Australian Olympics and Commonwealth Games, wasn't above controversy. Australia's answer to American giant Jantzen brought us the racer-back costume in the 20s and experimented with performance fabrics in the decades that followed, but it was when head designer Peter Travis designed his first trunks in the early 60s that the fun truly began.
All eyes were finally on the male form in all its exposed glory, and didn't we have fun coming up with new slang? (There's nowhere to run after banana hammock.)
So what's left to shock today? Ironically, it's modesty. In 2005, about the time Gisele Bundchen was popularising the Brazilian G-string, a 30-something mum from Sydney's suburbs designed her first Burqini.
''When I started Ahiida, people were confronted,'' recalls hairdresser and designer Aheda Zanetti, whose Ahiida swimwear and sports apparel business grew 150per cent last year. ''I'd say, 'We're going to talk about the M word: modesty.' It was like a zentai dirty word! To say my company produces modest-wear really slapped people in the face.''
Zanetti's Burqini, an example of which appears in the Exposed! exhibition, is made from quick-drying, lightweight fabric and looks like a long-line, loose-fit rash vest with a hood and matching leggings.
''I am an Australian and I was raised living the Australian lifestyle, but I am also a Muslim; I was born in Lebanon,'' Zanetti says. ''I felt very self-conscious in puberty and because of our culture I missed out on swimming at the beach. I thought there must be something out there for us women who are modestly conservative.
''Well, you know what I found? There was nothing in the whole world catering for an active Muslim girl.''
Zanetti started sewing in her living room and an empire was born. The Burqini is a hot seller locally as well as in Arab countries, Europe and the US.
''I think modesty is back in fashion,'' Zanetti says.
''Maybe it's because swimwear has gotten so small, a tiny bikini isn't interesting any more. You can see it in the fuller shapes and one-pieces that are coming off the catwalks and out of the major design houses.
''Modesty is becoming a more acceptable concept. Its not just about religion or culture, it can also be about personal choice, the conservative option. Now that's a new idea!''
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