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Brigitte Bardot Bikini
Brigitte Bardot Bikini

Brigitte Bardot Bikini

Date1950s
Object number00045082
NameBikini top
MediumCotton, synthetic lining
DimensionsOverall: 100 x 360 mm, 55.35 g
ClassificationsClothing and personal items
Credit LineANMM Collection
HistoryLovable®, a popular range of lingerie was established in the United States in the 1930s and launched in Australia and New Zealand in the 1950s. Corsetry has informed swimwear design since the nineteenth century enabling underwear to become outerwear as swimwear evolved. More recently the bikini has influenced the look of women's lingerie and intimate apparel. In the 1950s actress Brigitte Bardot popularised the French bikini, with its strapless bandau top and brief bottoms in films such as 'Manina, La Fille' ('The Girl in the Bikini') in 1952 and 'The Night Heaven Fell' in 1958. Bardot was popularly known as 'BB' became the bikini clad wild child of French cinema and the darling of the European jet- set and paparazzi. She become an icon of popular culture and put the small fishing village of St Tropez on the map as the French Riviera's summer playground of the rich and famous. This 1950s Brigitte Bardot inspired bikini lingerie reflects the influence of the Bardot look on lingerie in the United States at a time when the more conservative American swimwear market was not yet ready to introduce the bikini.