#5 & 6. we have our annual company gathering / party and it was really fun! it was organised well. we had some good food a live band

[apricotluvr]

September 2023

[svtmatokis]

can i request husband seokmin comforting you late at night about your weight insecurities a month after you give birth?

Hiii oh gosh, this is going to be my first Seokmin fic so I hope it’s okay!! Sorry it took so long! >

Requested from Anon~

Words: 2735

Pairing: Reader x Seokmin

Seokmin sat up sleepily as he heard the walk in closet door shut along with a frustrated sigh. He looked at the clock on the nightstand. His eyes narrowed in disbelief at the numbers.

3:45AM

Doing the quick math in his head, he was certain that you had fed your son at 2AM which meant that his next feeding wasn’t due until 5:30 - 6:00AM. He noticed the empty space on your side of the bed and looked towards the closet to see the light on underneath the door.

Sleepily (and somewhat clumsily), he got out of bed and walked towards the closet. He was about to knock but the sound of quiet sobbing made him freeze. Panic hit him as he tore open the door and his heart broke at the sight he saw.

You were sitting on the floor with your head in your hands while various articles of clothing surrounded you. You were quietly sobbing and didn’t notice the closet door open or Seokmin kneeling in front of you, wondering what had gotten you into this mood in the middle of the night.

It’s been close to a month since you gave birth to your wonderful son and you were married for almost to two years now. You two met through mutual friends one night when Seokmin was home and he had to ask why his friends had hidden you all these years. The comment caused an immediate uproar throughout the group because they all knew that Seokmin was your bias in Seventeen which was why they invited you out that night too. You tried to hide your blush by giggling quietly while Seokmin tried to laugh it off but his face was so red that it gave it away.

The comment also did earn him your number and a kiss on the cheek at the end of the night.

After dating for close to three years (and with a good push from his members), he had proposed after a concert in Tokyo that he had specially invited you to and you were just as surprised when he dedicated his solo song to you.

During the wedding, he sung the same song to you and to this day, listening to it made you tear up every time you heard the song.

“Honey, what wrong?” Seokmin asked tiredly, gently wiping the tears away from your cheeks, “What’s made my sunshine so upset?”

Looking up, you didn’t realize your husband had been there the whole time and you tried to hide your face. You didn’t want him to see you like this, you were not ready to tell him what was going on in your mind.

Over the last month, you realized after giving birth, your body was never going to be like it used to be and you couldn’t help but let it bother you. A lot of your friends, a few being the wives and girlfriends of other members often commented on how much your body had changed throughout the course of your pregnancy which hit a small nerve in you since you already knew that and despite trying to work out when you could, the stress of being a new mom definitely got to you but you tried to hide it from your husband since he already had other things to worry about.

Your son was born two weeks premature and Seokmins tour was supposed to end a week prior to your sons arrival but of course,nothing ever went as planned.

Seokmin had watched the delivery over facetime. Thankfully, you two had planned ahead for situations like this and Seokmin had entrusted Jungkook to care for you as the two of you had become close. He was like the older brother you never had and was the only one who knew of your situation since he caught one of your friends talking about how a certain shirt couldn’t fit you properly and should probably get rid of it. He obviously tried to tell you otherwise but realized you were stuck in that one mind set and only supported you when he could and that also meant pushing you to tell your husband. You consistently told him that you’d get around to it but the chance never came.

Seokmin was now home full time as the company had given him leave to be with his new family. Of course that didn’t mean that your sons 12 other uncles never came over (one or two would visit everyday) and Jungkook, along with Yugyeom and BamBam dropped by almost twice a week. Which one was the godfather? Seokmin was still trying to figure it out.

Seokmin as a huge help around the house and would often take the night time feedings so you could sleep longer. It never really worked out that way as you often had insomnia and Seokmin would find you asleep in the rocking chair, your son asleep in your arms.

He was surprised this time that he found you in the closet and looked at the clothing splayed around. They were all summer dresses and he remembered that they were going to be attending the Seventeen annual family beach gathering.

“Y/N?” He questioned softly lifting your chin making you look into his eyes. “Tell me what’s wrong sweetheart” he said gently and wiped your tears with the pad of his thumbs.

“It’s stupid” you muttered looking down.

Seokmin gave you a look, “You know you can’t say that Sunshine. Everything that has to do with you and our son… our family is important. Whatever has you upset in the middle of the night is definitely important.” He stated though his voice still gentle.

After a few moments, Seokmin heard you sniffle and sigh. He was right and with the how much Jungkook had been telling you to talk to your husband. You realized that yes, he was the man of the house and if there was anyone in this world that could make your frown turn upside down. It was him.

You told him everything. From the comments of your friends about your baby weight to how your clothes were fitting like they should. You knew it was all part of being a new mom but it was also discouraging because you were trying but your body was still in recovery mode and it was taking a bit longer to bounce back.

“I really don’t feel up to going tomorrow…” you let out a deep sigh knowing it would disappoint your husband, “I feel so worn out…you can tell them I’m sick and take Y/S/N with you.”

After hearing all this, Seokmin sat in silence. He was now fully awake and processing exactly what was going through his mind. He was disappointed in your friends as a lot of them already had children and for them to say what they said was hypocritical. He knew he was right when he first started seeing the signs of postpartum depression. The doctor told him that you had a past history of depression so your chances were higher.  He took one good look at you and saw the eye bags and tired eyes.

A few of the members who came to visit, namely Mingyu and Minghao brought it up one day after noticing how out of character you were.But Seokmin brushed it off as you having the night shift before they came. His heart also hurt because you were going through this alone and he almost felt like it was too late.

Letting out a breath, he pulled you into his arms so your back was resting against his chest. His arms were around your waist and his head buried in your neck.

“Seokminnie?” you said in a baby voice and he nuzzled your neck in acknowledgment

“I made an appointment with our doctor.” You said softly, “will you come with me?”

“Of course Honey.” Seokmin answered in a whisper happy that you were acknowledging whatever problem you had. He knew that whatever it was, he would support you fully and with the time off he had to be with his new family, he would make sure you didn’t go through whatever alone.

He was also thinking about the perfect plan to have you enjoy tomorrow. Even though you said you didn’t want to go, he knew that you would have fun with everyone and he didn’t want you to miss out. “Why don’t we go back to bed and we’ll talk about the get together in the morning…”

Without letting you answer, Seokmin picked you up bridal style and brought you back to bed and as soon as you were in his arms, you felt the impossible of sleep take over you.

The next morning you awoke to laughter from the living room and walked out surprised to find Mingyu and Minghao with their respective wives and children.

Looking up, Mingyus wife smiled at you and stood up to give you a hug as Minghaos wife did the same. They were soon followed by their respective husbands.

“Morning Sunshine” Seokmin said bouncing your son on his knee. “Did you sleep well?”

Pulling away from the hugs, you nodded your head a small smile resting on your face.

“What’s everyone doing here?  Don’t you guys have to prepare for the party?” You asked confused and the five others in the room grinned.

“The men will be preparing today Y/N” Mingyu answered. “You lovely ladies are going to prepare for the party tonight.”

You automatically shot Seokmin a look in which he responded with an innocent smile.

“We thought that you three could use a break from being moms today” Minghao added. “We’ll take care of the kids for the afternoon and we’ll meet back here and head to the party together.”

“Are you sure…?” You asked sitting by Seokmins side as he handed you your son before wrapping his arm around your shoulder.

You then turned to look at him, “What about Y/S/N? He still has to eat… and then we have to get him ready…” your questions started hitting him a mile a minute and he had to put a finger over your lips to silence you.

“It’s all been sorted out. The wives will go shopping and have a spa day while us husbands prepare the food for tonight and watch the kids.” He then looked down at Mingyus son gently caress the top of the babies head.

Even though he was only a year older, the infant grew fond of your son right away and never left his side. You had no idea how the three of you ended up with boys. Mingyu had recently celebrated his sons first year as Minghaos wife was due early in the new year. There was going to be trouble in the near future but you were looking forward to it. Besides, you put up with your husbands enough as it is.

“Plus I’m sure this little one will be able to care for Y/S/N better than his own father.” Minghao added causing a, “HEY” to come from Mingyu.

“They’ll be fine Y/N.” Mingyus wife said, “Plus we’ll only be fifteen minutes away so if anything happens we can come back right away.” She reassured.

“You haven’t seen the girls since Y/SN was born. Go have fun.” Seokmin whispered and you looked into his eyes and all you could see was reassurance. He wanted what was best for you and you knew that you could trust him. He was the father of your son after all.

You thought for a moment and looked down at your son who had fallen asleep in your arms and reluctantly gave in. You has a hunch that your husband had something to do this with this sudden get together and he was right. You couldn’t remember the last time you really hung out with your friends and enjoyed girl time.

Reluctantly, you handed your son to Seokmin and looked everyone.

“Give me fifteen minutes to get ready and we can go.” You said going in to your bedroom to shower and change.

As you were saying your goodbyes to Seokmin, you felt him slide a piece of plastic in your hands.

Looking up at him with question, he leaned down to kiss your forehead tenderly.

“Go buy something nice for yourself tonight. I already gave the other girls explicit instructions to make sure you do so don’t try get out of it.” He then leaned down enough to look you in the eyes.  “I want you to be comfortable tonight okay? Don’t worry about a thing Sunshine. Say goodbye to Y/S/N and I’ll see you later okay? I love you.”

Leaning up to peck him on the lips you smiled. “Thank you. I love you too.”

After a full day of pampering, the six of you were now on your way to the event space with your respective children. Seokmins parents had offered to take Y/S/N for the night and were coming to pick him up later in the evening.

As you watched the scenery go by, Mingyu’s wife who you were particularly close to and was sitting beside let out a soft sigh.

“You’re really lucky to have Seokmin. Why didn’t you tell us you were feeling this way?” She asked. The group had rented a large van and Seokmin along with the husbands and children were sitting closer up front while Minghao drove.

“I didn’t think you guys would understand. You lost your baby weight so quickly and the other wives were making comments…” you answered as Mingyus wife shook her head.

“Everyone’s bodies are different. Yours is just taking longer to bounce back which is completely understandable considering how much stress you’ve been under” She said, “And who cares what the other wives and girlfriends think. Remember Y/N, it took me a while to get over my postpartum depression… but Mingyus been such a big support system just like Seokmin will be yours. You can lean on him.”

Later that in the evening, you and Seokmin walked hand in hand along the beach. Seokmins parents had come to take Y/S/N earlier on as did many other Seventeen’s members parents to their respective grandkids.

The party had winded down and everyone had started a large bonfire. You and Seokmin took the opportunity to escape to have some one on one time.

“Did I tell you that you look beautiful this evening?” He asked he swung your hands between you two. The sound of the waves was soothing and you both loved the smell of fresh sea air.

“Mmm not that I can recall” you said coyly as you gave him a side glance and he placed a kiss to your forehead when the two of you stopped at the shoreline.

“Well you look beautiful today” he commented in a whisper wrapping his arms around your waist so you could look at the large moon in the sky.

A comfortable silence enveloped you two as you watched the waves roll in and out. The two of you had fun. You had your small group within Seventeen and being around Minghao and Mingyus families definitely helped you feel calm. No one really bothered you and you didn’t let them either. You had fun and danced with Seokmin while one of the members held your son on the side and when he wasn’t around, Mingyus wife wayour side as their son was also attached to yours.

Throughout the night, Seokmin came to check on you every so often and when he asked you to take a walk, you knew it was the breather you both needed.

Looking out at the sea, you thought about the last month and what progressed. You were slowly coming to terms with what your body was going through and for the first time, you knew you weren’t alone. You never were.

You squeezed Seokmins hand as you took a deep breath of the sea air and he returned your squeeze while giving you a questioning look which in return you giggle happily making him smile brightly. It was the first real smile he’d seen on you in a long time and he was determined to keep it there for all of eternity.

[ramajmedia]

Parks & Rec: 10 Episodes That Actually Tackled Deep Issues

For seven seasons, we were blessed with the good people of the Pawnee Parks & Recreation Department. Leslie Knope was the department's Deputy Director before she ran (and won) for City Council, became the Deputy Director of Operations at the United States Department of Interior, and then Regional Director of National Park Service Mid-West Region.

Leslie had the lovely support of Ron Swanson, Ann Perkins, April Ludgate, Ben Wyatt, Chris Traeger, Gary Gergich, Tom Haverford, and Andy Dwyer. With this group of lovely weirdos, the town of Pawnee was in caring hands, while giving viewers oodles of comedic content. But it wasn't all fun and games. Parks and Recreation tackled some pretty intense issues.

RELATED: 5 Things Parks & Rec Does Better Than The Office (& Vice Versa)

Shown with comedic undertones, Parks and Recreation talked about more than life in the parks system. From tackling gender equality to battling depression, here are 10 dark topics Parks and Recreation tackled.

10 WANTING A BABY AS A SINGLE WOMAN

In the earlier seasons of Parks and Recreation, Leslie seemed more interested in finding a partner and starting a family than later seasons. As we later find out, Leslie's love for politics (and for Pawnee) outshined her need for a man.

RELATED: 10 Stars Who Were Almost Cast On Parks & Recreation

As time went on, rolls were switched and Ann Perkins decided what she was missing from her life was a baby. After a string of unsuccessful dates, Ann decides she's going to tackle motherhood alone. All she needed to do was find supreme sperm. Not wanting to go to a sperm bank quite yet, she asked a few ex-boyfriends for their sperm first before landing on Chris. Many women in similar positions can relate to Ann on her quest for motherhood.

9 DEPRESSION

While April Ludgate may appear depressed, that's just her mono-toned voice and lack for human emotion. Even more appropriate and closer to home, Chris Traeger is one of the most upbeat and positive people on the show so it was surprising to fans that he was battling some darker demons.

Like many funny people, though, depression does not discriminate and can affect just about anyone. We saw Chris go from an upbeat and happy political figure to a man who saw his therapist more than his co-workers. Over time, Chris got his stride back but it was an important message for the show. Just because someone is happy and fit doesn't mean their life is perfect.

8 WHAT BEAUTY PAGEANTS ARE REALLY ABOUT...

In the second season of Parks and Rec., Leslie was asked to be a judge for the local beauty pageant. After hearing about the pageant, Tom weaseled his way into the committee to become a judge, which is proof in itself that some judges don't have the best intentions.

RELATED: 10 Leslie Knope Quotes That Make Us Miss Parks And Rec.

April, after hearing the winner of the pageant won a cash prize, decided to join the pageant (and even tried bribing Leslie; another inside look at the fact that some contestants bribe the judges to win). But come pageant night, all the judges decided to choose the hot, "dumb" girl because, well, she was hot. Leslie tried to bring attention to this issue but failed, as many often do in our society.

7 BEING TOLD A WOMAN IS TOO 'FRAGILE' TO BE ON CITY COUNSEL

Leslie is constantly trying to prove that women can do anything that men can. In the episode “Women in Garbage,” Leslie is being spoken over by Councilmen Milton. She’s thanked for setting up the snack table and is being pushed to the side so the men can take over the commission.

RELATED: Parks & Rec: 10 Times We Felt Bad For Jerry

“I believe the problem with hiring women is that they’re frail, breakable.” In response, Leslie, of course, asks if he’s talking about his hip instead of the entire female gender. It just goes to show that there are still some old-time thinkers in politics today who still believe women can’t maintain a position of power.

6 THE MARRIAGE OF TWO PENGUINS

In the first episode of the second season, Leslie decides to marry two penguins at the Pawnee Zoo because it would be an adorable gesture. As it turns out, the two penguins were both male and Leslie’s marriage ceremony was seen as a pro-gay political stunt.

Not sure how to handle the situation, Leslie was thrown through a loop before finally standing up for what she believes in: There’s nothing wrong with loving who you love.

5 BULLYING GARY (BUT HE COMES OUT ON TOP IN THE END)

In the first two seasons of Parks and Rec., we quickly figure out that Gary (or Lary) is the joke of the office. He's constantly spilling things, falling, or getting blamed for things that didn't even concern him. To be honest, the office came off too strong and it was clear our favorite Parks and Rec. department was filled with a bunch of bullies.

RELATED: 10 Guest Stars We Forgot Appeared On Parks & Recreation

Over time, we see the gang lighten up on Gary and we see another side to him. He's married and has three beautiful daughters. He also hosts an annual Christmas party every year that gathers a large crowd! He may be bullied at work, but he comes out on top by always being kind and going home to loved ones every day.

4 GENDER EQUALITY

After Leslie won the bid for City Council, it was time to get more women involved. Beginning a petition to break down inequality, Leslie and Chris realize they may the problem since every department head was a male. After a snappy garbage man said women weren’t strong enough to be a garbage person, Leslie and April took on the challenge to prove women are just as good as men.

This, of course, is an ongoing problem in many companies today. As we've seen, Leslie was more than woman enough to take on the challenge. Furthermore, Leslie even broke down the laws of inequality in Season 4 when it came to the Pawnee Rangers and Goddesses.

3 OBESITY IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM IN PAWNEE

One of the best lines in Parks and Recreation is when Leslie notes Pawnee's slogan: "Number four in obesity, number one in friendship." Throughout the seven seasons, we continually see Pawnee's problem with junk food. Ann (a registered nurse) even notes that all the children walking by are chunky.

Looking to make a change in Pawnee's youth, Leslie has a fight with the opening of a potential Paunch Burger and even put a tax on soda. In real life, America absolutely has an issue with obesity thanks to our endless supply of snacks and late-night fast-food restaurants. Although Leslie is a fictional character, it was nice to see her care about the future of Pawnee's citizens.

2 WHEN A MAN WINS THE 'WOMAN OF THE YEAR' AWARD

In the second season, Leslie is up for the Indiana Organization of Women's Woman of the Year Award. When the envelope comes in the mail, she quickly opens it only to see that she actually didn't win... Ron did.

As it turns out, the IOW decided to present a man the award that year because the media no longer cares that women are winning awards. Giving a man an award for the Woman of the Year would be enough to draw attention to their organization, even though it means appreciating a man instead of a woman. Once again, Parks and Recreation shows that sexism can be found everywhere.

1 NOT KNOWING WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE

The thing about April Ludgate is she doesn’t take herself seriously, but she wants to. After being an intern, she only took the job with Parks & Rec because she had to. When a full-time position opened up, she felt compelled to take it because she’d be working with her mentor Ron Swanson. Over the course of seven seasons, though, we see April in a Dilemma.

Who is she and what does she want to do with her life? Does she stay in a comfortable position or do something she’s passionate about? Being one of the youngest in the office, April’s inner struggle was something we’ve all dealt with.

NEXT: Parks & Recreation: 10 Times Tom Haverford Was The Worst

source https://screenrant.com/parks-recreation-episodes-that-actually-tackled-deep-issues/

[simply-ellie]

Wrote this last year (2017)... never posted it

Looking back at my 2016 Year In Review, I see a lot of similarities with 2017. This year has been a painful one for MANY -- from the continued global refugee crisis, to natural disasters like Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Maria, and the California wildfires, to the election of a president who stands for ignorance, hate, and violence, and the year’s unfathomably tragic terrorist attacks and mass shootings -- through it all, we have been shocked, moved to tears, and, in many cases, moved to action.

Once again, however, I believe it’s important to recognize and be thankful for the parts of our lives that exist outside of current events, politics, and war. Here’s a list of all the good that happened in my life in 2017, in no particular order:

On January 7, Lucy (one of my Rice/Chicago besties) and I stood outside in line in single degree temperatures to get (FREE) tickets to President Obama’s Farewell Address in Chicago. SUCCESS! I’m incredibly thankful that I was able to take the time off work to attend the address, and for the amazing people who stood in line with me for a total of 9 total hours, all for a glimpse at the best president this country has ever had.

A few days later, my friends gathered at my apartment to make signs to carry at the Chicago Women’s March -- it’d be the first annual. Sophie’s read “Read a book!” Pranitha had written Barack Obama’s words “I am asking you to believe,”  in her beautiful calligraphy, and mine read “Climate change is real” on one side and “Are we awake yet?” on the other. It was an incredibly powerful and surprisingly joyful event that I’ll hopefully be taking part in for years to come.

On January 6, I went on a first date with a guy from dating app Coffee Meets Bagel who I honestly didn’t even really want to go out with. But he wound up being the best thing that happened to me this year, and we got to spend so much time together while I was working in Chicago this spring/summer. I tell Luke all the time about his 5 S’s -- sweet, silly, sexy, smart, and sensitive. It’s been so fun and easy, but he recently found out that he got a job in LA, and he’ll be relocating within the first few weeks of next year. I’m so nervous (but mostly hopeful) about navigating the challenges that come with long distance.

I got to spend a few lovely days in San Diego with my college besties -- it was our first big reunion, and we had so much fun! They are perfect, and I’m so thankful for them.

I got to travel quite a bit this year. I was staffed outside of Vancouver for three months, spent a week in Hawaii with Luke, we traveled to Granada, Nicaragua for Missy and Erwing’s engagement party (so fun!), and I went to Cuba with Jackie, Toby, and new friend Silvia -- it was incredibly fun, fascinating, and beautiful.

I got to spend my entire summer in Chicago, which I was so thankful for. I finished my last project at Infosys in May, and remained on the bench through the end of July when I put in my notice. It was SO nice to actually get to live here for a bit, to go to the gym and my friends’ volleyball games, and to mid-week happy hours. Honestly, best summer ever.

Got to see quite a few shows this year. Luke and I went to see Aladdin, which I didn’t expect to enjoy, but it was SO GOOD! I saw the Sinfonietta again, and I always love them and their director. Luke and I also saw the Nutcracker and an opera as part of his Chicago bucket list before his move.

I’ve always wanted to go to the Newport Folk Festival, and this was the first year I’ve been able to make it happen. I used hotel points, and brought my mom along for the ride. We went up early to explore Boston and then Newport a bit. Then at the festival, we heard so much incredible music -- Rhiannon Giddens, Baskery, Joseph, Michael Kiwanuka, Regina Spektor, and Blind Pilot to name a few. I’ve got tickets and an Airbnb for next year, and we can’t wait to go back.

I moved companies this year, which has been such a gift. I learned a lot at Infosys and am thankful for my time there, but the people and culture at Deloitte have been 1000x better so far. Thank you to Bonny, Allison, Luke, and my mom for helping me land this job.

My first project at Deloitte has been in Thomasville, GA (who’d have thought), and it’s been so so nice to be staffed near home. I’ve gotten to see my parents and friends so much, and eating Jonah’s for lunch every single day has been delicious.

My college roommate Monica got married this year!! So. much. fun. We had her bachelorette in New Orleans this summer, and then she got married in Houston in October. It was such an honor to be one of her bridesmaids. She and Josh have moved to San Jose, and I’m so excited for their next chapter!

Had another successful Thanksgiving in Chicago this year. My mom came up again, and we did all the Christmas in the city things, and hosted a Friendsgiving dinner which was so fun.

Last but not least, my mom and I surprised by dad with a new puppy on Christmas morning! I’d been hiding Snicker (formerly Oliver) in my room for two days, and Daddy had no idea, but apparently Snicker had an accident in the corner of the kitchen on Christmas Eve and neither of us noticed -- Daddy found it Christmas morning before we’d done presents, so the jig was up. He was still so surprised and happy though!! He sure is a cutie; I miss him already.

2017 was such an amazing year; I’m so thankful for it all.

[larsbjorge-blog]

KAOHS 2016-07-156357

Photo by: Roman Kajzer @FotoManiacNYC FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / FLICKR / TWITTER

KAOHS – presenting SS17 collection during Swim Week in South Beach Miami at W Hotel 7/2016

WEBSITE LINK: KAOHS SWIM FACEBOOK LINK: KAOHS FACEBOOK

You can see the entire runway album here: KAOHS – MIAMI SWIM WEEK 7/2016

On Friday, July 15th, 2016, hundreds of guests including top media, influencers and buyers, attended the WET Lounge, at the W South Beach, to experience a amazing runway show. Kaohs Swim debuted its Resort 2016 and Spring 2017 collections at the W South Beach in Miami, which included 22 new bikinis and three returning favorites: Hampton Salty bikini, Rie bikini and Gypsy bikini — famously worn by Kim Kardashian.

Kaohs Swim’s new collections featured touches of stretch denim contrasted with white nylon/spandex swim fabric, as well as simple, structured bikinis inspired by the 90’s embellished with silver rings, criss-crossing straps, sea shells, and one-shoulder tops. In addition to the three returning bikinis, the new collection included 16 new tops, two never-seen-before one-pieces, and 15 new bottoms. Many of the swimsuits were comprised of solid one-tone or color blocks of black, white, blush, peach, and denim sewn in high-quality swim fabrics made to withstand years of use. Seven new colors are offered in the 2016 collections, including an earthy-red hue (Mars), a muted purple (Purple Haze), a dark-bright-tropical blue (Fiji), a shiny metallic olive green (Gimlet), and copper (Penny).

The KAOHS 2017 collection show was easily one of the best shows at SwimMiami. The California-based brand’s vibe backstage was true to LA, with great energy brought by DJ Sam Blacky. KAOHS has gained some major heat, among influencers like Kim and Kourtney Kardashian, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Bella Hadid, Rocky Barnes, Alexis Ren, Pia Mia, Natasha Oakley, and more ringing in the summer with these seriously sexy looks.

ABOUT KAOHS KAOHS Swim was born in 2013 when two best friends, Tess Hamilton and Ali Hoffmann came together to curate a line of swimwear inspired by sKAte, bOHo and Surf = KAOHS. They were zealous to launch a label that offered edge and functionality, all while showing a free spirited aesthetic. Their designs are for beach girls whose lifestyles demand comfortable and active (and sexy) beachwear. With swimsuits in a variety of cuts – from Brazilian to hipster and low to high – KAOHS Swim makes a swimsuit to flatter – and become the ultimate confidence booster for – every beach-going figure. Focusing on two-piece bikinis with a nod to one-piece swimsuits, KAOHS Swim’s collections feature edgy, feminine cuts, and a playful, modern, and earthy palette of colors. The high quality fabrics and seamless cuts were designed to compliment every shape of every woman. They really wanted KAOHS Swim to be the most perfect confidence boost when hitting the beach- or anywhere that calls for a good tan line!

The swimwear is designed in Orange County, California and made in Los Angeles, California

PR Agency: CECE FEINBERG PUBLIC RELATIONS

ABOUT MIAMI SWIM WEEK Even without longtime organizer IMG, Swim Week in 2016 has delivered a bounty of barely-there swimsuit collection for Spring/Summer 2017.

After IMG announced in May 2015 that it would be pulling out of what was formerly called Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim, following the loss of its title sponsor, those involved had a lot of scrambling to do. Without a strong sponsor or an experienced organizer, could Swim Week even continue in all its stringy, deeply spray-tanned glory? True to the old adage, the show did go on thanks to the (somewhat) cohesive efforts of the affected brands, production companies and publicists.

A week spread between the sweaty Miami heat of three separate trade shows – Swim Show, Cabana and Hammock – of various personalities, with relevant brands occupying space in the show that suit their vibe. All of these shows are situated within walking distance of each other. Brands also have parties or fashion shows throughout the four days at nearby hotels and pools, making Miami Swim Week super busy and a whole lotta fun.

There is a lot to take in with over 25 external runway shows after 5pm, parties and the three simultaneous trade shows, but it’s plenty pleasing on the eye. There’s hot, Miami energy and it’s awesome to be seeing a preview of swim collections from the hottest brands for 2017.

MIAMI SWIM SHOW: The world’s biggest swim show which occupies the convention center with hundreds of brands from across the globe. Brands featured that we liked included Seafolly, Billabong, NLP Women, Kopper & Zinc, and Rhythm amongst hundreds of others.

CABANA: This is the boutique show where the brands showcase in two big, cabana-style tents near the beach with coconuts issued to buyers, media and guests on entry. A few of our faves included Beach Riot, Minimale Animale, Tori Praver Swim, Mara Hoffman, Bec and Bridge, Boys and Arrows and Bower Swim.

HAMMOCK: Situated in the W Hotel, with the coolest brands of today occupying the luxury suites to showcase their latest collection with their marketing teams and a bevy of hot models. Leading Instagram swim brands seemed to be the big brands in this year’s Hammock W show including Mikoh, Indah and Frankies Swim.

LINKS: fashionfilesmag.com/kaohs-swim/ estrellafashionreport.com/2016/07/kaohs-swim-at-swimmiami… allfashion.press/kaohs-swim-runway-debut-miami-swim-week/ www.instagram.com/kaohs_swim/ thelafashion.com/2016/07/20/kaohs-2017-miami-swim-week/ www.bizbash.com/kaohs-runway-years-swim-week-miami-includ…

HISTORY OF THE BIKINI

Time magazine list of top 10 bikinis in popular culture

-Micheline Bernardini models the first-Ever Bikini (1946) -"Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" (1960) -Annette Funicello and Beach Party (1960’s) -The belted Bond-girl bikini (1962) -Sports Illustrated’s first Swimsuit Issue (1964) -Raquel Welch’s fur bikini in One Million Years B.C. (1966) -Phoebe Cates’ Bikini in Fast Times at Ridgemont High -Princess Leia’s golden bikini in Return of the Jedi (1983) -Official uniform of the female Olympic Beach Volleyball team (1996) -Miss America pageant’s bikini debut (1997)

The history of the bikini can be traced back to antiquity. Illustrations of Roman women wearing bikini-like garments during competitive athletic events have been found in several locations. The most famous of them is Villa Romana del Casale. French engineer Louis Réard introduced the modern bikini, modeled by Micheline Bernardini, on July 5, 1946, borrowing the name for his design from the Bikini Atoll, where post-war testing on the atomic bomb was happening.

French women welcomed the design, but the Catholic Church, some media, and a majority of the public initially thought the design was risque or even scandalous. Contestants in the first Miss World beauty pageant wore them in 1951, but the bikini was then banned from the competition. Actress Bridget Bardot drew attention when she was photographed wearing a bikini on the beach during the Cannes Film Festival in 1953. Other actresses, including Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner, also gathered press attention when they wore bikinis. During the early 1960’s, the design appeared on the cover of Playboy and Sports Illustrated, giving it additional legitimacy. Ursula Andress made a huge impact when she emerged from the surf wearing what is now an iconic bikini in the James Bond movie Dr. No (1962). The deer skin bikini Raquel Welch wore in the film One Million Years B.C. (1966) turned her into an international sex symbol and was described as a definitive look of the 1960’s.

The bikini gradually grew to gain wide acceptance in Western society. According to French fashion historian Olivier Saillard, the bikini is perhaps the most popular type of female beachwear around the globe because of "the power of women, and not the power of fashion". As he explains, "The emancipation of swimwear has always been linked to the emancipation of women." By the early 2000’s, bikinis had become a US $ 811 million business annually, and boosted spin-off services like bikini waxing and the sun tanning.

Interval

Between the classical bikinis and the modern bikini there has been a long interval. Swimming or outdoor bathing were discouraged in the Christian West and there was little need for a bathing or swimming costume till the 18th century. The bathing gown in the 18th century was a loose ankle-length full-sleeve chemise-type gown made of wool or flannel, so that modesty or decency was not threatened. In the first half of 19th century the top became knee-length while an ankle-length drawer was added as a bottom. By the second half of 19th century, in France, the sleeves started to vanish, the bottom became shorter to reach only the knees and the top became hip-length and both became more form fitting. In the 1900’s women wore wool dresses on the beach that were made of up to 9 yards (8.2 m) of fabric. That standard of swimwear evolved into the modern bikini in the first of half of the 20th century.

Breakthrough

In 1907, Australian swimmer and performer Annette Kellerman was arrested on a Boston beach for wearing a form-fitting sleeveless one-piece knitted swimming tights that covered her from neck to toe, a costume she adopted from England, although it became accepted swimsuit attire for women in parts of Europe by 1910. Even in 1943, pictures of the Kellerman swimsuit were produced as evidence of indecency in Esquire v. Walker, Postmaster General. But, Harper’s Bazaar wrote in June 1920 (vol. 55, no. 6, p. 138) – "Annette Kellerman Bathing Attire is distinguished by an incomparable, daring beauty of fit that always remains refined." The following year, in June 1921 (vol. 54, no. 2504, p. 101) it wrote that these bathing suits were "famous … for their perfect fit and exquisite, plastic beauty of line."

Female swimming was introduced at the 1912 Summer Olympics. In 1913, inspired by that breakthrough, the designer Carl Jantzen made the first functional two-piece swimwear, a close-fitting one-piece with shorts on the bottom and short sleeves on top. Silent films such as The Water Nymph (1912) saw Mabel Normand in revealing attire, and this was followed by the daringly dressed Sennett Bathing Beauties (1915–1929). The name "swim suit" was coined in 1915 by Jantzen Knitting Mills, a sweater manufacturer who launched a swimwear brand named the Red Diving Girl,. The first annual bathing-suit day at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 1916 was a landmark. The swimsuit apron, a design for early swimwear, disappeared by 1918, leaving a tunic covering the shorts.

During the 1920’s and 1930’s, people began to shift from "taking in the water" to "taking in the sun," at bathhouses and spas, and swimsuit designs shifted from functional considerations to incorporate more decorative features. Rayon was used in the 1920’s in the manufacture of tight-fitting swimsuits, but its durability, especially when wet, proved problematic, with jersey and silk also sometimes being used. Burlesque and vaudeville performers wore two-piece outfits in the 1920’s. The 1929 film "Man with a Movie Camera" shows Russian women wearing early two-piece swimsuits which expose their midriff, and a few who are topless. Films of holidaymakers in Germany in the 1930’s show women wearing two-piece suits,

Necklines and midriff

By the 1930’s, necklines plunged at the back, sleeves disappeared and sides were cut away and tightened. With the development of new clothing materials, particularly latex and nylon, through the 1930’s swimsuits gradually began hugging the body, with shoulder straps that could be lowered for tanning. Women’s swimwear of the 1930’s and 1940’s incorporated increasing degrees of midriff exposure. Coco Chanel made suntans fashionable, and in 1932 French designer Madeleine Vionnet offered an exposed midriff in an evening gown. They were seen a year later in Gold Diggers of 1933. The Busby Berkeley film Footlight Parade of 1932 showcases aqua-choreography that featured bikinis. Dorothy Lamour’s The Hurricane (1937) also showed two-piece bathing suits.

The 1934 film, Fashions of 1934 featured chorus girls wearing two-piece outfits which look identical to modern bikinis. In 1934, a National Recreation Association study on the use of leisure time found that swimming, encouraged by the freedom of movement the new swimwear designs provided, was second only to movies in popularity as free time activity out of a list of 94 activities. In 1935 American designer Claire McCardell cut out the side panels of a maillot-style bathing suit, the bikini’s forerunner. The 1938 invention of the Telescopic Watersuit in shirred elastic cotton ushered into the end the era of wool. Cotton sun-tops, printed with palm trees, and silk or rayon pajamas, usually with a blouse top, became popular by 1939. Wartime production during World War II required vast amounts of cotton, silk, nylon, wool, leather, and rubber. In 1942 the United States War Production Board issued Regulation L-85, cutting the use of natural fibers in clothing and mandating a 10% reduction in the amount of fabric in women’s beachwear. To comply with the regulations, swimsuit manufacturers produced two-piece suits with bare midriffs.

Postwar

Fabric shortage continued for some time after the end of the war. Two-piece swimsuits without the usual skirt panel and other excess material started appearing in the US when the government ordered a 10% reduction in fabric used in woman’s swimwear in 1943 as wartime rationing. By that time, two-piece swimsuits were frequent on American beaches. The July 9, 1945, Life shows women in Paris wearing similar items. Hollywood stars like Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth and Lana Turner tried similar swimwear or beachwear. Pin ups of Hayworth and Esther Williams in the costume were widely distributed. The most provocative swimsuit was the 1946 Moonlight Buoy, a bottom and a top of material that weighed only eight ounces. What made the Moonlight Buoy distinctive was a large cork buckle attached to the bottoms, which made it possible to tie the top to the cork buckle and splash around au naturel while keeping both parts of the suit afloat. Life magazine had a photo essay on the Moonlight Buoy and wrote, "The name of the suit, of course, suggests the nocturnal conditions under which nude swimming is most agreeable."

American designer Adele Simpson, a Coty American Fashion Critics’ Awards winner (1947) and a notable alumna of the New York art school Pratt Institute, who believed clothes must be comfortable and practical, designed a large part of her swimwear line with one-piece suits that were considered fashionable even in early 1980’s. This was when Cole of California started marketing revealing prohibition suits and Catalina Swimwear introduced almost bare-back designs. Teen magazines of late 1940’s and 1950’s featured designs of midriff-baring suits and tops. However, midriff fashion was stated as only for beaches and informal events and considered indecent to be worn in public. Hollywood endorsed the new glamour with films such as Neptune’s Daughter (1949) in which Esther Williams wore provocatively named costumes such as "Double Entendre" and "Honey Child". Williams, who also was an Amateur Athletic Union champion in the 100 meter freestyle (1939) and an Olympics swimming finalist (1940), also portrayed Kellerman in the 1952 film Million Dollar Mermaid (titled as The One Piece Bathing Suit in UK).

Swimwear of the 1940’s, 50’s and early 60’s followed the silhouette mostly from early 1930’s. Keeping in line with the ultra-feminine look dominated by Dior, it evolved into a dress with cinched waists and constructed bust-lines, accessorized with earrings, bracelets, hats, scarves, sunglasses, hand bags and cover-ups. Many of these pre-bikinis had fancy names like Double Entendre, Honey Child (to maximize small bosoms), Shipshape (to minimize large bosoms), Diamond Lil (trimmed with rhinestones and lace), Swimming In Mink (trimmed with fur across the bodice) and Spearfisherman (heavy poplin with a rope belt for carrying a knife), Beau Catcher, Leading Lady, Pretty Foxy, Side Issue, Forecast, and Fabulous Fit. According to Vogue the swimwear had become more of "state of dress, not undress" by mid-1950’s.

The modern bikini

French fashion designer Jacques Heim, who owned a beach shop in the French Riviera resort town of Cannes, introduced a minimalist two-piece design in May 1946 which he named the "Atome," after the smallest known particle of matter. The bottom of his design was just large enough to cover the wearer’s navel.

At the same time, Louis Réard, a French automotive and mechanical engineer, was running his mother’s lingerie business near Les Folies Bergères in Paris. He noticed women on St. Tropez beaches rolling up the edges of their swimsuits to get a better tan and was inspired to produce a more minimal design. He trimmed additional fabric off the bottom of the swimsuit, exposing the wearer’s navel for the first time. Réard’s string bikini consisted of four triangles made from 30 square inches (194 cm2) of fabric printed with a newspaper pattern.

When Réard sought a model to wear his design at his press conference, none of the usual models would wear the suit, so he hired 19 year old nude dancer Micheline Bernardini from the Casino de Paris. He introduced his design to the media and public on July 5, 1946, in Paris at Piscine Molitor, a public pool in Paris. Réard held the press conference five days after the first test of a nuclear device (nicknamed Able) over the Bikini Atoll during Operation Crossroads. His swimsuit design shocked the press and public because it was the first to reveal the wearer’s navel.

To promote his new design, Heim hired skywriters to fly above the Mediterranean resort advertising the Atome as "the world’s smallest bathing suit." Not to be outdone by Heim, Réard hired his own skywriters three weeks later to fly over the French Riviera advertising his design as "smaller than the smallest bathing suit in the world."

Heim’s design was the first to be worn on the beach, but the name given by Réard stuck with the public. Despite significant social resistance, Réard received more than 50,000 letters from fans. He also initiated a bold ad campaign that told the public a two-piece swimsuit was not a genuine bikini "unless it could be pulled through a wedding ring." According to Kevin Jones, curator and fashion historian at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, "Réard was ahead of his time by about 15 to 20 years. Only women in the vanguard, mostly upper-class European women embraced it."

Social resistance

Bikini sales did not pick up around the world as women stuck to traditional two-piece swimsuits. Réard went back to designing conventional knickers to sell in his mother’s shop. According to Kevin Jones, curator and fashion historian at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, "Réard was ahead of his time by about 15 to 20 years. Only women in the vanguard, mostly upper-class European women embraced it, just like the upper-class European women who first cast off their corsets after World War I." It was banned in the French Atlantic coastline, Spain, Belgium and Italy, three countries neighboring France, as well as Portugal and Australia, and it was prohibited in some US states, and discouraged in others.

In 1951, the first Miss World contest (originally the Festival Bikini Contest), was organized by Eric Morley. When the winner, Kiki Håkansson from Sweden, was crowned in a bikini, countries with religious traditions threatened to withdraw delegates. Håkansson remains the first and last Miss World to be crowned in her bikini, a crowning that was condemned by Pope Pius XII who declared the swimsuit to be sinful. Bikinis were banned from beauty pageants around the world after the controversy. In 1949 the Los Angeles Times reported that Miss America Bebe Shopp on her visit to Paris said she did not approve the bikini for American girls, though she did not mind French girls wearing them. Actresses in movies like My Favorite Brunette (1947) and the model on a 1948 cover of LIFE were shown in traditional two-piece swimwear, not the bikini.

In 1950, Time magazine interviewed American swimsuit mogul Fred Cole, owner of Cole of California, and reported that he had "little but scorn for France’s famed Bikinis," because they were designed for "diminutive Gallic women". "French girls have short legs," he explained, "Swimsuits have to be hiked up at the sides to make their legs look longer." Réard himself described it as a two-piece bathing suit which "reveals everything about a girl except for her mother’s maiden name." Even Esther Williams commented, "A bikini is a thoughtless act." But, popularity of the charms of Pin-up queen and Hollywood star Williams were to vanish along with pre-bikinis with fancy names over the next few decades. Australian designer Paula Straford introduced the bikini to Gold Coast in 1952. In 1957, Das moderne Mädchen (The Modern Girl) wrote, "It is unthinkable that a decent girl with tact would ever wear such a thing." Eight years later a Munich student was punished to six days cleaning work at an old home because she had strolled across the central Viktualienmarkt square, Munich in a bikini.

The Cannes connection

Despite the controversy, some in France admired "naughty girls who decorate our sun-drenched beaches". Brigitte Bardot, photographed wearing similar garments on beaches during the Cannes Film Festival (1953) helped popularize the bikini in Europe in the 1950’s and created a market in the US. Photographs of Bardot in a bikini, according to The Guardian, turned Saint-Tropez into the bikini capital of the world. Cannes played a crucial role in the career of Brigitte Bardot, who in turn played a crucial role in promoting the Festival, largely by starting the trend of being photographed in a bikini at her first appearance at the festival, with Bardot identified as the original Cannes bathing beauty. In 1952, she wore a bikini in Manina, the Girl in the Bikini (1952) (released in France as Manina, la fille sans voiles), a film which drew considerable attention due to her scanty swimsuit. During the 1953 Cannes Film Festival, she worked with her husband and agent Roger Vadim, and garnered a lot of attention when she was photographed wearing a bikini on every beach in the south of France.

Like Esther Williams did a decade earlier, Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot all used revealing swimwear as career props to enhance their sex appeal, and it became more accepted in parts of Europe when worn by fifties "love goddess" actresses such as Bardot, Anita Ekberg and Sophia Loren. British actress Diana Dors had a mink bikini made for her during the 1955 Venice Film Festival and wore it riding in a gondola down Venice’s Grand Canal past St. Mark’s Square.

In Spain, Benidorm played a similar role as Cannes. Shortly after the bikini was banned in Spain, Pedro Zaragoza, the mayor of Benidorm convinced dictator Francisco Franco that his town needed to legalize the bikini to draw tourists. In 1959, General Franco agreed and the town became a popular tourist destination. Interestingly, in less than four years since Franco’s death in 1979, Spanish beaches and women had gone topless.

Legal and moral resistance

The swimsuit was declared sinful by the Vatican and was banned in Spain, Portugal and Italy, three countries neighboring France, as well as Belgium and Australia, and it remained prohibited in many US states. As late as in 1959, Anne Cole, a US swimsuit designer and daughter of Fred Cole, said about a Bardot bikini, "It’s nothing more than a G-string. It’s at the razor’s edge of decency." In July that year the New York Post searched for bikinis around New York City and found only a couple. Writer Meredith Hall wrote in her memoir that till 1965 one could get a citation for wearing a bikini in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.

In 1951, the first Miss World contest, originally the Festival Bikini Contest, was organized by Eric Morley as a mid-century advertisement for swimwear at the Festival of Britain. The press welcomed the spectacle and referred to it as Miss World, and Morley registered the name as a trademark. When, the winner Kiki Håkansson from Sweden, was crowned in a bikini, countries with religious traditions threatened to withdraw delegates. The bikinis were outlawed and evening gowns introduced instead. Håkansson remains the only Miss World crowned in a bikini, a crowning that was condemned by the Pope. Bikini was banned from beauty pageants around the world after the controversy. Catholic-majority countries like Belgium, Italy, Spain and Australia also banned the swimsuit that same year.

The National Legion of Decency pressured Hollywood to keep bikinis from being featured in Hollywood movies. The Hays production code for US movies, introduced in 1930 but not strictly enforced till 1934, allowed two-piece gowns but prohibited navels on screen. But between the introduction and enforcement of the code two Tarzan movies, Tarzan, the Ape Man (1932) and Tarzan and His Mate (1934), were released in which actress Maureen O’Sullivan wore skimpy bikini-like leather outfits. Film historian Bruce Goldstein described her clothes in the first film as "It’s a loincloth open up the side. You can see loin." All at sea was allowed in the USA in 1957 after all bikini-type clothes were removed from the film. The girl in the bikini was allowed in Kansas after all the bikini close ups were removed from the film in 1959.

In reaction to the introduction of the bikini in Paris, American swimwear manufacturers compromised cautiously by producing their own similar design that included a halter and a midriff-bottom variation. Though size makes all the difference in a bikini, early bikinis often covered the navel. When the navel showed in pictures, it was airbrushed out by magazines like Seventeen. Navel-less women ensured the early dominance of European bikini makers over their American counterparts. By the end of the decade a vogue for strapless styles developed, wired or bound for firmness and fit, along with a taste for bare-shouldered two-pieces called Little Sinners. But, it was the halterneck bikini that caused the most moral controversy because of its degree of exposure. So much so as bikini designs called "Huba Huba" and "Revealation" were withdrawn from fashion parades in Sydney as immodest.

Rise to popularity

The appearance of bikinis kept increasing both on screen and off. The sex appeal prompted film and television productions, including Dr. Strangelove. They include the surf movies of the early 1960’s. In 1960, Brian Hyland’s song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" inspired a bikini-buying spree. By 1963, the movie Beach Party, starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, followed by Muscle Beach Party (1964), Bikini Beach (1964), and Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) that depicted teenage girls wearing bikinis, frolicking in the sand with boys, and having a great time.

The beach films led a wave of films that made the bikini pop-culture symbol. In the sexual revolution in 1960’s America, bikinis became quickly popular. Hollywood stars like Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Gina Lollobrigida, and Jane Russell helped further the growing popularity of bikinis. Pin-up posters of Monroe, Mansfield, Hayworth, Bardot and Raquel Welch also contributed significantly to its increasing popularity. In 1962, Playboy featured a bikini on its cover for the first time. Two years later, Sports Illustrated featured Berlin-born fashion model Babette March on the cover wearing a white bikini. The issue was the first Swimsuit Issue. It gave the bikini legitimacy, became an annual publication and an American pop-culture staple, and sells millions of copies each year. In 1965, a woman told Time it was "almost square" not to wear one. In 1967 the magazine wrote that 65% of "the young set" were wearing bikinis.

When Jayne Mansfield and her husband Miklós Hargitay toured for stage shows, newspapers wrote that Mansfield convinced the rural population that she owned more bikinis than anyone. She showed a fair amount of her 40-inch (1,000 mm) bust, as well as her midriff and legs, in the leopard-spot bikini she wore for her stage shows. Kathryn Wexler of The Miami Herald wrote, "In the beginning as we know it, there was Jayne Mansfield. Here she preens in leopard-print or striped bikinis, sucking in air to showcase her well noted physical assets." Her leopard-skin bikini remains one of the earlier specimens of the fashion.

In 1962, Bond Girl Ursula Andress emerged from the sea wearing a white bikini in Dr. No. The scene has been named one of the most memorable of the series. Channel 4 declared it the top bikini moment in film history, Virgin Media puts it ninth in its top ten, and top in the Bond girls. The Herald (Glasgow) put the scene as best ever on the basis of a poll. It also helped shape the career of Ursula Andress, and the look of the quintessential Bond movie. Andress said that she owed her career to that white bikini, remarking, "This bikini made me into a success. As a result of starring in Dr. No as the first Bond girl, I was given the freedom to take my pick of future roles and to become financially independent." In 2001, the Dr. No bikini worn by Andress in the film sold at auction for US$61,500. That white bikini has been described as a "defining moment in the sixties liberalization of screen eroticism". Because of the shocking effect from how revealing it was at the time, she got referred to by the joke nickname "Ursula Undress". According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, "So iconic was the look that it was repeated 40 years later by Halle Berry in the Bond movie Die Another Day."

Raquel Welch’s fur bikini in One Million Years B.C. (1966) gave the world the most iconic bikini shot of all time and the poster image became an iconic moment in cinema history. The poster image of the deer skin bikini in One Million Years B.C. made her an instant pin-up girl. Welch was featured in the studio’s advertising as "wearing mankind’s first bikini" and the bikini was later described as a "definitive look of the 1960’s". Her role wearing the leather bikini raised Welch to a fashion icon and the photo of her in the bikini became a best-selling pinup poster. One author said, "although she had only three lines in the film, her luscious figure in a fur bikini made her a star and the dream girl of millions of young moviegoers". In 2011, Time listed Welch’s B.C. bikini in the "Top Ten Bikinis in Pop Culture".

In the 1983 film Return of the Jedi, Star Wars’ Princess Leia Organa was captured by Jabba the Hutt and forced to wear a metal bikini complete with shackles. The costume was made of brass and was so uncomfortable that actress Carrie Fisher described it as "what supermodels will eventually wear in the seventh ring of hell." The "slave Leia" look is often imitated by female fans at Star Wars conventions. In 1997, 51 years after the bikini’s debut, and 77 years after the Miss America Pageant was founded, contestants were allowed wear two-piece swimsuits, not just the swimsuits (nicknamed "bulletproof vests") traditionally issued by the pageant. Two of the 17 swimsuit finalists wore two-piece swimsuits, and Erika Kauffman, representing Hawaii, wore the briefest bikini of all and won the swimsuit competition. In 2010, the International Federation of Bodybuilders recognized Bikini as a new competitive category.

In India

Bollywood actress Sharmila Tagore appeared in a bikini in An Evening in Paris (1967), a film mostly remembered for the first bikini appearance of an Indian actress. She also posed in a bikini for the glossy Filmfare magazine. The costume shocked the conservative Indian audience, but it also set a trend of bikini-clad actresses carried forward by Parveen Babi (in Yeh Nazdeekiyan, 1982), Zeenat Aman (in Heera Panna 1973; Qurbani, 1980) and Dimple Kapadia (in Bobby, 1973) in the early 1970’s. Wearing a bikini put her name in the Indian press as one of Bollywood’s ten hottest actresses of all time, and was a transgression of female identity through a reversal of the state of modesty, which functions as a signifier of femininity in Bombay films. By 2005, it became usual for actors in Indian films to change outfits a dozen times in a single song — starting with a chiffon sari and ending up wearing a bikini. But, when Tagore was the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification in 2005, she expressed concerns about the rise of the bikini in Indian films.

Acceptance

In France, Réard’s company folded in 1988, four years after his death. By that year the bikini made up nearly 20% of swimsuit sales, more than any other model in the US. As skin cancer awareness grew and a simpler aesthetic defined fashion in the 1990s, sales of the skimpy bikini decreased dramatically. The new swimwear code was epitomized by surf star Malia Jones, who appeared on the June 1997 cover of Shape Magazine wearing a halter top two-piece for rough water. After the 90’s, however, the bikini came back again. US market research company NPD Group reported that sales of two-piece swimsuits nationwide jumped 80% in two years. On one hand the one-piece made a big comeback in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, on the other bikinis became briefer with the string bikini in the 1970’s and 80’s.

The "-kini family" (as dubbed by author William Safire), including the "-ini sisters" (as dubbed by designer Anne Cole) has grown to include a large number of subsequent variations, often with a hilarious lexicon — string bikini, monokini or numokini (top part missing), seekini (transparent bikini), tankini (tank top, bikini bottom), camikini (camisole top and bikini bottom), hikini, thong, slingshot, minimini, teardrop, and micro. In just one major fashion show in 1985, there were two-piece suits with cropped tank tops instead of the usual skimpy bandeaux, suits that are bikinis in front and one-piece behind, suspender straps, ruffles, and daring, navel-baring cutouts. To meet the fast changing tastes, some of the manufacturers have made a business out of making made-to-order bikinis in around seven minutes. The world’s most expensive bikini, made up of over 150 carats (30 g) of flawless diamonds and worth a massive £20 million, was designed in February 2006 by Susan Rosen.

Actresses in action films like Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003) and Blue Crush (2002) have made the two-piece "the millennial equivalent of the power suit", according to Gina Bellafonte of The New York Times, On September 9, 1997, Miss Maryland Jamie Fox was the first contestant in 50 years to compete in a two-piece swimsuit to compete in the Preliminary Swimsuit Competition at the Miss America Pageant. PETA used celebrities like Pamela Anderson, Traci Bingham and Alicia Mayer wearing a bikini made of iceberg-lettuce for an advertisement campaign to promote vegetarianism. A protester from Columbia University used a bikini as a message board against a New York City visit by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

By the end of the century, the bikini went on to become the most popular beachwear around the globe, according to French fashion historian Olivier Saillard due to "the power of women, and not the power of fashion". As he explains, "The emancipation of swimwear has always been linked to the emancipation of women", though one survey tells 85% of all bikinis never touch the water. According to Beth Dincuff Charleston, research associate at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "The bikini represents a social leap involving body consciousness, moral concerns, and sexual attitudes." By the early 2000’s, bikinis had become a US $811 million business annually, according to the NPD Group, a consumer and retail information company. The bikini has boosted spin-off services like bikini waxing and the sun tanning industries.

Continued controversies

The bikini remained a hot topic for the news media. In May 2011, Barcelona, Spain made it illegal to wear bikinis in public except in areas near the beaches. Violators face fines of between 120 and 300 euros. In 2012, two students of St. Theresa’s College in Cebu, the Philippines were barred from attending their graduation ceremony for "ample body exposure" because their bikini pictures were posted on Facebook. The students sued the college and won a temporary stay in a regional court.

In May 2013, Cambridge University banned the Wyverns Club of Magdalene College from arranging its annual bikini jelly wrestling. In June 2013, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who also is interested in fashion, produced a bikini for her clothing line that is designed to be worn by girls 4 to 8 years old. She was criticized for sexualizing young children by Claude Knight of Kidscape, a British foundation that strives to prevent child abuse. He commented, "We remain very opposed to the sexualization of children and of childhood … is a great pity that such trends continue and that they carry celebrity endorsement."

Four women were arrested over the 2013 Memorial Day weekend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for indecent exposure when they wore thong bikinis that exposed their buttocks. In June 2013, the British watchdog agency Advertising Standards Authority banned a commercial that showed men in an office fantasizing about their colleague, played by Pamela Anderson, in a bikini for degrading women.

Links:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_bikini en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_variants en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimsuit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_in_popular_culture en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indecent_exposure en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indecent_exposure_in_the_United_States

Posted by FotoManiacNYC on 2017-01-11 07:28:31

Tagged: , KAOHS , designer , SS17 , collection , SpringSummer , 2016 , Miami , South Beach , W Hotel , W , swimming , pool , Florida , Swim Week , fashion week , clothing , bikini , swimwear , swimsuit , fashion , walking , catwalk , runway , designs , trendy , new , preview , sexy , beautiful , topless , almost , nude , naked , boobs , butt , booty , model , agency , nycphotographer , long legs , legs , heels , chic , flirting , teasing , presenting , hair , long hair , makeup , eyes , lips , thin , fit , body , tall , MIAMISWIM , SWIMMIAMI , FUNKSHION , curvy , woman , female , girl , show , vacation , vacations , sunbathing

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[kennethherrerablog]

20 Fun, Free Things to Do in Orlando (Because Disney Gets Expensive)

When you think of Orlando, you might think Disney.

That’s fair. Heck, I’m a native Floridian, and I thought that most of my life — until I actually moved to Orlando.

Sure, Disney is great and all, but the truth is The City Beautiful has a lot to offer outside the parks. And what’s better? There are plenty of free things to do here — things that don’t cost you hundreds of dollars just to gain entry…

20 Fun Things to Do in Orlando for Free

Whether you live here in Orlando or are planning your next trip, here are 20 free things to do.

1. Winter Park Farmers’ Market

Explore the local vendors at the Winter Park Farmers’ Market, hosted at the old train depot each Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Note: The market is closed on every third Saturday in March due to the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, one of the oldest and largest outdoor art festivals in the country. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re in town — and it’s free.

Afterwards, explore Park Avenue, which is laced with shops, restaurants, museums and theaters.

2. Lake Eola

Butting up to the heart of downtown Orlando, Lake Eola offers Insta-worthy views, a .9-mile walking sidewalk and some very large swans. (Really, they’re huge.) If you’re there on a Sunday, stop by the market.

Throughout the year, there are tons of free activities (like movie showings), so bookmark this calendar.

3. Lakeridge Winery

Want a real taste of Florida? And maybe a buzz? Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards rests on a 127-acre estate in Clermont, Florida, and serves award-winning wines. A tour and a tasting are free.

Keep an eye on upcoming events, too, like the free summer music series or the grape-stomping competition, which the kids will get into for free and will love.

4. Old Town in Kissimmee

Free to enter and peruse, Old Town is a retro landmark that offers amusement rides, souvenir shops and lots of food options.

On Friday and Saturday nights, secure a spot on the sidewalk, and watch muscle and classic cars make their way down Main Street.

5. Orlando Brewing

Embark on a free tour of Orlando Brewing, Monday through Saturday at 6 p.m. Once you appreciate where the beer comes from, start sippin’.

Pro Tip

If you want to do a beer tasting, check Groupon. You can usually find 50%-off deals for parties of two.

6. Big Tree Park

This park was once famous for The Senator, a 3,500-year-old bald cypress tree that burned down in 2012 due to a drug-fueled incident. (Long story.)

Although The Senator no longer remains (RIP), you’ll still find its memorial, as well as its 2,000-year-old sister tree, Lady Liberty.

Plus, there’s a nice trail and playground, and the shade will protect you from the Florida sun.

Pro Tip

If you're planning an outdoor activity in the summer, pack plenty of sunscreen and bug spray.

7. Disney Springs

Formerly known as Downtown Disney, Disney Springs is a lakeside corridor of shops, restaurants, bars and entertainment.

You don’t have to spend money to enjoy the lively outdoor atmosphere. There’s also a water taxi you can take from one end to the other. Plus, parking is free, which is hard to come by in Orlando.

Bonus: You’ll find the Lego Store here, a wonderland of blocks that kids — and adults — will get lost in for hours. You don’t have to pay to play!

8. Cornell Fine Arts Museum

On the beautiful campus of Rollins College, the Cornell Fine Arts Museum holds more than 500 paintings and a whole lot of artifacts and archaeological fragments. Plan to stop by for a free 30-minute guided tour.

(Note: It’s closed on Mondays.)

9. Disney’s Boardwalk

Tucked between Epcot and Hollywood Studios, Disney Boardwalk transports you to Coney Island in the 1920s.

Relax a bit as you walk along Crescent Lake, watch the street magicians perform and take in the fragrant funnel cakes. Parking is free.

Pro tip: You can catch the Magic Kingdom’s fireworks display from here, too.

9. CityArts Factory

Tucked between Lake Eola and I-4 in a 130-year-old building, the CityArts Factory houses works from local artists, as well as international pieces — all rotated in and out each month.

Admission is free Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

10. Winter Park

Stop by the Winter Park Historical Museum (in the Winter Park Farmers Market building) to pick up a free walking tour brochure. On it, you’ll find 21 stops, including the Winter Park Railroad Station, Knowles Cottage and the Colony Theatre.

(You can find more walking maps on the City of Winter Park’s website.)

11. Celebration Town Center

This “perfect town” was designed by Disney and is lined with pastel-colored houses and white picket fences. Many people visit to take in the pleasant sights and walk around the lake.

The town’s center is host to a number of dining, entertainment and shopping options. Keep tabs on upcoming events, like exotic car shows and arts strolls.

12. Black Hammock Adventures

Black Hammock Adventures is situated on Lake Jesup, which is home to something like 9,000 gators (the largest concentration of ’em in the States). You also might spot bald eagles, wild boars, bobcats — you name it.

According to its website, you can view free gator feedings — depending on the weather. If you want to splurge, there are airboat rides, too.

13. Cocoa Beach

The closest beach to Orlando is Cocoa Beach, which is about an hour away (depending on where you’re staying).

Parking for the popular Alan Shepard Park is $15, but Lori Wilson Park, right down the road, is free.

There’s even a dog park if your furry friend wants to tag along.

14. Fort Christmas

If you decide to head to the beach, stop by Fort Christmas Historical Park on your way.

Built during the Second Seminole War, the site features a full-size replica of Fort Christmas and seven historical “Cracker-style” homes. Listen to video presentations before enjoying a picnic under one of the pavilions.

Check for free events, too, like the annual bluegrass festival in March and Cracker Christmas in December.

15. Kraft Azalea Garden

Pack a picnic and soak up the serenity this lakeside park offers. Then break out your bird-watching binoculars, and see what you can spot.

Pro Tip

The azaleas in Florida tend to bloom from late February to early April if you want a colorful show. If you miss that window, opt for one of Florida’s classic colorful sunsets instead.

16. Grand Bohemian Gallery

If you *heart* art, stop by the beautiful Grand Bohemian Gallery — even if you’re not staying at the hotel.

Parking downtown might be tricky, but use ParkMe to find your cheapest option (like the $2 City Commons Garage).

17. Tasty Tuesdays

The Milk District (named for its proximity to T.G. Lee Dairy) is known for Tasty Tuesdays, a gathering of local food trucks each Tuesday, 6:30-10 p.m. Bring the kids — or your dog — and check out the live music and neighborly festivities.

18. Universal CityWalk

After 6 p.m., park for free, and take in the big lights of Universal CityWalk, which is comparable to Vegas — without the slots.

There’s also a fountain the kids can splash in. In the summer, keep an eye out for free concerts.

19. Chip ’n Dale’s Campfire Sing-a-Long

Saddle in fireside, and join these adorable chipmunks as you roast s’mores and warm up your vocals. You can even snap a photo and snag an autograph.

To save even more money, bring your own marshmallows and sticks. The shenanigans start at 8 p.m.

20. Spook Hill

If you really want to embark on an adventure, head south a ways to Lake Wales. Around 600 N. Wales Dr., you’ll find a sign marking “The Legend of Spook Hill.”

Pull over, and read the story, then follow the directions. Apparently, if you do it right, your car will roll uphill.

The TripAdvisor reviews are mixed, so don’t go too far out of your way for this local haunt.

Bonus: Wekiva Island

Enter this environmentally friendly oasis on the Wekiva River for $2 per person. Hang out dockside, or float around while listening to live bands.

If you want to get adventurous, you can rent a kayak, canoe or paddleboard; a half-day rental costs less than $40. When you get tired, stop by the Tooting Otter for a snack and a craft beer.

Pro Tip

Get $1 off beer and wine during happy hour, which runs 5-7 p.m.

Note: We know many of you like to resort pool hop. Unfortunately many hotels don’t appreciate it, so that’s why we didn’t include the suggestion. Get kicked out of your own free will.

Carson Kohler (@CarsonKohler) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. This post would have been as messy as I-4 traffic without diligent research from Haley Gonzalez, our writing intern.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

20 Fun, Free Things to Do in Orlando (Because Disney Gets Expensive) published first on https://justinbetreviews.tumblr.com/

[cynthiajayusa]

What’s Hot Central Florida: November 2018

Thursday, November 1

The Flamingo Resort presents the Brotherhood of Bears Weekend from today through Sunday, November 4th. The weekend will be filled with fun, frolicking and many events. For more info: FlamingoFla.com.

Friday, November 2

Gays On The Move is kicking off their first Friday of upcoming events happening at Stonewall Bar Orlando. Animal House will bring Orlando’s most daring men as they bring their wildest, skimpiest, and kinkiest Toga looks. Speaking of which, you can dress in full fetish gear or come as you are-so long as you feel sexy and ready to TOGA! Abandon your worries and get lost in their misfit frat house where everyone is welcome to party! Hosted by ΣΩΒ House Mutha Lacie Browning with special guest entertainer Adrian Padron (Mr Ms Adrian), and special guest DJ JB Burgos, ΣΩΒ House DJ Skinner. There will also be a Toga & Wet Underwear Contest, Fraternity Games, Paddle/Hazing Station so, assemble your squad, charge up, and join Animal House!

Saturday, November 3

SunCoast Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) announces Venice’s first Pride Festival today from 1 pm to 5 pm at 3276 E. Venice Avenue, Venice, FL. Senior Co-Pastors of SunCoast MCC, Reverend Dr. Nancy Wilson and Reverend Vickie Miller, are excited to host Venice’s first Pride Celebration. For more information go to veniceflpride.com.

Amalie Arena presents Twenty One Pilots in their Bandito Tour at 7pm. Tickets start at $35.75 at Amaliearena.com.

Sunday, November 4

Straz Center for the performing Arts presents Straz Live! at Curtis Hixon park starting at 2pm. Now an annual community event to kick off their new season, Straz LIVE! in the Park is a family-friendly mash-up of an afternoon picnic, a concert in the park and a block party featuring live entertainment of popular Broadway tunes, favorite opera arias and a surprise guest or two. They will also have food trucks on site. This event is free, but they do have reserved tables of eight for just $125 located in front of the stage, and will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.

Southern Nights Tampa presents the Miss Shave My Face House Pageant. This pageant presents the opportunity for performers to creatively showcase their talents and entertain the audience while learning new and exciting ways to have safer sex and about available METRO services. Through entertainment they will reduce the stigma that surrounds HIV/AIDS and educate the community. The night is hosted by Ms. Kiala Santi, and the categories are: Presentation: “This is We” HIV Prevention Self Expression: Demonstrating the fight Against HIV/AIDS, Talent (5-7 minutes), Evening Gown: Household Realness, (Gowns must be made out of household items), and Q&A Segment. Registration: $25 to be paid between noon and 3pm day of pageant. $500 grand prize, $250 1st runner up, and $125 2nd runner up. Entry is an $8 suggested donation, which benefits Metro Wellness & Community Center.

Tuesday, November 6

Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall presents singer, composer, and actor, Lyle Lovett, whose career has spanned 14 albums.  Coupled with his gift for storytelling, Lyle fuses elements of Americana, swing, jazz, folk, gospel and blues in his live performances. Lyle’s college buddy Robert Earl Keen has blazed a trail that’s earned him living-legend (not to mention pioneer) status in the Americana music world. “Whenever Kindness Fails,” “A Bigger Piece of Sky” and “The Road Goes on Forever” have made him a songwriter’s songwriter. Curtain goes up at 8pm with tickets starting at $57 at VanWezel.org.

Friday, November 9

The Tampa Improv presents Steve-O: The Bucket List from the infamous Jackass TV Show. Since then, Steve-O has had continued success, as a New York Times best-selling author with the release of his memoir, Professional Idiot, and he has established himself as a force in the world of stand-up comedy. He’s even landed a handful of acting roles in film and TV. Catch Steve-O today and tomorrow, November 10. Tickets are only $25 at ImprovTampa.com.

Saturday, November 10

Dr. Phillips Center Presents Vince Gill In Association With AEG Presents at 8pm. Vince is one of the most popular singers in modern country music, and is famous for his top-notch songwriting, world-class guitar playing and warm, soaring tenor, all wrapped up in a quick and easy wit. Since his breakthrough in 1990, Gill has won 21 GRAMMY Awards, entry into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005, eight awards from the Academy of Country Music, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007. In August 2012, Gill was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Tickets from: $39.50 at Drphillipscenter.org.

A lot of us already have our minds on gift giving, decking the halls, and warm gatherings with friends and family – but it’s not really the holidays in Orlando without the annual tradition of the Festival of Trees, which starts today and goes through Sunday, November 18 from 10am to 5pm. Tickets are now on sale for Council of 101’s annual event, which transforms the Orlando Museum of Art (2416 North Mills Ave.) into a winter wonderland with sparkling trees, glittering holiday vignettes and stunning décor. Now in its 32nd year, the Festival of Trees is celebrating the “Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” Visitors can admire designer Christmas trees of all sizes, custom wreaths, a gingerbread village and more, all created by Orlando’s finest designers. Each piece is available for purchase, with proceeds benefiting the Orlando Museum of Art. Tickets can be purchased in person, over the phone by calling 407-896-4231 ext. 254, or online through Eventbrite.

Thursday, November 15

The Orlando Improv presents Piff The Magic Dragon in The Dog Who Knows 2018 Tour. The star of NBC’s America’s Got Talent and Penn & Teller: Fool Us, who has over 100 million online views, 200,000 tickets sold, a residency on the Las Vegas strip now extended throughout 2018 and sold out shows across North America, is coming to Orlando. The Dog Who Knows 2018 Tour features never-before-seen tricks, all new jokes, and Mr Piffles in his latest disguise as a mind reading marvel. Piff plays today through Saturday November 17, with tickets only $25 at: theimprovorlando.com.

Friday, November 16

Dr. Phillips Center Presents In Dreams: Roy Orbison in Concert: The Hologram Tour where Roy will be performing his greatest hits, accompanied on stage by a live orchestra at 8pm. Recognized universally as one of the great rock and roll legends, Orbison’s catalogue includes such chart-toppers as Oh, Pretty Woman, You Got It, Only the Lonely, Crying, I Drove All Night, It’s Over and In Dreams. This tour will allow fans the chance to experience one of the most iconic figures in the history of music in a thrilling way as Orbison and his trademark three-octave range voice comes back to the stage he commanded for decades. Tickets start at $44 at Drphillipscenter.org.

Saturday, November 17

Straz center for the Performing Arts presents Diavolo Dance Theatre: Architecture In Motion at 8pm. The daredevil dance spectacle from America’s Got Talent returns for more shocking, breathtaking dance-acrobatics. For 20 years, Diavolo has invented movement dynamite between its dancers and giant sets of skate ramps, wheels, interlocking boxes and abstract sculptures. With explosive and unexpected flips, leaps, turns, partnering and tests of trust, the company pushes the limits of the ever-present question of when to hold on and when to let go. “The result is dazzling” (Newsday). Tickets start at $22.75 at: StrazCenter.org.

The Parliament House presents, direct from RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 10, Finalist Kameron Michaels. Admission is 410 inc advance and $15 at the door, with VIP $20.

Neema’s Amor, upscale Latin Night, at Stonewall Bar Orlando presents Ashley La Chica Bomba “Live,” where they invite you to join them for a one night only Performance by the legendary Merengue sensation. Doors open at 9pm with admission only $10 before 10pm, and $20 thereafter. The drag show is at 12am starring: Saphyre L’Sweet Cardoza, Lisa Marie Gonzalez, and Nouba Soleil.

Friday, November 23

The Orlando Improv presents TJ Miller, who is one of the most sought after comedians in the world. He was named one of Variety’s “Top 10 Comics to Watch,” and EW’s “Next Big Things in Comedy”.  TJ has been in many movies and ahs done a tremendous amount of voice over work. Catch him today and tomorrow, November 24 with tickets only $25 at theimprovorlando.com.

The Tampa Improv presents Tim Meadows tonight and tomorrow, November 24th. One of the longest-running cast members in the 41-year history of Saturday Night Live,  this versatile comedian crafted some of the series’ most memorable characters during his 10 years on the popular late night show. He has also starred in many movies and guest starred on mny TV shows. Tickets are only $20 at: ImprovTampa.com.

Saturday, November 24

Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall presents Grammy Award-winner KC and The Sunshine Band who are celebrating 40 years of making booties shake! Led by Harry Wayne “KC” Casey, a Florida native, and his band are best known for hits like “Get Down Tonight,” “That’s the Way (I Like It),” “Boogie Shoes” and “Rock Your Baby.” Come and “Shake Your Booty” – you’ll be dancing in the aisles! The show begins at 8pm with tickets starting at $52.

Tuesday, November 27

Elton John ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ Tour makes two stops in Central Florida. The first is at the Amway Arena and the second is on November 28 at Amalie Arena. The ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour will consist of more than 300 shows across five continents, hitting North America, Europe, Asia, South America and Australasia before reaching its conclusion in 2021. These dates mark the superstar’s last-ever tour, the end of half a century on the road for one of pop culture’s most enduring performers. Elton’s new stage production will take his fans on a musical and highly visual journey spanning a 50-year career of hits like no one has ever seen before. Tickets are expensive, but well worth it to see one of the superstars of or generation in his final tour!

Fairwinds Broadway in Orlando presents Hello, Dolly at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts from today until December 2. Tony Award-winning Broadway legend Betty Buckley stars in Hello, Dolly! – the universally acclaimed smash that NPR calls “the best show of the year!” Winner of four Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival, director Jerry Zaks’ “gorgeous” new production (Vogue) is “making people crazy happy!” (The Washington Post). Breaking box office records week after week and receiving thunderous raves on Broadway, this Hello, Dolly! pays tribute to the original work of legendary director/choreographer Gower Champion – hailed both then and now as one of the greatest stagings in musical theater history. Tickets start at $39.25 at Drphillipscenter.org.

source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/11/01/whats-hot-central-florida-november-2018/ from Hot Spots Magazine https://hotspotsmagazin.blogspot.com/2018/11/whats-hot-central-florida-november-2018.html

[demitgibbs]

What’s Hot Central Florida: November 2018

Thursday, November 1

The Flamingo Resort presents the Brotherhood of Bears Weekend from today through Sunday, November 4th. The weekend will be filled with fun, frolicking and many events. For more info: FlamingoFla.com.

Friday, November 2

Gays On The Move is kicking off their first Friday of upcoming events happening at Stonewall Bar Orlando. Animal House will bring Orlando’s most daring men as they bring their wildest, skimpiest, and kinkiest Toga looks. Speaking of which, you can dress in full fetish gear or come as you are-so long as you feel sexy and ready to TOGA! Abandon your worries and get lost in their misfit frat house where everyone is welcome to party! Hosted by ΣΩΒ House Mutha Lacie Browning with special guest entertainer Adrian Padron (Mr Ms Adrian), and special guest DJ JB Burgos, ΣΩΒ House DJ Skinner. There will also be a Toga & Wet Underwear Contest, Fraternity Games, Paddle/Hazing Station so, assemble your squad, charge up, and join Animal House!

Saturday, November 3

SunCoast Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) announces Venice’s first Pride Festival today from 1 pm to 5 pm at 3276 E. Venice Avenue, Venice, FL. Senior Co-Pastors of SunCoast MCC, Reverend Dr. Nancy Wilson and Reverend Vickie Miller, are excited to host Venice’s first Pride Celebration. For more information go to veniceflpride.com.

Amalie Arena presents Twenty One Pilots in their Bandito Tour at 7pm. Tickets start at $35.75 at Amaliearena.com.

Sunday, November 4

Straz Center for the performing Arts presents Straz Live! at Curtis Hixon park starting at 2pm. Now an annual community event to kick off their new season, Straz LIVE! in the Park is a family-friendly mash-up of an afternoon picnic, a concert in the park and a block party featuring live entertainment of popular Broadway tunes, favorite opera arias and a surprise guest or two. They will also have food trucks on site. This event is free, but they do have reserved tables of eight for just $125 located in front of the stage, and will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.

Southern Nights Tampa presents the Miss Shave My Face House Pageant. This pageant presents the opportunity for performers to creatively showcase their talents and entertain the audience while learning new and exciting ways to have safer sex and about available METRO services. Through entertainment they will reduce the stigma that surrounds HIV/AIDS and educate the community. The night is hosted by Ms. Kiala Santi, and the categories are: Presentation: “This is We” HIV Prevention Self Expression: Demonstrating the fight Against HIV/AIDS, Talent (5-7 minutes), Evening Gown: Household Realness, (Gowns must be made out of household items), and Q&A Segment. Registration: $25 to be paid between noon and 3pm day of pageant. $500 grand prize, $250 1st runner up, and $125 2nd runner up. Entry is an $8 suggested donation, which benefits Metro Wellness & Community Center.

Tuesday, November 6

Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall presents singer, composer, and actor, Lyle Lovett, whose career has spanned 14 albums.  Coupled with his gift for storytelling, Lyle fuses elements of Americana, swing, jazz, folk, gospel and blues in his live performances. Lyle’s college buddy Robert Earl Keen has blazed a trail that’s earned him living-legend (not to mention pioneer) status in the Americana music world. “Whenever Kindness Fails,” “A Bigger Piece of Sky” and “The Road Goes on Forever” have made him a songwriter’s songwriter. Curtain goes up at 8pm with tickets starting at $57 at VanWezel.org.

Friday, November 9

The Tampa Improv presents Steve-O: The Bucket List from the infamous Jackass TV Show. Since then, Steve-O has had continued success, as a New York Times best-selling author with the release of his memoir, Professional Idiot, and he has established himself as a force in the world of stand-up comedy. He’s even landed a handful of acting roles in film and TV. Catch Steve-O today and tomorrow, November 10. Tickets are only $25 at ImprovTampa.com.

Saturday, November 10

Dr. Phillips Center Presents Vince Gill In Association With AEG Presents at 8pm. Vince is one of the most popular singers in modern country music, and is famous for his top-notch songwriting, world-class guitar playing and warm, soaring tenor, all wrapped up in a quick and easy wit. Since his breakthrough in 1990, Gill has won 21 GRAMMY Awards, entry into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005, eight awards from the Academy of Country Music, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007. In August 2012, Gill was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Tickets from: $39.50 at Drphillipscenter.org.

A lot of us already have our minds on gift giving, decking the halls, and warm gatherings with friends and family – but it’s not really the holidays in Orlando without the annual tradition of the Festival of Trees, which starts today and goes through Sunday, November 18 from 10am to 5pm. Tickets are now on sale for Council of 101’s annual event, which transforms the Orlando Museum of Art (2416 North Mills Ave.) into a winter wonderland with sparkling trees, glittering holiday vignettes and stunning décor. Now in its 32nd year, the Festival of Trees is celebrating the “Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” Visitors can admire designer Christmas trees of all sizes, custom wreaths, a gingerbread village and more, all created by Orlando’s finest designers. Each piece is available for purchase, with proceeds benefiting the Orlando Museum of Art. Tickets can be purchased in person, over the phone by calling 407-896-4231 ext. 254, or online through Eventbrite.

Thursday, November 15

The Orlando Improv presents Piff The Magic Dragon in The Dog Who Knows 2018 Tour. The star of NBC’s America’s Got Talent and Penn & Teller: Fool Us, who has over 100 million online views, 200,000 tickets sold, a residency on the Las Vegas strip now extended throughout 2018 and sold out shows across North America, is coming to Orlando. The Dog Who Knows 2018 Tour features never-before-seen tricks, all new jokes, and Mr Piffles in his latest disguise as a mind reading marvel. Piff plays today through Saturday November 17, with tickets only $25 at: theimprovorlando.com.

Friday, November 16

Dr. Phillips Center Presents In Dreams: Roy Orbison in Concert: The Hologram Tour where Roy will be performing his greatest hits, accompanied on stage by a live orchestra at 8pm. Recognized universally as one of the great rock and roll legends, Orbison’s catalogue includes such chart-toppers as Oh, Pretty Woman, You Got It, Only the Lonely, Crying, I Drove All Night, It’s Over and In Dreams. This tour will allow fans the chance to experience one of the most iconic figures in the history of music in a thrilling way as Orbison and his trademark three-octave range voice comes back to the stage he commanded for decades. Tickets start at $44 at Drphillipscenter.org.

Saturday, November 17

Straz center for the Performing Arts presents Diavolo Dance Theatre: Architecture In Motion at 8pm. The daredevil dance spectacle from America’s Got Talent returns for more shocking, breathtaking dance-acrobatics. For 20 years, Diavolo has invented movement dynamite between its dancers and giant sets of skate ramps, wheels, interlocking boxes and abstract sculptures. With explosive and unexpected flips, leaps, turns, partnering and tests of trust, the company pushes the limits of the ever-present question of when to hold on and when to let go. “The result is dazzling” (Newsday). Tickets start at $22.75 at: StrazCenter.org.

The Parliament House presents, direct from RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 10, Finalist Kameron Michaels. Admission is 410 inc advance and $15 at the door, with VIP $20.

Neema’s Amor, upscale Latin Night, at Stonewall Bar Orlando presents Ashley La Chica Bomba “Live,” where they invite you to join them for a one night only Performance by the legendary Merengue sensation. Doors open at 9pm with admission only $10 before 10pm, and $20 thereafter. The drag show is at 12am starring: Saphyre L’Sweet Cardoza, Lisa Marie Gonzalez, and Nouba Soleil.

Friday, November 23

The Orlando Improv presents TJ Miller, who is one of the most sought after comedians in the world. He was named one of Variety’s “Top 10 Comics to Watch,” and EW’s “Next Big Things in Comedy”.  TJ has been in many movies and ahs done a tremendous amount of voice over work. Catch him today and tomorrow, November 24 with tickets only $25 at theimprovorlando.com.

The Tampa Improv presents Tim Meadows tonight and tomorrow, November 24th. One of the longest-running cast members in the 41-year history of Saturday Night Live,  this versatile comedian crafted some of the series’ most memorable characters during his 10 years on the popular late night show. He has also starred in many movies and guest starred on mny TV shows. Tickets are only $20 at: ImprovTampa.com.

Saturday, November 24

Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall presents Grammy Award-winner KC and The Sunshine Band who are celebrating 40 years of making booties shake! Led by Harry Wayne “KC” Casey, a Florida native, and his band are best known for hits like “Get Down Tonight,” “That’s the Way (I Like It),” “Boogie Shoes” and “Rock Your Baby.” Come and “Shake Your Booty” – you’ll be dancing in the aisles! The show begins at 8pm with tickets starting at $52.

Tuesday, November 27

Elton John ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ Tour makes two stops in Central Florida. The first is at the Amway Arena and the second is on November 28 at Amalie Arena. The ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour will consist of more than 300 shows across five continents, hitting North America, Europe, Asia, South America and Australasia before reaching its conclusion in 2021. These dates mark the superstar’s last-ever tour, the end of half a century on the road for one of pop culture’s most enduring performers. Elton’s new stage production will take his fans on a musical and highly visual journey spanning a 50-year career of hits like no one has ever seen before. Tickets are expensive, but well worth it to see one of the superstars of or generation in his final tour!

Fairwinds Broadway in Orlando presents Hello, Dolly at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts from today until December 2. Tony Award-winning Broadway legend Betty Buckley stars in Hello, Dolly! – the universally acclaimed smash that NPR calls “the best show of the year!” Winner of four Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival, director Jerry Zaks’ “gorgeous” new production (Vogue) is “making people crazy happy!” (The Washington Post). Breaking box office records week after week and receiving thunderous raves on Broadway, this Hello, Dolly! pays tribute to the original work of legendary director/choreographer Gower Champion – hailed both then and now as one of the greatest stagings in musical theater history. Tickets start at $39.25 at Drphillipscenter.org.

from Hotspots! Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/11/01/whats-hot-central-florida-november-2018/ from Hot Spots Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.tumblr.com/post/179653903605

[decorfrontline]

Let’s Rummage for Good Thank you

New Post has been published on http://www.decorfrontline.com/index.php/2018/03/16/lets-rummage-for-good-thank-you/

Let’s Rummage for Good Thank you

Well, WE DID IT! The first (now annual:)) EHD ‘Lets Rummage For good’ sale is over and my goodness was it satisfying on so many emotional and physical levels. It combines so many of my favorite things: 1.) My love of thrifting and garage sale-ing, with 2.) Using my platform to benefit others with 3.) Gathering a community that thinks about serving those less privileged and 4.) Meeting and engaging with so many of you. It’s honestly the perfect recipe for my happiness. Plus the kids came and I ate delicious chicken sandwiches. But my experience and feelings aren’t really what are important here.

I can’t begin to put into words how thankful I am for all the time and energy everyone involved put into this sale. From Pen + Napkin (the non-profit) tirelessly picking up donations to Gina, our incredible event producer, putting in hours of work outside of her actual paying job – GOD BLESS YOU GINA. Then Abby from The Ruby Street for making sure everything went smoothly at the venue plus Lourdes and Zack donating this beautiful space and ALL the volunteers who gave up time out of their weekend to dress up in chambray and help us organize the mountain of donations we had from dozens of very generous people and companies.

And of course, the 600 people who came and shopped the sale to help raise almost $15,000! Yes you read that right. $15,000 was raised with 100% of it going back to such an incredible cause. The Ladies of Pen + Napkin (Catie and Ellyn I love you) were audibly sobbing when they tallied up the final number. I was clearly a wet-eyed mess as well seeing their reaction. With this money, they are going to be able to help so many more families who are transitioning out of homelessness feel loved, safe and secure.

It was full of items no longer needed by some but desired by others. My guilt about the amount of waste in my life disintegrated. It was a good day.

There are SO many people to thank and fun things to talk about so let’s get into it:

First off, these are the AMAZING ladies of Pen + Napkin. Catie, Jess, Ellyn and Debbie. In case you missed the other blog post, they design and furnish homes for people and families transitioning out of homelessness. The stats are pretty staggering with the percentage of people without furnished homes who end up homeless again versus those who have furnished homes. It just goes to show that putting time and love into your space is not for nothing. These ladies spent weeks coordinating and doing pickups for the sale all while still installing homes for the families they were already working with. Did I mention that Catie the founder was pregnant doing all of this?! They are a true inspiration to me and I am so excited for our partnership to continue and for us to help many many more. They are absolute examples for me.

Not to get on a soapbox about this, but we simply don’t care enough about human beings in this country. We look at the economic disparity and wish it were different but not enough people are prioritizing change. Catie and her husband have been doing this for FOUR YEARS. Volunteering for four years to help decorate homes of families with nothing is pretty incredible. Not only do we need to help the families, but we need to make sure that what she is doing is sustainable for her family (aka – people who run non-profits are simply not paid enough and in order for their service to be sustainable we need to help them).

This wonderful angel of a person, Gina, reached out after I first posted about the sale and volunteered to help coordinate since she had experience in such an event. There are two kinds of people in this world – the people who come to meetings with a detailed agenda of priorities, todo’s and next steps (GINA) and then those who arrive scattered, with no pen or paper in sight (ME). She took over, became my boss and while I was involved with the large decisions obviously, even the day before the sale I was like ‘Gina, what should I be doing’. I can’t thank you enough and hope to work with you forever.  The world needs more people like you.

The week of the sale mother nature decided that LA needed a sprinkling of rain, and by sprinkling, I mean flash flood warnings.  Which isn’t completely ideal when you are planning a giant rummage sale and need to load and unload trailers full of furniture, electronics, and clothes. It was comical for sure but didn’t stop us. Look we were even smiling.

Now when I say people generously donated I wasn’t kidding. Den Mobler, a wonderful 20th century design furniture design store in LA, donated HUNDREDS of amazing design books.

Den Mobler I appreciate and thank you so much.

Then we got an email from Makers Mess, an art studio in Silver Lake that also holds design and art classes, that they had 20 colorful chairs to donate. Catie jumped at that because if we didn’t sell at the sale (which they did) she wanted to use them in homes as dining chairs. Win, win. THANK YOU.

I was initially concerned that we weren’t going to have enough stuff to sell, but this is what the space looked like pre-sale. It was stacked top to bottom with so many good products and items.

And your eyes do not deceive you. Those are brand new OhJoy! products. My dear friend Joy, owner of OhJoy! donated a ton of adorable pillows, furniture, rugs, you name it. Thank you Joy!

All of our volunteers were amazing and willing to do anything we asked with a smile. How did we get so lucky? Here’s the first group of volunteers that came at 7am decked out in chambray:) Some were even there helping the night before. THANK YOU!

And of course, my wonderful team Sara, Jess, Julie and Brady were there too, helping prep the event as well as the helping the day of the event.

If you are wondering about pricing on items, I am a big believer in keeping pricing simple at large sales. It’s too chaotic otherwise. So we made color-coded posters to help with the majority of pricing questions. $2, $5, $10, $15 is what the majority of everything sold for. ‘Garage Sale’ prices made it so fun and successful.

And that sale was filled with good stuff.

I was overwhelmed by the quality of items we received.

A local east side hair salon, Establishment LA, donated all of this brand new Aveda makeup. Needless to say it went fast.

And remember when I hosted that Target event at Olive and June earlier this year? Well, Target being the insanely wonderful and lovely company they are donated all the new Project62 products we had at the event to the sale.

The biggest surprise was the insane amount of clothes that were donated. I am talking bags and bags of great clothes. Everything from vintage to new with tags. Also my wonderful friend Jen, owner of Ban.do donated boxes of brand new Ban.do clothes. Thank YOU Jen!

The volunteers that helped sort through all of it are truly saints.

You may have seen on my insta-story that last minute I decided to donate two of my large-scale oil painting portraits. It was a hard decision but well worth the profit we got for Pen+Napkin. I seriously donated so much and I feel soooooooo good about it. I finally have my garage back!

Every time I have an event I get a major case of ‘what if I threw a party and no one came.’ Well luckily people came and it was awesome.

The early birds (those who donated or volunteered) started lining up at 6:45 in the rain! If it wasn’t my sale I probably would have been one of those too. The really good stuff always goes super fast.

I was overcome with joy when I saw the other line (which wrapped around the corner). I knew it was going to be a good day.

The shopping started and the fun was underway.

I can be quite the saleswoman and was convincing this sweet couple they NEEDED this fine gentleman in their home. Did you see my insta-story poll on it?

And you bet I was successful. What a happy family:)

For the record I LOVE meeting, hanging and yes even taking photos with readers. Don’t ever hesitate, PLEASE. It makes me feel good and reinforces what I should be doing every day.

People didn’t hold back on the purchases. This is just one person’s loot!

I still can’t believe it was pouring rain and those people stayed in line and waited to come in (we had a maximum capacity in the room – all day long). Those definitely aren’t forced smiles… You also may be wondering why we had them all standing outside in the rain, and the only reason was we couldn’t let them all in at once due to the buildings capacity and the fire marshall potentially shutting us down. Thank you for sticking through it everyone that came and had to wait in line.

But once everyone was in the rain was a distant memory:)

I really wanted parents to feel free to bring their kids and for the day to be more of an event versus just a sale. I don’t give up time with my kids on the weekends so I didn’t want anybody else to as well. Since The Ruby Street had this amazing outdoor space I wanted to have some fun games that kids could do so they would let their parents shop with the promise of fun later. Enter Joymode and ResisterhoodLA. Joymode is an experience rental company here in LA and they donated these awesome oversized games. Then ResisterhoodLA, a class pass for volunteering organization, offered their services to oversee the games and help in any other way we needed. Having both companies there made the day so much better. Thank you!!

What would a rummage sale be without a food truck right? A bunch of starving, grumpy shoppers. Peaches Smokehouse and Southern Kitchen came and served up some delicious food namely those fried chicken sandwiches with strangely amazing pickles. Seriously if you ever see them on the street stop immediately and stuff your mouth with any of their amazing sandwiches. You and your belly won’t be sorry.

Now that we had Peaches as our food truck I reached out to Amy from Leaf and Love Organics. They make delicious organic lemonade juice boxes with no sugar, are gluten free and vegan. Basically, the best lemonade options for kids and my kids love them.

But in case the adults wanted some fancy spa-like water to help them hydrate during the shopping frenzy, The Surface Library donated these lovely pitchers for us to use.

Speaking of my kids, Brian brought them over so we all could be a part of this together. They are still a bit too young to really understand what this day meant to others but the more they can be around it the better.

Plus a vintage blue belt and blowing bubbles are an easy way for at least Elliot to be very interested.

And Charlie was very concentrated on his fishing game.

Originally I thought that the sale would go until 4pm. Then I realized I was crazy and no sale I have ever had has lasted past 1pm – due to everyone buying everything. And as you can see by noon the merchandise and crowd were dwindling, as almost everything had already sold.

Here is a before and after GIF to show you the shopping damage that was done.

To think how packed this place was and we hardly had anything left at the end. To say thank you feels incredibly insufficient. But THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Pen + Napkin are going to do absolute wonders with this money and please if you have furniture or time to donate to them throughout the year they want it and will put it to good use.

There it is. The first (of hopefully many many more) ‘Let’s Rummage For Good’ sale. THANK YOU again to Pen + Napkin, The Ruby Street, Gina, all the collaborators, donators, shoppers and my team, of course. This sale made all of us feel amazing, as giving back typically does, so I am planning to have it be an annual (or semi-annual) event. If you, someone you know or any companies want to be involved in the next one please email giveback@emilyhendersondesign.com.

The post Let’s Rummage for Good Thank you appeared first on Emily Henderson.

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Year In Review: 6 Platform Changes That Shook Up Social Media Marketing in 2017

With 2018 on the horizon, we’re all in a state of reflection, looking back on all the good, the bad and the ugly 2017 brought us. When it comes to social media, it’s hard not to think about the latter two. With all the political turmoil and uptick in trolling, even Facebook recently admitted that its digging deep to turn the tide and bring well-being principles into the social experience.

But while there’s little doubt that 2017 surfaced new concerns and challenges in the social media space, there were some positive developments for everyday users and marketers alike. In this piece, we highlight some of those interesting and encouraging changes that occurred across platforms.

While this is certainly not a complete list, we think these are some changes that can be celebrated by marketers—as well as leveraged in 2018 and beyond.

#1 – Facebook continues its push to help users and brands tell Stories.

While Snapchat came on the scene in 2013, the platform began gaining major ground in 2016 as a formidable contender within the social media space, drawing younger audiences and causing Facebook to sit up, take notice and form an action plan.

While Snapchat’s main interface is totally unique, the one thing that could be cloned is its Stories feature—something that Facebook got to work on by first rolling out a similar feature on Instagram in the summer of 2016 and then in its own Messenger app shortly thereafter.

(Credit: Facebook)

But 2017 brought Facebook Stories to a new level. In early October, it was confirmed that Facebook was rolling out an option to syndicate Instagram Stories to Facebook Stories. Not long after, TechCrunch learned that Facebook Stories would soon be opened up to Pages, which would let brands, news publishers, athletes and nonprofits get in on all the fun. That full rollout to Pages appears to still be in the works, but its something marketers should be on the lookout for as they enter the new year.

#2 – LinkedIn implements lead gen forms on ads.

For B2B brands, there’s little doubt that LinkedIn can be an especially effective digital advertising platform with the right message, budget and targeting in place. And LinkedIn sweetened the pot earlier this year by adding a Lead Generation Forms option to its ad platform, allowing users to opt into your offer with just one click.

As TopRank Marketing’s own Steve Slater, Digital Advertising Manager, said in a post on the subject:

“Lead generation form ads encourage the impulse buy. With one click, you can gain access to prospect information in a way that required little time or effort on their end. The beauty of this approach for advertisers is that you can show your ads to the right audience and receive one click conversions.”

Of course, a few months after releasing the offering into the wild, LinkedIn has made some enhancement to the offering, including the ability to add custom questions to the forms, according to AdWeek. In addition, AdWeek said marketers have reported that using the lead gen forms have helped lower their average cost per lead by more than 20%—something that’s certainly worthy of your consideration as we head into 2018.

Read: Master LinkedIn’s New Lead Generation Forms in 10 Easy Steps

#3 – Instagram begins its rollout of the “paid partnership with” tag.

Influencer marketing is exploding right now, with brands of all sizes have forming both paid and unpaid partnerships with influencers—and using social platforms, especially Instagram, to spread their message.

In the spirit of enhanced transparency—and the added benefit of bringing even more credibility to your influencer marketing initiatives—Instagram rolled out a “paid partnership with” tag in June 2017 for posts and stories. Then, after a couple months of testing and data gathering, Instagram announced it would expand the tool.

“We have been closely working with a select group of creators and businesses throughout the Instagram community to test our new ‘Paid partnership with’ tag,” Instagram said in an update on Aug. 29. “And now, after months of gathering feedback from this test release, we’re excited to announce that access to this tool will be expanded to more of our partners across Instagram—with the global rollout being gradually released over the next few months.”

Read: What Brands Need to Know About Instagram’s New ‘Paid Partnership’ Feature

#4 – LinkedIn launches its own video capabilities.

As TopRank Marketing’s own Josh Nite so eloquently said:

“Video content is eating the internet. It started with video-specific platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. Then Twitter and Facebook added support for live and pre-recorded video. Now these insatiable moving pictures are becoming serious business: LinkedIn now supports native video.”

Yes. When LinkedIn rolled out native video capabilities this year, B2B marketers everywhere rejoiced at the prospect of being able to serve up live, raw video to a professional audience. While the new offering is still in its infancy, you can bet that LinkedIn will make investments in evolving the offering to make it even easier to use in the future.

#5 – Twitter doubles its character count.

Perhaps one of the biggest social media news items of 2017 was Twitter’s decision to expand its character limit from 140 to 280. The company had been toying with the idea of super sizing its limit for a while—with rumors circulating that the limit could go as high as 10,000 characters—but it began with removing photos and links from the count in mid-2016.

The official switch to a 280-character limit came in early November, giving users (and brands and marketers) more space to express themselves—while still staying as true as possible to its commitment to brevity.

The good news for marketers? While it’s still early, some preliminary research indicates that tweets longer than 140 characters get more engagement. SocialFlow, a social media analytics company, reported that their latest data showed that people are liking and retweeting longer tweets almost two-times more than shorter ones.

However, remember, value and resonance are what hook your audience—not your character count. So, before your rewrite all of your tweeting best practices, do your due diligence through some testing, and data collection and analysis to determine what your audience really responds to.

Read: Will More Tweet Space Equal More Value for Your Twitter Audience?

#6 – Facebook refreshes poll feature to include GIFs.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the invention and rising use of GIFs has made the internet so much better. And, well, Facebook just took it all to the next level by refreshing its “old” polling feature to support GIFs.

The new feature made its debut in early November and it’s pretty simple. At the top of your News Feed, click on the “What’s on your mind” section and select the ellipsis to reveal all your options, including “Poll.” For pages, select the “Event, Products, Job+” option at the top of your page. Then ask your question in the top and then select your two options via an image upload or GIF search, and hit publish.

From what we can tell, this new feature isn’t widely used yet, but could pack big engagement potential. After all, it allows you to combine multiple social media best practices into one post: visual imagery, a compelling and engaging question, and a spark of humor and personality.

What’s On the Horizon for 2018?

As the old adage goes, the only constant is change—and we can certainly expect that to hold true for the social media landscape in 2018 and beyond. Of course, some of the change we can expect is already in the works—especially for Instagram.

Rumor has it that Instagram is in the midst of testing several new features on its mobile app—including a “regram” button. A couple weeks ago, The Next Web broke the news that Instagram was “secretly” testing the new feature.

As any Instagram user knows, at this point the only way to share posts from other users’ accounts is through third-party tools, or to download and re-upload to their account. If this does come to fruition, this could mean big things for brands that want to foster engagement and connect with influencers.

Other features that are reportedly being tested include: GIF search (via Giphy) to add animated GIFS to Stories, the ability to follow specific hashtags (which would be a real win for marketers), and the ability to “archive” stories.

Of course, you can bet that Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even YouTube to continuously looks for ways to engage users and support advertisers. In early 2018, TopRank Marketing will release our annual Social Media Marketing Predictions, featuring insights from industry experts and thought leaders—so stay tuned for that!

What change to a social media platform got you excited, annoyed or scared in 2017? Tell us in the comments section below.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®, 2017. | Year In Review: 6 Platform Changes That Shook Up Social Media Marketing in 2017 | http://www.toprankblog.com

The post Year In Review: 6 Platform Changes That Shook Up Social Media Marketing in 2017 appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

from The SEO Advantages http://www.toprankblog.com/2017/12/social-media-marketing-2017/

[unixcommerce]

Year In Review: 6 Platform Changes That Shook Up Social Media Marketing in 2017

With 2018 on the horizon, we’re all in a state of reflection, looking back on all the good, the bad and the ugly 2017 brought us. When it comes to social media, it’s hard not to think about the latter two. With all the political turmoil and uptick in trolling, even Facebook recently admitted that its digging deep to turn the tide and bring well-being principles into the social experience.

But while there’s little doubt that 2017 surfaced new concerns and challenges in the social media space, there were some positive developments for everyday users and marketers alike. In this piece, we highlight some of those interesting and encouraging changes that occurred across platforms.

While this is certainly not a complete list, we think these are some changes that can be celebrated by marketers—as well as leveraged in 2018 and beyond.

#1 – Facebook continues its push to help users and brands tell Stories.

While Snapchat came on the scene in 2013, the platform began gaining major ground in 2016 as a formidable contender within the social media space, drawing younger audiences and causing Facebook to sit up, take notice and form an action plan.

While Snapchat’s main interface is totally unique, the one thing that could be cloned is its Stories feature—something that Facebook got to work on by first rolling out a similar feature on Instagram in the summer of 2016 and then in its own Messenger app shortly thereafter.

(Credit: Facebook)

But 2017 brought Facebook Stories to a new level. In early October, it was confirmed that Facebook was rolling out an option to syndicate Instagram Stories to Facebook Stories. Not long after, TechCrunch learned that Facebook Stories would soon be opened up to Pages, which would let brands, news publishers, athletes and nonprofits get in on all the fun. That full rollout to Pages appears to still be in the works, but its something marketers should be on the lookout for as they enter the new year.

#2 – LinkedIn implements lead gen forms on ads.

For B2B brands, there’s little doubt that LinkedIn can be an especially effective digital advertising platform with the right message, budget and targeting in place. And LinkedIn sweetened the pot earlier this year by adding a Lead Generation Forms option to its ad platform, allowing users to opt into your offer with just one click.

As TopRank Marketing’s own Steve Slater, Digital Advertising Manager, said in a post on the subject:

“Lead generation form ads encourage the impulse buy. With one click, you can gain access to prospect information in a way that required little time or effort on their end. The beauty of this approach for advertisers is that you can show your ads to the right audience and receive one click conversions.”

Of course, a few months after releasing the offering into the wild, LinkedIn has made some enhancement to the offering, including the ability to add custom questions to the forms, according to AdWeek. In addition, AdWeek said marketers have reported that using the lead gen forms have helped lower their average cost per lead by more than 20%—something that’s certainly worthy of your consideration as we head into 2018.

Read: Master LinkedIn’s New Lead Generation Forms in 10 Easy Steps

#3 – Instagram begins its rollout of the “paid partnership with” tag.

Influencer marketing is exploding right now, with brands of all sizes have forming both paid and unpaid partnerships with influencers—and using social platforms, especially Instagram, to spread their message.

In the spirit of enhanced transparency—and the added benefit of bringing even more credibility to your influencer marketing initiatives—Instagram rolled out a “paid partnership with” tag in June 2017 for posts and stories. Then, after a couple months of testing and data gathering, Instagram announced it would expand the tool.

“We have been closely working with a select group of creators and businesses throughout the Instagram community to test our new ‘Paid partnership with’ tag,” Instagram said in an update on Aug. 29. “And now, after months of gathering feedback from this test release, we’re excited to announce that access to this tool will be expanded to more of our partners across Instagram—with the global rollout being gradually released over the next few months.”

Read: What Brands Need to Know About Instagram’s New ‘Paid Partnership’ Feature

#4 – LinkedIn launches its own video capabilities.

As TopRank Marketing’s own Josh Nite so eloquently said:

“Video content is eating the internet. It started with video-specific platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. Then Twitter and Facebook added support for live and pre-recorded video. Now these insatiable moving pictures are becoming serious business: LinkedIn now supports native video.”

Yes. When LinkedIn rolled out native video capabilities this year, B2B marketers everywhere rejoiced at the prospect of being able to serve up live, raw video to a professional audience. While the new offering is still in its infancy, you can bet that LinkedIn will make investments in evolving the offering to make it even easier to use in the future.

#5 – Twitter doubles its character count.

Perhaps one of the biggest social media news items of 2017 was Twitter’s decision to expand its character limit from 140 to 280. The company had been toying with the idea of super sizing its limit for a while—with rumors circulating that the limit could go as high as 10,000 characters—but it began with removing photos and links from the count in mid-2016.

The official switch to a 280-character limit came in early November, giving users (and brands and marketers) more space to express themselves—while still staying as true as possible to its commitment to brevity.

The good news for marketers? While it’s still early, some preliminary research indicates that tweets longer than 140 characters get more engagement. SocialFlow, a social media analytics company, reported that their latest data showed that people are liking and retweeting longer tweets almost two-times more than shorter ones.

However, remember, value and resonance are what hook your audience—not your character count. So, before your rewrite all of your tweeting best practices, do your due diligence through some testing, and data collection and analysis to determine what your audience really responds to.

Read: Will More Tweet Space Equal More Value for Your Twitter Audience?

#6 – Facebook refreshes poll feature to include GIFs.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the invention and rising use of GIFs has made the internet so much better. And, well, Facebook just took it all to the next level by refreshing its “old” polling feature to support GIFs.

The new feature made its debut in early November and it’s pretty simple. At the top of your News Feed, click on the “What’s on your mind” section and select the ellipsis to reveal all your options, including “Poll.” For pages, select the “Event, Products, Job+” option at the top of your page. Then ask your question in the top and then select your two options via an image upload or GIF search, and hit publish.

From what we can tell, this new feature isn’t widely used yet, but could pack big engagement potential. After all, it allows you to combine multiple social media best practices into one post: visual imagery, a compelling and engaging question, and a spark of humor and personality.

What’s On the Horizon for 2018?

As the old adage goes, the only constant is change—and we can certainly expect that to hold true for the social media landscape in 2018 and beyond. Of course, some of the change we can expect is already in the works—especially for Instagram.

Rumor has it that Instagram is in the midst of testing several new features on its mobile app—including a “regram” button. A couple weeks ago, The Next Web broke the news that Instagram was “secretly” testing the new feature.

As any Instagram user knows, at this point the only way to share posts from other users’ accounts is through third-party tools, or to download and re-upload to their account. If this does come to fruition, this could mean big things for brands that want to foster engagement and connect with influencers.

Other features that are reportedly being tested include: GIF search (via Giphy) to add animated GIFS to Stories, the ability to follow specific hashtags (which would be a real win for marketers), and the ability to “archive” stories.

Of course, you can bet that Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even YouTube to continuously looks for ways to engage users and support advertisers. In early 2018, TopRank Marketing will release our annual Social Media Marketing Predictions, featuring insights from industry experts and thought leaders—so stay tuned for that!

What change to a social media platform got you excited, annoyed or scared in 2017? Tell us in the comments section below.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog – TopRank®, 2017. | Year In Review: 6 Platform Changes That Shook Up Social Media Marketing in 2017 | http://ift.tt/faSbAI

The post Year In Review: 6 Platform Changes That Shook Up Social Media Marketing in 2017 appeared first on Online Marketing Blog – TopRank®.

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The post Year In Review: 6 Platform Changes That Shook Up Social Media Marketing in 2017 appeared first on Web Design, Hosting, Domains, and Marketing.

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[befoundonlinemarketing]

Year In Review: 6 Platform Changes That Shook Up Social Media Marketing in 2017

With 2018 on the horizon, we’re all in a state of reflection, looking back on all the good, the bad and the ugly 2017 brought us. When it comes to social media, it’s hard not to think about the latter two. With all the political turmoil and uptick in trolling, even Facebook recently admitted that its digging deep to turn the tide and bring well-being principles into the social experience.

But while there’s little doubt that 2017 surfaced new concerns and challenges in the social media space, there were some positive developments for everyday users and marketers alike. In this piece, we highlight some of those interesting and encouraging changes that occurred across platforms.

While this is certainly not a complete list, we think these are some changes that can be celebrated by marketers—as well as leveraged in 2018 and beyond.

#1 – Facebook continues its push to help users and brands tell Stories.

While Snapchat came on the scene in 2013, the platform began gaining major ground in 2016 as a formidable contender within the social media space, drawing younger audiences and causing Facebook to sit up, take notice and form an action plan.

While Snapchat’s main interface is totally unique, the one thing that could be cloned is its Stories feature—something that Facebook got to work on by first rolling out a similar feature on Instagram in the summer of 2016 and then in its own Messenger app shortly thereafter.

(Credit: Facebook)

But 2017 brought Facebook Stories to a new level. In early October, it was confirmed that Facebook was rolling out an option to syndicate Instagram Stories to Facebook Stories. Not long after, TechCrunch learned that Facebook Stories would soon be opened up to Pages, which would let brands, news publishers, athletes and nonprofits get in on all the fun. That full rollout to Pages appears to still be in the works, but its something marketers should be on the lookout for as they enter the new year.

#2 – LinkedIn implements lead gen forms on ads.

For B2B brands, there’s little doubt that LinkedIn can be an especially effective digital advertising platform with the right message, budget and targeting in place. And LinkedIn sweetened the pot earlier this year by adding a Lead Generation Forms option to its ad platform, allowing users to opt into your offer with just one click.

As TopRank Marketing’s own Steve Slater, Digital Advertising Manager, said in a post on the subject:

“Lead generation form ads encourage the impulse buy. With one click, you can gain access to prospect information in a way that required little time or effort on their end. The beauty of this approach for advertisers is that you can show your ads to the right audience and receive one click conversions.”

Of course, a few months after releasing the offering into the wild, LinkedIn has made some enhancement to the offering, including the ability to add custom questions to the forms, according to AdWeek. In addition, AdWeek said marketers have reported that using the lead gen forms have helped lower their average cost per lead by more than 20%—something that’s certainly worthy of your consideration as we head into 2018.

Read: Master LinkedIn’s New Lead Generation Forms in 10 Easy Steps

#3 – Instagram begins its rollout of the “paid partnership with” tag.

Influencer marketing is exploding right now, with brands of all sizes have forming both paid and unpaid partnerships with influencers—and using social platforms, especially Instagram, to spread their message.

In the spirit of enhanced transparency—and the added benefit of bringing even more credibility to your influencer marketing initiatives—Instagram rolled out a “paid partnership with” tag in June 2017 for posts and stories. Then, after a couple months of testing and data gathering, Instagram announced it would expand the tool.

“We have been closely working with a select group of creators and businesses throughout the Instagram community to test our new ‘Paid partnership with’ tag,” Instagram said in an update on Aug. 29. “And now, after months of gathering feedback from this test release, we’re excited to announce that access to this tool will be expanded to more of our partners across Instagram—with the global rollout being gradually released over the next few months.”

Read: What Brands Need to Know About Instagram’s New ‘Paid Partnership’ Feature

#4 – LinkedIn launches its own video capabilities.

As TopRank Marketing’s own Josh Nite so eloquently said:

“Video content is eating the internet. It started with video-specific platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. Then Twitter and Facebook added support for live and pre-recorded video. Now these insatiable moving pictures are becoming serious business: LinkedIn now supports native video.”

Yes. When LinkedIn rolled out native video capabilities this year, B2B marketers everywhere rejoiced at the prospect of being able to serve up live, raw video to a professional audience. While the new offering is still in its infancy, you can bet that LinkedIn will make investments in evolving the offering to make it even easier to use in the future.

#5 – Twitter doubles its character count.

Perhaps one of the biggest social media news items of 2017 was Twitter’s decision to expand its character limit from 140 to 280. The company had been toying with the idea of super sizing its limit for a while—with rumors circulating that the limit could go as high as 10,000 characters—but it began with removing photos and links from the count in mid-2016.

The official switch to a 280-character limit came in early November, giving users (and brands and marketers) more space to express themselves—while still staying as true as possible to its commitment to brevity.

The good news for marketers? While it’s still early, some preliminary research indicates that tweets longer than 140 characters get more engagement. SocialFlow, a social media analytics company, reported that their latest data showed that people are liking and retweeting longer tweets almost two-times more than shorter ones.

However, remember, value and resonance are what hook your audience—not your character count. So, before your rewrite all of your tweeting best practices, do your due diligence through some testing, and data collection and analysis to determine what your audience really responds to.

Read: Will More Tweet Space Equal More Value for Your Twitter Audience?

#6 – Facebook refreshes poll feature to include GIFs.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the invention and rising use of GIFs has made the internet so much better. And, well, Facebook just took it all to the next level by refreshing its “old” polling feature to support GIFs.

The new feature made its debut in early November and it’s pretty simple. At the top of your News Feed, click on the “What’s on your mind” section and select the ellipsis to reveal all your options, including “Poll.” For pages, select the “Event, Products, Job+” option at the top of your page. Then ask your question in the top and then select your two options via an image upload or GIF search, and hit publish.

From what we can tell, this new feature isn’t widely used yet, but could pack big engagement potential. After all, it allows you to combine multiple social media best practices into one post: visual imagery, a compelling and engaging question, and a spark of humor and personality.

What’s On the Horizon for 2018?

As the old adage goes, the only constant is change—and we can certainly expect that to hold true for the social media landscape in 2018 and beyond. Of course, some of the change we can expect is already in the works—especially for Instagram.

Rumor has it that Instagram is in the midst of testing several new features on its mobile app—including a “regram” button. A couple weeks ago, The Next Web broke the news that Instagram was “secretly” testing the new feature.

As any Instagram user knows, at this point the only way to share posts from other users’ accounts is through third-party tools, or to download and re-upload to their account. If this does come to fruition, this could mean big things for brands that want to foster engagement and connect with influencers.

Other features that are reportedly being tested include: GIF search (via Giphy) to add animated GIFS to Stories, the ability to follow specific hashtags (which would be a real win for marketers), and the ability to “archive” stories.

Of course, you can bet that Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even YouTube to continuously looks for ways to engage users and support advertisers. In early 2018, TopRank Marketing will release our annual Social Media Marketing Predictions, featuring insights from industry experts and thought leaders—so stay tuned for that!

What change to a social media platform got you excited, annoyed or scared in 2017? Tell us in the comments section below.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®, 2017. | Year In Review: 6 Platform Changes That Shook Up Social Media Marketing in 2017 | http://ift.tt/faSbAI

The post Year In Review: 6 Platform Changes That Shook Up Social Media Marketing in 2017 appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Year In Review: 6 Platform Changes That Shook Up Social Media Marketing in 2017 posted first on http://ift.tt/faSbAI

[christopheruearle]

Year In Review: 6 Platform Changes That Shook Up Social Media Marketing in 2017

With 2018 on the horizon, we’re all in a state of reflection, looking back on all the good, the bad and the ugly 2017 brought us. When it comes to social media, it’s hard not to think about the latter two. With all the political turmoil and uptick in trolling, even Facebook recently admitted that its digging deep to turn the tide and bring well-being principles into the social experience.

But while there’s little doubt that 2017 surfaced new concerns and challenges in the social media space, there were some positive developments for everyday users and marketers alike. In this piece, we highlight some of those interesting and encouraging changes that occurred across platforms.

While this is certainly not a complete list, we think these are some changes that can be celebrated by marketers—as well as leveraged in 2018 and beyond.

#1 – Facebook continues its push to help users and brands tell Stories.

While Snapchat came on the scene in 2013, the platform began gaining major ground in 2016 as a formidable contender within the social media space, drawing younger audiences and causing Facebook to sit up, take notice and form an action plan.

While Snapchat’s main interface is totally unique, the one thing that could be cloned is its Stories feature—something that Facebook got to work on by first rolling out a similar feature on Instagram in the summer of 2016 and then in its own Messenger app shortly thereafter.

(Credit: Facebook)

But 2017 brought Facebook Stories to a new level. In early October, it was confirmed that Facebook was rolling out an option to syndicate Instagram Stories to Facebook Stories. Not long after, TechCrunch learned that Facebook Stories would soon be opened up to Pages, which would let brands, news publishers, athletes and nonprofits get in on all the fun. That full rollout to Pages appears to still be in the works, but its something marketers should be on the lookout for as they enter the new year.

#2 – LinkedIn implements lead gen forms on ads.

For B2B brands, there’s little doubt that LinkedIn can be an especially effective digital advertising platform with the right message, budget and targeting in place. And LinkedIn sweetened the pot earlier this year by adding a Lead Generation Forms option to its ad platform, allowing users to opt into your offer with just one click.

As TopRank Marketing’s own Steve Slater, Digital Advertising Manager, said in a post on the subject:

“Lead generation form ads encourage the impulse buy. With one click, you can gain access to prospect information in a way that required little time or effort on their end. The beauty of this approach for advertisers is that you can show your ads to the right audience and receive one click conversions.”

Of course, a few months after releasing the offering into the wild, LinkedIn has made some enhancement to the offering, including the ability to add custom questions to the forms, according to AdWeek. In addition, AdWeek said marketers have reported that using the lead gen forms have helped lower their average cost per lead by more than 20%—something that’s certainly worthy of your consideration as we head into 2018.

Read: Master LinkedIn’s New Lead Generation Forms in 10 Easy Steps

#3 – Instagram begins its rollout of the “paid partnership with” tag.

Influencer marketing is exploding right now, with brands of all sizes have forming both paid and unpaid partnerships with influencers—and using social platforms, especially Instagram, to spread their message.

In the spirit of enhanced transparency—and the added benefit of bringing even more credibility to your influencer marketing initiatives—Instagram rolled out a “paid partnership with” tag in June 2017 for posts and stories. Then, after a couple months of testing and data gathering, Instagram announced it would expand the tool.

“We have been closely working with a select group of creators and businesses throughout the Instagram community to test our new ‘Paid partnership with’ tag,” Instagram said in an update on Aug. 29. “And now, after months of gathering feedback from this test release, we’re excited to announce that access to this tool will be expanded to more of our partners across Instagram—with the global rollout being gradually released over the next few months.”

Read: What Brands Need to Know About Instagram’s New ‘Paid Partnership’ Feature

#4 – LinkedIn launches its own video capabilities.

As TopRank Marketing’s own Josh Nite so eloquently said:

“Video content is eating the internet. It started with video-specific platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. Then Twitter and Facebook added support for live and pre-recorded video. Now these insatiable moving pictures are becoming serious business: LinkedIn now supports native video.”

Yes. When LinkedIn rolled out native video capabilities this year, B2B marketers everywhere rejoiced at the prospect of being able to serve up live, raw video to a professional audience. While the new offering is still in its infancy, you can bet that LinkedIn will make investments in evolving the offering to make it even easier to use in the future.

#5 – Twitter doubles its character count.

Perhaps one of the biggest social media news items of 2017 was Twitter’s decision to expand its character limit from 140 to 280. The company had been toying with the idea of super sizing its limit for a while—with rumors circulating that the limit could go as high as 10,000 characters—but it began with removing photos and links from the count in mid-2016.

The official switch to a 280-character limit came in early November, giving users (and brands and marketers) more space to express themselves—while still staying as true as possible to its commitment to brevity.

The good news for marketers? While it’s still early, some preliminary research indicates that tweets longer than 140 characters get more engagement. SocialFlow, a social media analytics company, reported that their latest data showed that people are liking and retweeting longer tweets almost two-times more than shorter ones.

However, remember, value and resonance are what hook your audience—not your character count. So, before your rewrite all of your tweeting best practices, do your due diligence through some testing, and data collection and analysis to determine what your audience really responds to.

Read: Will More Tweet Space Equal More Value for Your Twitter Audience?

#6 – Facebook refreshes poll feature to include GIFs.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the invention and rising use of GIFs has made the internet so much better. And, well, Facebook just took it all to the next level by refreshing its “old” polling feature to support GIFs.

The new feature made its debut in early November and it’s pretty simple. At the top of your News Feed, click on the “What’s on your mind” section and select the ellipsis to reveal all your options, including “Poll.” For pages, select the “Event, Products, Job+” option at the top of your page. Then ask your question in the top and then select your two options via an image upload or GIF search, and hit publish.

From what we can tell, this new feature isn’t widely used yet, but could pack big engagement potential. After all, it allows you to combine multiple social media best practices into one post: visual imagery, a compelling and engaging question, and a spark of humor and personality.

What’s On the Horizon for 2018?

As the old adage goes, the only constant is change—and we can certainly expect that to hold true for the social media landscape in 2018 and beyond. Of course, some of the change we can expect is already in the works—especially for Instagram.

Rumor has it that Instagram is in the midst of testing several new features on its mobile app—including a “regram” button. A couple weeks ago, The Next Web broke the news that Instagram was “secretly” testing the new feature.

As any Instagram user knows, at this point the only way to share posts from other users’ accounts is through third-party tools, or to download and re-upload to their account. If this does come to fruition, this could mean big things for brands that want to foster engagement and connect with influencers.

Other features that are reportedly being tested include: GIF search (via Giphy) to add animated GIFS to Stories, the ability to follow specific hashtags (which would be a real win for marketers), and the ability to “archive” stories.

Of course, you can bet that Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even YouTube to continuously looks for ways to engage users and support advertisers. In early 2018, TopRank Marketing will release our annual Social Media Marketing Predictions, featuring insights from industry experts and thought leaders—so stay tuned for that!

What change to a social media platform got you excited, annoyed or scared in 2017? Tell us in the comments section below.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®, 2017. | Year In Review: 6 Platform Changes That Shook Up Social Media Marketing in 2017 | http://www.toprankblog.com

The post Year In Review: 6 Platform Changes That Shook Up Social Media Marketing in 2017 appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

[larsbjorge-blog]

KAOHS 2016-07-155699

Photo by: Roman Kajzer @FotoManiacNYC FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / FLICKR / TWITTER

KAOHS – presenting SS17 collection during Swim Week in South Beach Miami at W Hotel 7/2016

WEBSITE LINK: KAOHS SWIM FACEBOOK LINK: KAOHS FACEBOOK

You can see the entire runway album here: KAOHS – MIAMI SWIM WEEK 7/2016

On Friday, July 15th, 2016, hundreds of guests including top media, influencers and buyers, attended the WET Lounge, at the W South Beach, to experience a amazing runway show. Kaohs Swim debuted its Resort 2016 and Spring 2017 collections at the W South Beach in Miami, which included 22 new bikinis and three returning favorites: Hampton Salty bikini, Rie bikini and Gypsy bikini — famously worn by Kim Kardashian.

Kaohs Swim’s new collections featured touches of stretch denim contrasted with white nylon/spandex swim fabric, as well as simple, structured bikinis inspired by the 90’s embellished with silver rings, criss-crossing straps, sea shells, and one-shoulder tops. In addition to the three returning bikinis, the new collection included 16 new tops, two never-seen-before one-pieces, and 15 new bottoms. Many of the swimsuits were comprised of solid one-tone or color blocks of black, white, blush, peach, and denim sewn in high-quality swim fabrics made to withstand years of use. Seven new colors are offered in the 2016 collections, including an earthy-red hue (Mars), a muted purple (Purple Haze), a dark-bright-tropical blue (Fiji), a shiny metallic olive green (Gimlet), and copper (Penny).

The KAOHS 2017 collection show was easily one of the best shows at SwimMiami. The California-based brand’s vibe backstage was true to LA, with great energy brought by DJ Sam Blacky. KAOHS has gained some major heat, among influencers like Kim and Kourtney Kardashian, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Bella Hadid, Rocky Barnes, Alexis Ren, Pia Mia, Natasha Oakley, and more ringing in the summer with these seriously sexy looks.

ABOUT KAOHS KAOHS Swim was born in 2013 when two best friends, Tess Hamilton and Ali Hoffmann came together to curate a line of swimwear inspired by sKAte, bOHo and Surf = KAOHS. They were zealous to launch a label that offered edge and functionality, all while showing a free spirited aesthetic. Their designs are for beach girls whose lifestyles demand comfortable and active (and sexy) beachwear. With swimsuits in a variety of cuts – from Brazilian to hipster and low to high – KAOHS Swim makes a swimsuit to flatter – and become the ultimate confidence booster for – every beach-going figure. Focusing on two-piece bikinis with a nod to one-piece swimsuits, KAOHS Swim’s collections feature edgy, feminine cuts, and a playful, modern, and earthy palette of colors. The high quality fabrics and seamless cuts were designed to compliment every shape of every woman. They really wanted KAOHS Swim to be the most perfect confidence boost when hitting the beach- or anywhere that calls for a good tan line!

The swimwear is designed in Orange County, California and made in Los Angeles, California

PR Agency: CECE FEINBERG PUBLIC RELATIONS

ABOUT MIAMI SWIM WEEK Even without longtime organizer IMG, Swim Week in 2016 has delivered a bounty of barely-there swimsuit collection for Spring/Summer 2017.

After IMG announced in May 2015 that it would be pulling out of what was formerly called Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim, following the loss of its title sponsor, those involved had a lot of scrambling to do. Without a strong sponsor or an experienced organizer, could Swim Week even continue in all its stringy, deeply spray-tanned glory? True to the old adage, the show did go on thanks to the (somewhat) cohesive efforts of the affected brands, production companies and publicists.

A week spread between the sweaty Miami heat of three separate trade shows – Swim Show, Cabana and Hammock – of various personalities, with relevant brands occupying space in the show that suit their vibe. All of these shows are situated within walking distance of each other. Brands also have parties or fashion shows throughout the four days at nearby hotels and pools, making Miami Swim Week super busy and a whole lotta fun.

There is a lot to take in with over 25 external runway shows after 5pm, parties and the three simultaneous trade shows, but it’s plenty pleasing on the eye. There’s hot, Miami energy and it’s awesome to be seeing a preview of swim collections from the hottest brands for 2017.

MIAMI SWIM SHOW: The world’s biggest swim show which occupies the convention center with hundreds of brands from across the globe. Brands featured that we liked included Seafolly, Billabong, NLP Women, Kopper & Zinc, and Rhythm amongst hundreds of others.

CABANA: This is the boutique show where the brands showcase in two big, cabana-style tents near the beach with coconuts issued to buyers, media and guests on entry. A few of our faves included Beach Riot, Minimale Animale, Tori Praver Swim, Mara Hoffman, Bec and Bridge, Boys and Arrows and Bower Swim.

HAMMOCK: Situated in the W Hotel, with the coolest brands of today occupying the luxury suites to showcase their latest collection with their marketing teams and a bevy of hot models. Leading Instagram swim brands seemed to be the big brands in this year’s Hammock W show including Mikoh, Indah and Frankies Swim.

LINKS: fashionfilesmag.com/kaohs-swim/ estrellafashionreport.com/2016/07/kaohs-swim-at-swimmiami… allfashion.press/kaohs-swim-runway-debut-miami-swim-week/ www.instagram.com/kaohs_swim/ thelafashion.com/2016/07/20/kaohs-2017-miami-swim-week/ www.bizbash.com/kaohs-runway-years-swim-week-miami-includ…

HISTORY OF THE BIKINI

Time magazine list of top 10 bikinis in popular culture

-Micheline Bernardini models the first-Ever Bikini (1946) -"Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" (1960) -Annette Funicello and Beach Party (1960’s) -The belted Bond-girl bikini (1962) -Sports Illustrated’s first Swimsuit Issue (1964) -Raquel Welch’s fur bikini in One Million Years B.C. (1966) -Phoebe Cates’ Bikini in Fast Times at Ridgemont High -Princess Leia’s golden bikini in Return of the Jedi (1983) -Official uniform of the female Olympic Beach Volleyball team (1996) -Miss America pageant’s bikini debut (1997)

The history of the bikini can be traced back to antiquity. Illustrations of Roman women wearing bikini-like garments during competitive athletic events have been found in several locations. The most famous of them is Villa Romana del Casale. French engineer Louis Réard introduced the modern bikini, modeled by Micheline Bernardini, on July 5, 1946, borrowing the name for his design from the Bikini Atoll, where post-war testing on the atomic bomb was happening.

French women welcomed the design, but the Catholic Church, some media, and a majority of the public initially thought the design was risque or even scandalous. Contestants in the first Miss World beauty pageant wore them in 1951, but the bikini was then banned from the competition. Actress Bridget Bardot drew attention when she was photographed wearing a bikini on the beach during the Cannes Film Festival in 1953. Other actresses, including Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner, also gathered press attention when they wore bikinis. During the early 1960’s, the design appeared on the cover of Playboy and Sports Illustrated, giving it additional legitimacy. Ursula Andress made a huge impact when she emerged from the surf wearing what is now an iconic bikini in the James Bond movie Dr. No (1962). The deer skin bikini Raquel Welch wore in the film One Million Years B.C. (1966) turned her into an international sex symbol and was described as a definitive look of the 1960’s.

The bikini gradually grew to gain wide acceptance in Western society. According to French fashion historian Olivier Saillard, the bikini is perhaps the most popular type of female beachwear around the globe because of "the power of women, and not the power of fashion". As he explains, "The emancipation of swimwear has always been linked to the emancipation of women." By the early 2000’s, bikinis had become a US $ 811 million business annually, and boosted spin-off services like bikini waxing and the sun tanning.

Interval

Between the classical bikinis and the modern bikini there has been a long interval. Swimming or outdoor bathing were discouraged in the Christian West and there was little need for a bathing or swimming costume till the 18th century. The bathing gown in the 18th century was a loose ankle-length full-sleeve chemise-type gown made of wool or flannel, so that modesty or decency was not threatened. In the first half of 19th century the top became knee-length while an ankle-length drawer was added as a bottom. By the second half of 19th century, in France, the sleeves started to vanish, the bottom became shorter to reach only the knees and the top became hip-length and both became more form fitting. In the 1900’s women wore wool dresses on the beach that were made of up to 9 yards (8.2 m) of fabric. That standard of swimwear evolved into the modern bikini in the first of half of the 20th century.

Breakthrough

In 1907, Australian swimmer and performer Annette Kellerman was arrested on a Boston beach for wearing a form-fitting sleeveless one-piece knitted swimming tights that covered her from neck to toe, a costume she adopted from England, although it became accepted swimsuit attire for women in parts of Europe by 1910. Even in 1943, pictures of the Kellerman swimsuit were produced as evidence of indecency in Esquire v. Walker, Postmaster General. But, Harper’s Bazaar wrote in June 1920 (vol. 55, no. 6, p. 138) – "Annette Kellerman Bathing Attire is distinguished by an incomparable, daring beauty of fit that always remains refined." The following year, in June 1921 (vol. 54, no. 2504, p. 101) it wrote that these bathing suits were "famous … for their perfect fit and exquisite, plastic beauty of line."

Female swimming was introduced at the 1912 Summer Olympics. In 1913, inspired by that breakthrough, the designer Carl Jantzen made the first functional two-piece swimwear, a close-fitting one-piece with shorts on the bottom and short sleeves on top. Silent films such as The Water Nymph (1912) saw Mabel Normand in revealing attire, and this was followed by the daringly dressed Sennett Bathing Beauties (1915–1929). The name "swim suit" was coined in 1915 by Jantzen Knitting Mills, a sweater manufacturer who launched a swimwear brand named the Red Diving Girl,. The first annual bathing-suit day at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 1916 was a landmark. The swimsuit apron, a design for early swimwear, disappeared by 1918, leaving a tunic covering the shorts.

During the 1920’s and 1930’s, people began to shift from "taking in the water" to "taking in the sun," at bathhouses and spas, and swimsuit designs shifted from functional considerations to incorporate more decorative features. Rayon was used in the 1920’s in the manufacture of tight-fitting swimsuits, but its durability, especially when wet, proved problematic, with jersey and silk also sometimes being used. Burlesque and vaudeville performers wore two-piece outfits in the 1920’s. The 1929 film "Man with a Movie Camera" shows Russian women wearing early two-piece swimsuits which expose their midriff, and a few who are topless. Films of holidaymakers in Germany in the 1930’s show women wearing two-piece suits,

Necklines and midriff

By the 1930’s, necklines plunged at the back, sleeves disappeared and sides were cut away and tightened. With the development of new clothing materials, particularly latex and nylon, through the 1930’s swimsuits gradually began hugging the body, with shoulder straps that could be lowered for tanning. Women’s swimwear of the 1930’s and 1940’s incorporated increasing degrees of midriff exposure. Coco Chanel made suntans fashionable, and in 1932 French designer Madeleine Vionnet offered an exposed midriff in an evening gown. They were seen a year later in Gold Diggers of 1933. The Busby Berkeley film Footlight Parade of 1932 showcases aqua-choreography that featured bikinis. Dorothy Lamour’s The Hurricane (1937) also showed two-piece bathing suits.

The 1934 film, Fashions of 1934 featured chorus girls wearing two-piece outfits which look identical to modern bikinis. In 1934, a National Recreation Association study on the use of leisure time found that swimming, encouraged by the freedom of movement the new swimwear designs provided, was second only to movies in popularity as free time activity out of a list of 94 activities. In 1935 American designer Claire McCardell cut out the side panels of a maillot-style bathing suit, the bikini’s forerunner. The 1938 invention of the Telescopic Watersuit in shirred elastic cotton ushered into the end the era of wool. Cotton sun-tops, printed with palm trees, and silk or rayon pajamas, usually with a blouse top, became popular by 1939. Wartime production during World War II required vast amounts of cotton, silk, nylon, wool, leather, and rubber. In 1942 the United States War Production Board issued Regulation L-85, cutting the use of natural fibers in clothing and mandating a 10% reduction in the amount of fabric in women’s beachwear. To comply with the regulations, swimsuit manufacturers produced two-piece suits with bare midriffs.

Postwar

Fabric shortage continued for some time after the end of the war. Two-piece swimsuits without the usual skirt panel and other excess material started appearing in the US when the government ordered a 10% reduction in fabric used in woman’s swimwear in 1943 as wartime rationing. By that time, two-piece swimsuits were frequent on American beaches. The July 9, 1945, Life shows women in Paris wearing similar items. Hollywood stars like Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth and Lana Turner tried similar swimwear or beachwear. Pin ups of Hayworth and Esther Williams in the costume were widely distributed. The most provocative swimsuit was the 1946 Moonlight Buoy, a bottom and a top of material that weighed only eight ounces. What made the Moonlight Buoy distinctive was a large cork buckle attached to the bottoms, which made it possible to tie the top to the cork buckle and splash around au naturel while keeping both parts of the suit afloat. Life magazine had a photo essay on the Moonlight Buoy and wrote, "The name of the suit, of course, suggests the nocturnal conditions under which nude swimming is most agreeable."

American designer Adele Simpson, a Coty American Fashion Critics’ Awards winner (1947) and a notable alumna of the New York art school Pratt Institute, who believed clothes must be comfortable and practical, designed a large part of her swimwear line with one-piece suits that were considered fashionable even in early 1980’s. This was when Cole of California started marketing revealing prohibition suits and Catalina Swimwear introduced almost bare-back designs. Teen magazines of late 1940’s and 1950’s featured designs of midriff-baring suits and tops. However, midriff fashion was stated as only for beaches and informal events and considered indecent to be worn in public. Hollywood endorsed the new glamour with films such as Neptune’s Daughter (1949) in which Esther Williams wore provocatively named costumes such as "Double Entendre" and "Honey Child". Williams, who also was an Amateur Athletic Union champion in the 100 meter freestyle (1939) and an Olympics swimming finalist (1940), also portrayed Kellerman in the 1952 film Million Dollar Mermaid (titled as The One Piece Bathing Suit in UK).

Swimwear of the 1940’s, 50’s and early 60’s followed the silhouette mostly from early 1930’s. Keeping in line with the ultra-feminine look dominated by Dior, it evolved into a dress with cinched waists and constructed bust-lines, accessorized with earrings, bracelets, hats, scarves, sunglasses, hand bags and cover-ups. Many of these pre-bikinis had fancy names like Double Entendre, Honey Child (to maximize small bosoms), Shipshape (to minimize large bosoms), Diamond Lil (trimmed with rhinestones and lace), Swimming In Mink (trimmed with fur across the bodice) and Spearfisherman (heavy poplin with a rope belt for carrying a knife), Beau Catcher, Leading Lady, Pretty Foxy, Side Issue, Forecast, and Fabulous Fit. According to Vogue the swimwear had become more of "state of dress, not undress" by mid-1950’s.

The modern bikini

French fashion designer Jacques Heim, who owned a beach shop in the French Riviera resort town of Cannes, introduced a minimalist two-piece design in May 1946 which he named the "Atome," after the smallest known particle of matter. The bottom of his design was just large enough to cover the wearer’s navel.

At the same time, Louis Réard, a French automotive and mechanical engineer, was running his mother’s lingerie business near Les Folies Bergères in Paris. He noticed women on St. Tropez beaches rolling up the edges of their swimsuits to get a better tan and was inspired to produce a more minimal design. He trimmed additional fabric off the bottom of the swimsuit, exposing the wearer’s navel for the first time. Réard’s string bikini consisted of four triangles made from 30 square inches (194 cm2) of fabric printed with a newspaper pattern.

When Réard sought a model to wear his design at his press conference, none of the usual models would wear the suit, so he hired 19 year old nude dancer Micheline Bernardini from the Casino de Paris. He introduced his design to the media and public on July 5, 1946, in Paris at Piscine Molitor, a public pool in Paris. Réard held the press conference five days after the first test of a nuclear device (nicknamed Able) over the Bikini Atoll during Operation Crossroads. His swimsuit design shocked the press and public because it was the first to reveal the wearer’s navel.

To promote his new design, Heim hired skywriters to fly above the Mediterranean resort advertising the Atome as "the world’s smallest bathing suit." Not to be outdone by Heim, Réard hired his own skywriters three weeks later to fly over the French Riviera advertising his design as "smaller than the smallest bathing suit in the world."

Heim’s design was the first to be worn on the beach, but the name given by Réard stuck with the public. Despite significant social resistance, Réard received more than 50,000 letters from fans. He also initiated a bold ad campaign that told the public a two-piece swimsuit was not a genuine bikini "unless it could be pulled through a wedding ring." According to Kevin Jones, curator and fashion historian at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, "Réard was ahead of his time by about 15 to 20 years. Only women in the vanguard, mostly upper-class European women embraced it."

Social resistance

Bikini sales did not pick up around the world as women stuck to traditional two-piece swimsuits. Réard went back to designing conventional knickers to sell in his mother’s shop. According to Kevin Jones, curator and fashion historian at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, "Réard was ahead of his time by about 15 to 20 years. Only women in the vanguard, mostly upper-class European women embraced it, just like the upper-class European women who first cast off their corsets after World War I." It was banned in the French Atlantic coastline, Spain, Belgium and Italy, three countries neighboring France, as well as Portugal and Australia, and it was prohibited in some US states, and discouraged in others.

In 1951, the first Miss World contest (originally the Festival Bikini Contest), was organized by Eric Morley. When the winner, Kiki Håkansson from Sweden, was crowned in a bikini, countries with religious traditions threatened to withdraw delegates. Håkansson remains the first and last Miss World to be crowned in her bikini, a crowning that was condemned by Pope Pius XII who declared the swimsuit to be sinful. Bikinis were banned from beauty pageants around the world after the controversy. In 1949 the Los Angeles Times reported that Miss America Bebe Shopp on her visit to Paris said she did not approve the bikini for American girls, though she did not mind French girls wearing them. Actresses in movies like My Favorite Brunette (1947) and the model on a 1948 cover of LIFE were shown in traditional two-piece swimwear, not the bikini.

In 1950, Time magazine interviewed American swimsuit mogul Fred Cole, owner of Cole of California, and reported that he had "little but scorn for France’s famed Bikinis," because they were designed for "diminutive Gallic women". "French girls have short legs," he explained, "Swimsuits have to be hiked up at the sides to make their legs look longer." Réard himself described it as a two-piece bathing suit which "reveals everything about a girl except for her mother’s maiden name." Even Esther Williams commented, "A bikini is a thoughtless act." But, popularity of the charms of Pin-up queen and Hollywood star Williams were to vanish along with pre-bikinis with fancy names over the next few decades. Australian designer Paula Straford introduced the bikini to Gold Coast in 1952. In 1957, Das moderne Mädchen (The Modern Girl) wrote, "It is unthinkable that a decent girl with tact would ever wear such a thing." Eight years later a Munich student was punished to six days cleaning work at an old home because she had strolled across the central Viktualienmarkt square, Munich in a bikini.

The Cannes connection

Despite the controversy, some in France admired "naughty girls who decorate our sun-drenched beaches". Brigitte Bardot, photographed wearing similar garments on beaches during the Cannes Film Festival (1953) helped popularize the bikini in Europe in the 1950’s and created a market in the US. Photographs of Bardot in a bikini, according to The Guardian, turned Saint-Tropez into the bikini capital of the world. Cannes played a crucial role in the career of Brigitte Bardot, who in turn played a crucial role in promoting the Festival, largely by starting the trend of being photographed in a bikini at her first appearance at the festival, with Bardot identified as the original Cannes bathing beauty. In 1952, she wore a bikini in Manina, the Girl in the Bikini (1952) (released in France as Manina, la fille sans voiles), a film which drew considerable attention due to her scanty swimsuit. During the 1953 Cannes Film Festival, she worked with her husband and agent Roger Vadim, and garnered a lot of attention when she was photographed wearing a bikini on every beach in the south of France.

Like Esther Williams did a decade earlier, Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot all used revealing swimwear as career props to enhance their sex appeal, and it became more accepted in parts of Europe when worn by fifties "love goddess" actresses such as Bardot, Anita Ekberg and Sophia Loren. British actress Diana Dors had a mink bikini made for her during the 1955 Venice Film Festival and wore it riding in a gondola down Venice’s Grand Canal past St. Mark’s Square.

In Spain, Benidorm played a similar role as Cannes. Shortly after the bikini was banned in Spain, Pedro Zaragoza, the mayor of Benidorm convinced dictator Francisco Franco that his town needed to legalize the bikini to draw tourists. In 1959, General Franco agreed and the town became a popular tourist destination. Interestingly, in less than four years since Franco’s death in 1979, Spanish beaches and women had gone topless.

Legal and moral resistance

The swimsuit was declared sinful by the Vatican and was banned in Spain, Portugal and Italy, three countries neighboring France, as well as Belgium and Australia, and it remained prohibited in many US states. As late as in 1959, Anne Cole, a US swimsuit designer and daughter of Fred Cole, said about a Bardot bikini, "It’s nothing more than a G-string. It’s at the razor’s edge of decency." In July that year the New York Post searched for bikinis around New York City and found only a couple. Writer Meredith Hall wrote in her memoir that till 1965 one could get a citation for wearing a bikini in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.

In 1951, the first Miss World contest, originally the Festival Bikini Contest, was organized by Eric Morley as a mid-century advertisement for swimwear at the Festival of Britain. The press welcomed the spectacle and referred to it as Miss World, and Morley registered the name as a trademark. When, the winner Kiki Håkansson from Sweden, was crowned in a bikini, countries with religious traditions threatened to withdraw delegates. The bikinis were outlawed and evening gowns introduced instead. Håkansson remains the only Miss World crowned in a bikini, a crowning that was condemned by the Pope. Bikini was banned from beauty pageants around the world after the controversy. Catholic-majority countries like Belgium, Italy, Spain and Australia also banned the swimsuit that same year.

The National Legion of Decency pressured Hollywood to keep bikinis from being featured in Hollywood movies. The Hays production code for US movies, introduced in 1930 but not strictly enforced till 1934, allowed two-piece gowns but prohibited navels on screen. But between the introduction and enforcement of the code two Tarzan movies, Tarzan, the Ape Man (1932) and Tarzan and His Mate (1934), were released in which actress Maureen O’Sullivan wore skimpy bikini-like leather outfits. Film historian Bruce Goldstein described her clothes in the first film as "It’s a loincloth open up the side. You can see loin." All at sea was allowed in the USA in 1957 after all bikini-type clothes were removed from the film. The girl in the bikini was allowed in Kansas after all the bikini close ups were removed from the film in 1959.

In reaction to the introduction of the bikini in Paris, American swimwear manufacturers compromised cautiously by producing their own similar design that included a halter and a midriff-bottom variation. Though size makes all the difference in a bikini, early bikinis often covered the navel. When the navel showed in pictures, it was airbrushed out by magazines like Seventeen. Navel-less women ensured the early dominance of European bikini makers over their American counterparts. By the end of the decade a vogue for strapless styles developed, wired or bound for firmness and fit, along with a taste for bare-shouldered two-pieces called Little Sinners. But, it was the halterneck bikini that caused the most moral controversy because of its degree of exposure. So much so as bikini designs called "Huba Huba" and "Revealation" were withdrawn from fashion parades in Sydney as immodest.

Rise to popularity

The appearance of bikinis kept increasing both on screen and off. The sex appeal prompted film and television productions, including Dr. Strangelove. They include the surf movies of the early 1960’s. In 1960, Brian Hyland’s song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" inspired a bikini-buying spree. By 1963, the movie Beach Party, starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, followed by Muscle Beach Party (1964), Bikini Beach (1964), and Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) that depicted teenage girls wearing bikinis, frolicking in the sand with boys, and having a great time.

The beach films led a wave of films that made the bikini pop-culture symbol. In the sexual revolution in 1960’s America, bikinis became quickly popular. Hollywood stars like Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Gina Lollobrigida, and Jane Russell helped further the growing popularity of bikinis. Pin-up posters of Monroe, Mansfield, Hayworth, Bardot and Raquel Welch also contributed significantly to its increasing popularity. In 1962, Playboy featured a bikini on its cover for the first time. Two years later, Sports Illustrated featured Berlin-born fashion model Babette March on the cover wearing a white bikini. The issue was the first Swimsuit Issue. It gave the bikini legitimacy, became an annual publication and an American pop-culture staple, and sells millions of copies each year. In 1965, a woman told Time it was "almost square" not to wear one. In 1967 the magazine wrote that 65% of "the young set" were wearing bikinis.

When Jayne Mansfield and her husband Miklós Hargitay toured for stage shows, newspapers wrote that Mansfield convinced the rural population that she owned more bikinis than anyone. She showed a fair amount of her 40-inch (1,000 mm) bust, as well as her midriff and legs, in the leopard-spot bikini she wore for her stage shows. Kathryn Wexler of The Miami Herald wrote, "In the beginning as we know it, there was Jayne Mansfield. Here she preens in leopard-print or striped bikinis, sucking in air to showcase her well noted physical assets." Her leopard-skin bikini remains one of the earlier specimens of the fashion.

In 1962, Bond Girl Ursula Andress emerged from the sea wearing a white bikini in Dr. No. The scene has been named one of the most memorable of the series. Channel 4 declared it the top bikini moment in film history, Virgin Media puts it ninth in its top ten, and top in the Bond girls. The Herald (Glasgow) put the scene as best ever on the basis of a poll. It also helped shape the career of Ursula Andress, and the look of the quintessential Bond movie. Andress said that she owed her career to that white bikini, remarking, "This bikini made me into a success. As a result of starring in Dr. No as the first Bond girl, I was given the freedom to take my pick of future roles and to become financially independent." In 2001, the Dr. No bikini worn by Andress in the film sold at auction for US$61,500. That white bikini has been described as a "defining moment in the sixties liberalization of screen eroticism". Because of the shocking effect from how revealing it was at the time, she got referred to by the joke nickname "Ursula Undress". According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, "So iconic was the look that it was repeated 40 years later by Halle Berry in the Bond movie Die Another Day."

Raquel Welch’s fur bikini in One Million Years B.C. (1966) gave the world the most iconic bikini shot of all time and the poster image became an iconic moment in cinema history. The poster image of the deer skin bikini in One Million Years B.C. made her an instant pin-up girl. Welch was featured in the studio’s advertising as "wearing mankind’s first bikini" and the bikini was later described as a "definitive look of the 1960’s". Her role wearing the leather bikini raised Welch to a fashion icon and the photo of her in the bikini became a best-selling pinup poster. One author said, "although she had only three lines in the film, her luscious figure in a fur bikini made her a star and the dream girl of millions of young moviegoers". In 2011, Time listed Welch’s B.C. bikini in the "Top Ten Bikinis in Pop Culture".

In the 1983 film Return of the Jedi, Star Wars’ Princess Leia Organa was captured by Jabba the Hutt and forced to wear a metal bikini complete with shackles. The costume was made of brass and was so uncomfortable that actress Carrie Fisher described it as "what supermodels will eventually wear in the seventh ring of hell." The "slave Leia" look is often imitated by female fans at Star Wars conventions. In 1997, 51 years after the bikini’s debut, and 77 years after the Miss America Pageant was founded, contestants were allowed wear two-piece swimsuits, not just the swimsuits (nicknamed "bulletproof vests") traditionally issued by the pageant. Two of the 17 swimsuit finalists wore two-piece swimsuits, and Erika Kauffman, representing Hawaii, wore the briefest bikini of all and won the swimsuit competition. In 2010, the International Federation of Bodybuilders recognized Bikini as a new competitive category.

In India

Bollywood actress Sharmila Tagore appeared in a bikini in An Evening in Paris (1967), a film mostly remembered for the first bikini appearance of an Indian actress. She also posed in a bikini for the glossy Filmfare magazine. The costume shocked the conservative Indian audience, but it also set a trend of bikini-clad actresses carried forward by Parveen Babi (in Yeh Nazdeekiyan, 1982), Zeenat Aman (in Heera Panna 1973; Qurbani, 1980) and Dimple Kapadia (in Bobby, 1973) in the early 1970’s. Wearing a bikini put her name in the Indian press as one of Bollywood’s ten hottest actresses of all time, and was a transgression of female identity through a reversal of the state of modesty, which functions as a signifier of femininity in Bombay films. By 2005, it became usual for actors in Indian films to change outfits a dozen times in a single song — starting with a chiffon sari and ending up wearing a bikini. But, when Tagore was the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification in 2005, she expressed concerns about the rise of the bikini in Indian films.

Acceptance

In France, Réard’s company folded in 1988, four years after his death. By that year the bikini made up nearly 20% of swimsuit sales, more than any other model in the US. As skin cancer awareness grew and a simpler aesthetic defined fashion in the 1990s, sales of the skimpy bikini decreased dramatically. The new swimwear code was epitomized by surf star Malia Jones, who appeared on the June 1997 cover of Shape Magazine wearing a halter top two-piece for rough water. After the 90’s, however, the bikini came back again. US market research company NPD Group reported that sales of two-piece swimsuits nationwide jumped 80% in two years. On one hand the one-piece made a big comeback in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, on the other bikinis became briefer with the string bikini in the 1970’s and 80’s.

The "-kini family" (as dubbed by author William Safire), including the "-ini sisters" (as dubbed by designer Anne Cole) has grown to include a large number of subsequent variations, often with a hilarious lexicon — string bikini, monokini or numokini (top part missing), seekini (transparent bikini), tankini (tank top, bikini bottom), camikini (camisole top and bikini bottom), hikini, thong, slingshot, minimini, teardrop, and micro. In just one major fashion show in 1985, there were two-piece suits with cropped tank tops instead of the usual skimpy bandeaux, suits that are bikinis in front and one-piece behind, suspender straps, ruffles, and daring, navel-baring cutouts. To meet the fast changing tastes, some of the manufacturers have made a business out of making made-to-order bikinis in around seven minutes. The world’s most expensive bikini, made up of over 150 carats (30 g) of flawless diamonds and worth a massive £20 million, was designed in February 2006 by Susan Rosen.

Actresses in action films like Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003) and Blue Crush (2002) have made the two-piece "the millennial equivalent of the power suit", according to Gina Bellafonte of The New York Times, On September 9, 1997, Miss Maryland Jamie Fox was the first contestant in 50 years to compete in a two-piece swimsuit to compete in the Preliminary Swimsuit Competition at the Miss America Pageant. PETA used celebrities like Pamela Anderson, Traci Bingham and Alicia Mayer wearing a bikini made of iceberg-lettuce for an advertisement campaign to promote vegetarianism. A protester from Columbia University used a bikini as a message board against a New York City visit by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

By the end of the century, the bikini went on to become the most popular beachwear around the globe, according to French fashion historian Olivier Saillard due to "the power of women, and not the power of fashion". As he explains, "The emancipation of swimwear has always been linked to the emancipation of women", though one survey tells 85% of all bikinis never touch the water. According to Beth Dincuff Charleston, research associate at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "The bikini represents a social leap involving body consciousness, moral concerns, and sexual attitudes." By the early 2000’s, bikinis had become a US $811 million business annually, according to the NPD Group, a consumer and retail information company. The bikini has boosted spin-off services like bikini waxing and the sun tanning industries.

Continued controversies

The bikini remained a hot topic for the news media. In May 2011, Barcelona, Spain made it illegal to wear bikinis in public except in areas near the beaches. Violators face fines of between 120 and 300 euros. In 2012, two students of St. Theresa’s College in Cebu, the Philippines were barred from attending their graduation ceremony for "ample body exposure" because their bikini pictures were posted on Facebook. The students sued the college and won a temporary stay in a regional court.

In May 2013, Cambridge University banned the Wyverns Club of Magdalene College from arranging its annual bikini jelly wrestling. In June 2013, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who also is interested in fashion, produced a bikini for her clothing line that is designed to be worn by girls 4 to 8 years old. She was criticized for sexualizing young children by Claude Knight of Kidscape, a British foundation that strives to prevent child abuse. He commented, "We remain very opposed to the sexualization of children and of childhood … is a great pity that such trends continue and that they carry celebrity endorsement."

Four women were arrested over the 2013 Memorial Day weekend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for indecent exposure when they wore thong bikinis that exposed their buttocks. In June 2013, the British watchdog agency Advertising Standards Authority banned a commercial that showed men in an office fantasizing about their colleague, played by Pamela Anderson, in a bikini for degrading women.

Links:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_bikini en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_variants en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimsuit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_in_popular_culture en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indecent_exposure en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indecent_exposure_in_the_United_States

Posted by FotoManiacNYC on 2017-01-11 07:30:48

Tagged: , KAOHS , designer , SS17 , collection , SpringSummer , 2016 , Miami , South Beach , W Hotel , W , swimming , pool , Florida , Swim Week , fashion week , clothing , bikini , swimwear , swimsuit , fashion , walking , catwalk , runway , designs , trendy , new , preview , sexy , beautiful , topless , almost , nude , naked , boobs , butt , booty , model , agency , nycphotographer , long legs , legs , heels , chic , flirting , teasing , presenting , hair , long hair , makeup , eyes , lips , thin , fit , body , tall , MIAMISWIM , SWIMMIAMI , FUNKSHION , curvy , woman , female , girl , show , vacation , vacations , sunbathing

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KAOHS 2016-07-156368

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KAOHS – presenting SS17 collection during Swim Week in South Beach Miami at W Hotel 7/2016

WEBSITE LINK: KAOHS SWIM FACEBOOK LINK: KAOHS FACEBOOK

You can see the entire runway album here: KAOHS – MIAMI SWIM WEEK 7/2016

On Friday, July 15th, 2016, hundreds of guests including top media, influencers and buyers, attended the WET Lounge, at the W South Beach, to experience a amazing runway show. Kaohs Swim debuted its Resort 2016 and Spring 2017 collections at the W South Beach in Miami, which included 22 new bikinis and three returning favorites: Hampton Salty bikini, Rie bikini and Gypsy bikini — famously worn by Kim Kardashian.

Kaohs Swim’s new collections featured touches of stretch denim contrasted with white nylon/spandex swim fabric, as well as simple, structured bikinis inspired by the 90’s embellished with silver rings, criss-crossing straps, sea shells, and one-shoulder tops. In addition to the three returning bikinis, the new collection included 16 new tops, two never-seen-before one-pieces, and 15 new bottoms. Many of the swimsuits were comprised of solid one-tone or color blocks of black, white, blush, peach, and denim sewn in high-quality swim fabrics made to withstand years of use. Seven new colors are offered in the 2016 collections, including an earthy-red hue (Mars), a muted purple (Purple Haze), a dark-bright-tropical blue (Fiji), a shiny metallic olive green (Gimlet), and copper (Penny).

The KAOHS 2017 collection show was easily one of the best shows at SwimMiami. The California-based brand’s vibe backstage was true to LA, with great energy brought by DJ Sam Blacky. KAOHS has gained some major heat, among influencers like Kim and Kourtney Kardashian, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Bella Hadid, Rocky Barnes, Alexis Ren, Pia Mia, Natasha Oakley, and more ringing in the summer with these seriously sexy looks.

ABOUT KAOHS KAOHS Swim was born in 2013 when two best friends, Tess Hamilton and Ali Hoffmann came together to curate a line of swimwear inspired by sKAte, bOHo and Surf = KAOHS. They were zealous to launch a label that offered edge and functionality, all while showing a free spirited aesthetic. Their designs are for beach girls whose lifestyles demand comfortable and active (and sexy) beachwear. With swimsuits in a variety of cuts – from Brazilian to hipster and low to high – KAOHS Swim makes a swimsuit to flatter – and become the ultimate confidence booster for – every beach-going figure. Focusing on two-piece bikinis with a nod to one-piece swimsuits, KAOHS Swim’s collections feature edgy, feminine cuts, and a playful, modern, and earthy palette of colors. The high quality fabrics and seamless cuts were designed to compliment every shape of every woman. They really wanted KAOHS Swim to be the most perfect confidence boost when hitting the beach- or anywhere that calls for a good tan line!

The swimwear is designed in Orange County, California and made in Los Angeles, California

PR Agency: CECE FEINBERG PUBLIC RELATIONS

ABOUT MIAMI SWIM WEEK Even without longtime organizer IMG, Swim Week in 2016 has delivered a bounty of barely-there swimsuit collection for Spring/Summer 2017.

After IMG announced in May 2015 that it would be pulling out of what was formerly called Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim, following the loss of its title sponsor, those involved had a lot of scrambling to do. Without a strong sponsor or an experienced organizer, could Swim Week even continue in all its stringy, deeply spray-tanned glory? True to the old adage, the show did go on thanks to the (somewhat) cohesive efforts of the affected brands, production companies and publicists.

A week spread between the sweaty Miami heat of three separate trade shows – Swim Show, Cabana and Hammock – of various personalities, with relevant brands occupying space in the show that suit their vibe. All of these shows are situated within walking distance of each other. Brands also have parties or fashion shows throughout the four days at nearby hotels and pools, making Miami Swim Week super busy and a whole lotta fun.

There is a lot to take in with over 25 external runway shows after 5pm, parties and the three simultaneous trade shows, but it’s plenty pleasing on the eye. There’s hot, Miami energy and it’s awesome to be seeing a preview of swim collections from the hottest brands for 2017.

MIAMI SWIM SHOW: The world’s biggest swim show which occupies the convention center with hundreds of brands from across the globe. Brands featured that we liked included Seafolly, Billabong, NLP Women, Kopper & Zinc, and Rhythm amongst hundreds of others.

CABANA: This is the boutique show where the brands showcase in two big, cabana-style tents near the beach with coconuts issued to buyers, media and guests on entry. A few of our faves included Beach Riot, Minimale Animale, Tori Praver Swim, Mara Hoffman, Bec and Bridge, Boys and Arrows and Bower Swim.

HAMMOCK: Situated in the W Hotel, with the coolest brands of today occupying the luxury suites to showcase their latest collection with their marketing teams and a bevy of hot models. Leading Instagram swim brands seemed to be the big brands in this year’s Hammock W show including Mikoh, Indah and Frankies Swim.

LINKS: fashionfilesmag.com/kaohs-swim/ estrellafashionreport.com/2016/07/kaohs-swim-at-swimmiami… allfashion.press/kaohs-swim-runway-debut-miami-swim-week/ www.instagram.com/kaohs_swim/ thelafashion.com/2016/07/20/kaohs-2017-miami-swim-week/ www.bizbash.com/kaohs-runway-years-swim-week-miami-includ…

HISTORY OF THE BIKINI

Time magazine list of top 10 bikinis in popular culture

-Micheline Bernardini models the first-Ever Bikini (1946) -"Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" (1960) -Annette Funicello and Beach Party (1960’s) -The belted Bond-girl bikini (1962) -Sports Illustrated’s first Swimsuit Issue (1964) -Raquel Welch’s fur bikini in One Million Years B.C. (1966) -Phoebe Cates’ Bikini in Fast Times at Ridgemont High -Princess Leia’s golden bikini in Return of the Jedi (1983) -Official uniform of the female Olympic Beach Volleyball team (1996) -Miss America pageant’s bikini debut (1997)

The history of the bikini can be traced back to antiquity. Illustrations of Roman women wearing bikini-like garments during competitive athletic events have been found in several locations. The most famous of them is Villa Romana del Casale. French engineer Louis Réard introduced the modern bikini, modeled by Micheline Bernardini, on July 5, 1946, borrowing the name for his design from the Bikini Atoll, where post-war testing on the atomic bomb was happening.

French women welcomed the design, but the Catholic Church, some media, and a majority of the public initially thought the design was risque or even scandalous. Contestants in the first Miss World beauty pageant wore them in 1951, but the bikini was then banned from the competition. Actress Bridget Bardot drew attention when she was photographed wearing a bikini on the beach during the Cannes Film Festival in 1953. Other actresses, including Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner, also gathered press attention when they wore bikinis. During the early 1960’s, the design appeared on the cover of Playboy and Sports Illustrated, giving it additional legitimacy. Ursula Andress made a huge impact when she emerged from the surf wearing what is now an iconic bikini in the James Bond movie Dr. No (1962). The deer skin bikini Raquel Welch wore in the film One Million Years B.C. (1966) turned her into an international sex symbol and was described as a definitive look of the 1960’s.

The bikini gradually grew to gain wide acceptance in Western society. According to French fashion historian Olivier Saillard, the bikini is perhaps the most popular type of female beachwear around the globe because of "the power of women, and not the power of fashion". As he explains, "The emancipation of swimwear has always been linked to the emancipation of women." By the early 2000’s, bikinis had become a US $ 811 million business annually, and boosted spin-off services like bikini waxing and the sun tanning.

Interval

Between the classical bikinis and the modern bikini there has been a long interval. Swimming or outdoor bathing were discouraged in the Christian West and there was little need for a bathing or swimming costume till the 18th century. The bathing gown in the 18th century was a loose ankle-length full-sleeve chemise-type gown made of wool or flannel, so that modesty or decency was not threatened. In the first half of 19th century the top became knee-length while an ankle-length drawer was added as a bottom. By the second half of 19th century, in France, the sleeves started to vanish, the bottom became shorter to reach only the knees and the top became hip-length and both became more form fitting. In the 1900’s women wore wool dresses on the beach that were made of up to 9 yards (8.2 m) of fabric. That standard of swimwear evolved into the modern bikini in the first of half of the 20th century.

Breakthrough

In 1907, Australian swimmer and performer Annette Kellerman was arrested on a Boston beach for wearing a form-fitting sleeveless one-piece knitted swimming tights that covered her from neck to toe, a costume she adopted from England, although it became accepted swimsuit attire for women in parts of Europe by 1910. Even in 1943, pictures of the Kellerman swimsuit were produced as evidence of indecency in Esquire v. Walker, Postmaster General. But, Harper’s Bazaar wrote in June 1920 (vol. 55, no. 6, p. 138) – "Annette Kellerman Bathing Attire is distinguished by an incomparable, daring beauty of fit that always remains refined." The following year, in June 1921 (vol. 54, no. 2504, p. 101) it wrote that these bathing suits were "famous … for their perfect fit and exquisite, plastic beauty of line."

Female swimming was introduced at the 1912 Summer Olympics. In 1913, inspired by that breakthrough, the designer Carl Jantzen made the first functional two-piece swimwear, a close-fitting one-piece with shorts on the bottom and short sleeves on top. Silent films such as The Water Nymph (1912) saw Mabel Normand in revealing attire, and this was followed by the daringly dressed Sennett Bathing Beauties (1915–1929). The name "swim suit" was coined in 1915 by Jantzen Knitting Mills, a sweater manufacturer who launched a swimwear brand named the Red Diving Girl,. The first annual bathing-suit day at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 1916 was a landmark. The swimsuit apron, a design for early swimwear, disappeared by 1918, leaving a tunic covering the shorts.

During the 1920’s and 1930’s, people began to shift from "taking in the water" to "taking in the sun," at bathhouses and spas, and swimsuit designs shifted from functional considerations to incorporate more decorative features. Rayon was used in the 1920’s in the manufacture of tight-fitting swimsuits, but its durability, especially when wet, proved problematic, with jersey and silk also sometimes being used. Burlesque and vaudeville performers wore two-piece outfits in the 1920’s. The 1929 film "Man with a Movie Camera" shows Russian women wearing early two-piece swimsuits which expose their midriff, and a few who are topless. Films of holidaymakers in Germany in the 1930’s show women wearing two-piece suits,

Necklines and midriff

By the 1930’s, necklines plunged at the back, sleeves disappeared and sides were cut away and tightened. With the development of new clothing materials, particularly latex and nylon, through the 1930’s swimsuits gradually began hugging the body, with shoulder straps that could be lowered for tanning. Women’s swimwear of the 1930’s and 1940’s incorporated increasing degrees of midriff exposure. Coco Chanel made suntans fashionable, and in 1932 French designer Madeleine Vionnet offered an exposed midriff in an evening gown. They were seen a year later in Gold Diggers of 1933. The Busby Berkeley film Footlight Parade of 1932 showcases aqua-choreography that featured bikinis. Dorothy Lamour’s The Hurricane (1937) also showed two-piece bathing suits.

The 1934 film, Fashions of 1934 featured chorus girls wearing two-piece outfits which look identical to modern bikinis. In 1934, a National Recreation Association study on the use of leisure time found that swimming, encouraged by the freedom of movement the new swimwear designs provided, was second only to movies in popularity as free time activity out of a list of 94 activities. In 1935 American designer Claire McCardell cut out the side panels of a maillot-style bathing suit, the bikini’s forerunner. The 1938 invention of the Telescopic Watersuit in shirred elastic cotton ushered into the end the era of wool. Cotton sun-tops, printed with palm trees, and silk or rayon pajamas, usually with a blouse top, became popular by 1939. Wartime production during World War II required vast amounts of cotton, silk, nylon, wool, leather, and rubber. In 1942 the United States War Production Board issued Regulation L-85, cutting the use of natural fibers in clothing and mandating a 10% reduction in the amount of fabric in women’s beachwear. To comply with the regulations, swimsuit manufacturers produced two-piece suits with bare midriffs.

Postwar

Fabric shortage continued for some time after the end of the war. Two-piece swimsuits without the usual skirt panel and other excess material started appearing in the US when the government ordered a 10% reduction in fabric used in woman’s swimwear in 1943 as wartime rationing. By that time, two-piece swimsuits were frequent on American beaches. The July 9, 1945, Life shows women in Paris wearing similar items. Hollywood stars like Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth and Lana Turner tried similar swimwear or beachwear. Pin ups of Hayworth and Esther Williams in the costume were widely distributed. The most provocative swimsuit was the 1946 Moonlight Buoy, a bottom and a top of material that weighed only eight ounces. What made the Moonlight Buoy distinctive was a large cork buckle attached to the bottoms, which made it possible to tie the top to the cork buckle and splash around au naturel while keeping both parts of the suit afloat. Life magazine had a photo essay on the Moonlight Buoy and wrote, "The name of the suit, of course, suggests the nocturnal conditions under which nude swimming is most agreeable."

American designer Adele Simpson, a Coty American Fashion Critics’ Awards winner (1947) and a notable alumna of the New York art school Pratt Institute, who believed clothes must be comfortable and practical, designed a large part of her swimwear line with one-piece suits that were considered fashionable even in early 1980’s. This was when Cole of California started marketing revealing prohibition suits and Catalina Swimwear introduced almost bare-back designs. Teen magazines of late 1940’s and 1950’s featured designs of midriff-baring suits and tops. However, midriff fashion was stated as only for beaches and informal events and considered indecent to be worn in public. Hollywood endorsed the new glamour with films such as Neptune’s Daughter (1949) in which Esther Williams wore provocatively named costumes such as "Double Entendre" and "Honey Child". Williams, who also was an Amateur Athletic Union champion in the 100 meter freestyle (1939) and an Olympics swimming finalist (1940), also portrayed Kellerman in the 1952 film Million Dollar Mermaid (titled as The One Piece Bathing Suit in UK).

Swimwear of the 1940’s, 50’s and early 60’s followed the silhouette mostly from early 1930’s. Keeping in line with the ultra-feminine look dominated by Dior, it evolved into a dress with cinched waists and constructed bust-lines, accessorized with earrings, bracelets, hats, scarves, sunglasses, hand bags and cover-ups. Many of these pre-bikinis had fancy names like Double Entendre, Honey Child (to maximize small bosoms), Shipshape (to minimize large bosoms), Diamond Lil (trimmed with rhinestones and lace), Swimming In Mink (trimmed with fur across the bodice) and Spearfisherman (heavy poplin with a rope belt for carrying a knife), Beau Catcher, Leading Lady, Pretty Foxy, Side Issue, Forecast, and Fabulous Fit. According to Vogue the swimwear had become more of "state of dress, not undress" by mid-1950’s.

The modern bikini

French fashion designer Jacques Heim, who owned a beach shop in the French Riviera resort town of Cannes, introduced a minimalist two-piece design in May 1946 which he named the "Atome," after the smallest known particle of matter. The bottom of his design was just large enough to cover the wearer’s navel.

At the same time, Louis Réard, a French automotive and mechanical engineer, was running his mother’s lingerie business near Les Folies Bergères in Paris. He noticed women on St. Tropez beaches rolling up the edges of their swimsuits to get a better tan and was inspired to produce a more minimal design. He trimmed additional fabric off the bottom of the swimsuit, exposing the wearer’s navel for the first time. Réard’s string bikini consisted of four triangles made from 30 square inches (194 cm2) of fabric printed with a newspaper pattern.

When Réard sought a model to wear his design at his press conference, none of the usual models would wear the suit, so he hired 19 year old nude dancer Micheline Bernardini from the Casino de Paris. He introduced his design to the media and public on July 5, 1946, in Paris at Piscine Molitor, a public pool in Paris. Réard held the press conference five days after the first test of a nuclear device (nicknamed Able) over the Bikini Atoll during Operation Crossroads. His swimsuit design shocked the press and public because it was the first to reveal the wearer’s navel.

To promote his new design, Heim hired skywriters to fly above the Mediterranean resort advertising the Atome as "the world’s smallest bathing suit." Not to be outdone by Heim, Réard hired his own skywriters three weeks later to fly over the French Riviera advertising his design as "smaller than the smallest bathing suit in the world."

Heim’s design was the first to be worn on the beach, but the name given by Réard stuck with the public. Despite significant social resistance, Réard received more than 50,000 letters from fans. He also initiated a bold ad campaign that told the public a two-piece swimsuit was not a genuine bikini "unless it could be pulled through a wedding ring." According to Kevin Jones, curator and fashion historian at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, "Réard was ahead of his time by about 15 to 20 years. Only women in the vanguard, mostly upper-class European women embraced it."

Social resistance

Bikini sales did not pick up around the world as women stuck to traditional two-piece swimsuits. Réard went back to designing conventional knickers to sell in his mother’s shop. According to Kevin Jones, curator and fashion historian at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, "Réard was ahead of his time by about 15 to 20 years. Only women in the vanguard, mostly upper-class European women embraced it, just like the upper-class European women who first cast off their corsets after World War I." It was banned in the French Atlantic coastline, Spain, Belgium and Italy, three countries neighboring France, as well as Portugal and Australia, and it was prohibited in some US states, and discouraged in others.

In 1951, the first Miss World contest (originally the Festival Bikini Contest), was organized by Eric Morley. When the winner, Kiki Håkansson from Sweden, was crowned in a bikini, countries with religious traditions threatened to withdraw delegates. Håkansson remains the first and last Miss World to be crowned in her bikini, a crowning that was condemned by Pope Pius XII who declared the swimsuit to be sinful. Bikinis were banned from beauty pageants around the world after the controversy. In 1949 the Los Angeles Times reported that Miss America Bebe Shopp on her visit to Paris said she did not approve the bikini for American girls, though she did not mind French girls wearing them. Actresses in movies like My Favorite Brunette (1947) and the model on a 1948 cover of LIFE were shown in traditional two-piece swimwear, not the bikini.

In 1950, Time magazine interviewed American swimsuit mogul Fred Cole, owner of Cole of California, and reported that he had "little but scorn for France’s famed Bikinis," because they were designed for "diminutive Gallic women". "French girls have short legs," he explained, "Swimsuits have to be hiked up at the sides to make their legs look longer." Réard himself described it as a two-piece bathing suit which "reveals everything about a girl except for her mother’s maiden name." Even Esther Williams commented, "A bikini is a thoughtless act." But, popularity of the charms of Pin-up queen and Hollywood star Williams were to vanish along with pre-bikinis with fancy names over the next few decades. Australian designer Paula Straford introduced the bikini to Gold Coast in 1952. In 1957, Das moderne Mädchen (The Modern Girl) wrote, "It is unthinkable that a decent girl with tact would ever wear such a thing." Eight years later a Munich student was punished to six days cleaning work at an old home because she had strolled across the central Viktualienmarkt square, Munich in a bikini.

The Cannes connection

Despite the controversy, some in France admired "naughty girls who decorate our sun-drenched beaches". Brigitte Bardot, photographed wearing similar garments on beaches during the Cannes Film Festival (1953) helped popularize the bikini in Europe in the 1950’s and created a market in the US. Photographs of Bardot in a bikini, according to The Guardian, turned Saint-Tropez into the bikini capital of the world. Cannes played a crucial role in the career of Brigitte Bardot, who in turn played a crucial role in promoting the Festival, largely by starting the trend of being photographed in a bikini at her first appearance at the festival, with Bardot identified as the original Cannes bathing beauty. In 1952, she wore a bikini in Manina, the Girl in the Bikini (1952) (released in France as Manina, la fille sans voiles), a film which drew considerable attention due to her scanty swimsuit. During the 1953 Cannes Film Festival, she worked with her husband and agent Roger Vadim, and garnered a lot of attention when she was photographed wearing a bikini on every beach in the south of France.

Like Esther Williams did a decade earlier, Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot all used revealing swimwear as career props to enhance their sex appeal, and it became more accepted in parts of Europe when worn by fifties "love goddess" actresses such as Bardot, Anita Ekberg and Sophia Loren. British actress Diana Dors had a mink bikini made for her during the 1955 Venice Film Festival and wore it riding in a gondola down Venice’s Grand Canal past St. Mark’s Square.

In Spain, Benidorm played a similar role as Cannes. Shortly after the bikini was banned in Spain, Pedro Zaragoza, the mayor of Benidorm convinced dictator Francisco Franco that his town needed to legalize the bikini to draw tourists. In 1959, General Franco agreed and the town became a popular tourist destination. Interestingly, in less than four years since Franco’s death in 1979, Spanish beaches and women had gone topless.

Legal and moral resistance

The swimsuit was declared sinful by the Vatican and was banned in Spain, Portugal and Italy, three countries neighboring France, as well as Belgium and Australia, and it remained prohibited in many US states. As late as in 1959, Anne Cole, a US swimsuit designer and daughter of Fred Cole, said about a Bardot bikini, "It’s nothing more than a G-string. It’s at the razor’s edge of decency." In July that year the New York Post searched for bikinis around New York City and found only a couple. Writer Meredith Hall wrote in her memoir that till 1965 one could get a citation for wearing a bikini in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.

In 1951, the first Miss World contest, originally the Festival Bikini Contest, was organized by Eric Morley as a mid-century advertisement for swimwear at the Festival of Britain. The press welcomed the spectacle and referred to it as Miss World, and Morley registered the name as a trademark. When, the winner Kiki Håkansson from Sweden, was crowned in a bikini, countries with religious traditions threatened to withdraw delegates. The bikinis were outlawed and evening gowns introduced instead. Håkansson remains the only Miss World crowned in a bikini, a crowning that was condemned by the Pope. Bikini was banned from beauty pageants around the world after the controversy. Catholic-majority countries like Belgium, Italy, Spain and Australia also banned the swimsuit that same year.

The National Legion of Decency pressured Hollywood to keep bikinis from being featured in Hollywood movies. The Hays production code for US movies, introduced in 1930 but not strictly enforced till 1934, allowed two-piece gowns but prohibited navels on screen. But between the introduction and enforcement of the code two Tarzan movies, Tarzan, the Ape Man (1932) and Tarzan and His Mate (1934), were released in which actress Maureen O’Sullivan wore skimpy bikini-like leather outfits. Film historian Bruce Goldstein described her clothes in the first film as "It’s a loincloth open up the side. You can see loin." All at sea was allowed in the USA in 1957 after all bikini-type clothes were removed from the film. The girl in the bikini was allowed in Kansas after all the bikini close ups were removed from the film in 1959.

In reaction to the introduction of the bikini in Paris, American swimwear manufacturers compromised cautiously by producing their own similar design that included a halter and a midriff-bottom variation. Though size makes all the difference in a bikini, early bikinis often covered the navel. When the navel showed in pictures, it was airbrushed out by magazines like Seventeen. Navel-less women ensured the early dominance of European bikini makers over their American counterparts. By the end of the decade a vogue for strapless styles developed, wired or bound for firmness and fit, along with a taste for bare-shouldered two-pieces called Little Sinners. But, it was the halterneck bikini that caused the most moral controversy because of its degree of exposure. So much so as bikini designs called "Huba Huba" and "Revealation" were withdrawn from fashion parades in Sydney as immodest.

Rise to popularity

The appearance of bikinis kept increasing both on screen and off. The sex appeal prompted film and television productions, including Dr. Strangelove. They include the surf movies of the early 1960’s. In 1960, Brian Hyland’s song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" inspired a bikini-buying spree. By 1963, the movie Beach Party, starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, followed by Muscle Beach Party (1964), Bikini Beach (1964), and Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) that depicted teenage girls wearing bikinis, frolicking in the sand with boys, and having a great time.

The beach films led a wave of films that made the bikini pop-culture symbol. In the sexual revolution in 1960’s America, bikinis became quickly popular. Hollywood stars like Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Gina Lollobrigida, and Jane Russell helped further the growing popularity of bikinis. Pin-up posters of Monroe, Mansfield, Hayworth, Bardot and Raquel Welch also contributed significantly to its increasing popularity. In 1962, Playboy featured a bikini on its cover for the first time. Two years later, Sports Illustrated featured Berlin-born fashion model Babette March on the cover wearing a white bikini. The issue was the first Swimsuit Issue. It gave the bikini legitimacy, became an annual publication and an American pop-culture staple, and sells millions of copies each year. In 1965, a woman told Time it was "almost square" not to wear one. In 1967 the magazine wrote that 65% of "the young set" were wearing bikinis.

When Jayne Mansfield and her husband Miklós Hargitay toured for stage shows, newspapers wrote that Mansfield convinced the rural population that she owned more bikinis than anyone. She showed a fair amount of her 40-inch (1,000 mm) bust, as well as her midriff and legs, in the leopard-spot bikini she wore for her stage shows. Kathryn Wexler of The Miami Herald wrote, "In the beginning as we know it, there was Jayne Mansfield. Here she preens in leopard-print or striped bikinis, sucking in air to showcase her well noted physical assets." Her leopard-skin bikini remains one of the earlier specimens of the fashion.

In 1962, Bond Girl Ursula Andress emerged from the sea wearing a white bikini in Dr. No. The scene has been named one of the most memorable of the series. Channel 4 declared it the top bikini moment in film history, Virgin Media puts it ninth in its top ten, and top in the Bond girls. The Herald (Glasgow) put the scene as best ever on the basis of a poll. It also helped shape the career of Ursula Andress, and the look of the quintessential Bond movie. Andress said that she owed her career to that white bikini, remarking, "This bikini made me into a success. As a result of starring in Dr. No as the first Bond girl, I was given the freedom to take my pick of future roles and to become financially independent." In 2001, the Dr. No bikini worn by Andress in the film sold at auction for US$61,500. That white bikini has been described as a "defining moment in the sixties liberalization of screen eroticism". Because of the shocking effect from how revealing it was at the time, she got referred to by the joke nickname "Ursula Undress". According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, "So iconic was the look that it was repeated 40 years later by Halle Berry in the Bond movie Die Another Day."

Raquel Welch’s fur bikini in One Million Years B.C. (1966) gave the world the most iconic bikini shot of all time and the poster image became an iconic moment in cinema history. The poster image of the deer skin bikini in One Million Years B.C. made her an instant pin-up girl. Welch was featured in the studio’s advertising as "wearing mankind’s first bikini" and the bikini was later described as a "definitive look of the 1960’s". Her role wearing the leather bikini raised Welch to a fashion icon and the photo of her in the bikini became a best-selling pinup poster. One author said, "although she had only three lines in the film, her luscious figure in a fur bikini made her a star and the dream girl of millions of young moviegoers". In 2011, Time listed Welch’s B.C. bikini in the "Top Ten Bikinis in Pop Culture".

In the 1983 film Return of the Jedi, Star Wars’ Princess Leia Organa was captured by Jabba the Hutt and forced to wear a metal bikini complete with shackles. The costume was made of brass and was so uncomfortable that actress Carrie Fisher described it as "what supermodels will eventually wear in the seventh ring of hell." The "slave Leia" look is often imitated by female fans at Star Wars conventions. In 1997, 51 years after the bikini’s debut, and 77 years after the Miss America Pageant was founded, contestants were allowed wear two-piece swimsuits, not just the swimsuits (nicknamed "bulletproof vests") traditionally issued by the pageant. Two of the 17 swimsuit finalists wore two-piece swimsuits, and Erika Kauffman, representing Hawaii, wore the briefest bikini of all and won the swimsuit competition. In 2010, the International Federation of Bodybuilders recognized Bikini as a new competitive category.

In India

Bollywood actress Sharmila Tagore appeared in a bikini in An Evening in Paris (1967), a film mostly remembered for the first bikini appearance of an Indian actress. She also posed in a bikini for the glossy Filmfare magazine. The costume shocked the conservative Indian audience, but it also set a trend of bikini-clad actresses carried forward by Parveen Babi (in Yeh Nazdeekiyan, 1982), Zeenat Aman (in Heera Panna 1973; Qurbani, 1980) and Dimple Kapadia (in Bobby, 1973) in the early 1970’s. Wearing a bikini put her name in the Indian press as one of Bollywood’s ten hottest actresses of all time, and was a transgression of female identity through a reversal of the state of modesty, which functions as a signifier of femininity in Bombay films. By 2005, it became usual for actors in Indian films to change outfits a dozen times in a single song — starting with a chiffon sari and ending up wearing a bikini. But, when Tagore was the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification in 2005, she expressed concerns about the rise of the bikini in Indian films.

Acceptance

In France, Réard’s company folded in 1988, four years after his death. By that year the bikini made up nearly 20% of swimsuit sales, more than any other model in the US. As skin cancer awareness grew and a simpler aesthetic defined fashion in the 1990s, sales of the skimpy bikini decreased dramatically. The new swimwear code was epitomized by surf star Malia Jones, who appeared on the June 1997 cover of Shape Magazine wearing a halter top two-piece for rough water. After the 90’s, however, the bikini came back again. US market research company NPD Group reported that sales of two-piece swimsuits nationwide jumped 80% in two years. On one hand the one-piece made a big comeback in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, on the other bikinis became briefer with the string bikini in the 1970’s and 80’s.

The "-kini family" (as dubbed by author William Safire), including the "-ini sisters" (as dubbed by designer Anne Cole) has grown to include a large number of subsequent variations, often with a hilarious lexicon — string bikini, monokini or numokini (top part missing), seekini (transparent bikini), tankini (tank top, bikini bottom), camikini (camisole top and bikini bottom), hikini, thong, slingshot, minimini, teardrop, and micro. In just one major fashion show in 1985, there were two-piece suits with cropped tank tops instead of the usual skimpy bandeaux, suits that are bikinis in front and one-piece behind, suspender straps, ruffles, and daring, navel-baring cutouts. To meet the fast changing tastes, some of the manufacturers have made a business out of making made-to-order bikinis in around seven minutes. The world’s most expensive bikini, made up of over 150 carats (30 g) of flawless diamonds and worth a massive £20 million, was designed in February 2006 by Susan Rosen.

Actresses in action films like Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003) and Blue Crush (2002) have made the two-piece "the millennial equivalent of the power suit", according to Gina Bellafonte of The New York Times, On September 9, 1997, Miss Maryland Jamie Fox was the first contestant in 50 years to compete in a two-piece swimsuit to compete in the Preliminary Swimsuit Competition at the Miss America Pageant. PETA used celebrities like Pamela Anderson, Traci Bingham and Alicia Mayer wearing a bikini made of iceberg-lettuce for an advertisement campaign to promote vegetarianism. A protester from Columbia University used a bikini as a message board against a New York City visit by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

By the end of the century, the bikini went on to become the most popular beachwear around the globe, according to French fashion historian Olivier Saillard due to "the power of women, and not the power of fashion". As he explains, "The emancipation of swimwear has always been linked to the emancipation of women", though one survey tells 85% of all bikinis never touch the water. According to Beth Dincuff Charleston, research associate at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "The bikini represents a social leap involving body consciousness, moral concerns, and sexual attitudes." By the early 2000’s, bikinis had become a US $811 million business annually, according to the NPD Group, a consumer and retail information company. The bikini has boosted spin-off services like bikini waxing and the sun tanning industries.

Continued controversies

The bikini remained a hot topic for the news media. In May 2011, Barcelona, Spain made it illegal to wear bikinis in public except in areas near the beaches. Violators face fines of between 120 and 300 euros. In 2012, two students of St. Theresa’s College in Cebu, the Philippines were barred from attending their graduation ceremony for "ample body exposure" because their bikini pictures were posted on Facebook. The students sued the college and won a temporary stay in a regional court.

In May 2013, Cambridge University banned the Wyverns Club of Magdalene College from arranging its annual bikini jelly wrestling. In June 2013, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who also is interested in fashion, produced a bikini for her clothing line that is designed to be worn by girls 4 to 8 years old. She was criticized for sexualizing young children by Claude Knight of Kidscape, a British foundation that strives to prevent child abuse. He commented, "We remain very opposed to the sexualization of children and of childhood … is a great pity that such trends continue and that they carry celebrity endorsement."

Four women were arrested over the 2013 Memorial Day weekend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for indecent exposure when they wore thong bikinis that exposed their buttocks. In June 2013, the British watchdog agency Advertising Standards Authority banned a commercial that showed men in an office fantasizing about their colleague, played by Pamela Anderson, in a bikini for degrading women.

Links:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_bikini en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_variants en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimsuit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_in_popular_culture en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indecent_exposure en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indecent_exposure_in_the_United_States

Posted by FotoManiacNYC on 2017-01-11 07:28:27

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KAOHS 2016-07-156354

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KAOHS – presenting SS17 collection during Swim Week in South Beach Miami at W Hotel 7/2016

WEBSITE LINK: KAOHS SWIM FACEBOOK LINK: KAOHS FACEBOOK

You can see the entire runway album here: KAOHS – MIAMI SWIM WEEK 7/2016

On Friday, July 15th, 2016, hundreds of guests including top media, influencers and buyers, attended the WET Lounge, at the W South Beach, to experience a amazing runway show. Kaohs Swim debuted its Resort 2016 and Spring 2017 collections at the W South Beach in Miami, which included 22 new bikinis and three returning favorites: Hampton Salty bikini, Rie bikini and Gypsy bikini — famously worn by Kim Kardashian.

Kaohs Swim’s new collections featured touches of stretch denim contrasted with white nylon/spandex swim fabric, as well as simple, structured bikinis inspired by the 90’s embellished with silver rings, criss-crossing straps, sea shells, and one-shoulder tops. In addition to the three returning bikinis, the new collection included 16 new tops, two never-seen-before one-pieces, and 15 new bottoms. Many of the swimsuits were comprised of solid one-tone or color blocks of black, white, blush, peach, and denim sewn in high-quality swim fabrics made to withstand years of use. Seven new colors are offered in the 2016 collections, including an earthy-red hue (Mars), a muted purple (Purple Haze), a dark-bright-tropical blue (Fiji), a shiny metallic olive green (Gimlet), and copper (Penny).

The KAOHS 2017 collection show was easily one of the best shows at SwimMiami. The California-based brand’s vibe backstage was true to LA, with great energy brought by DJ Sam Blacky. KAOHS has gained some major heat, among influencers like Kim and Kourtney Kardashian, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Bella Hadid, Rocky Barnes, Alexis Ren, Pia Mia, Natasha Oakley, and more ringing in the summer with these seriously sexy looks.

ABOUT KAOHS KAOHS Swim was born in 2013 when two best friends, Tess Hamilton and Ali Hoffmann came together to curate a line of swimwear inspired by sKAte, bOHo and Surf = KAOHS. They were zealous to launch a label that offered edge and functionality, all while showing a free spirited aesthetic. Their designs are for beach girls whose lifestyles demand comfortable and active (and sexy) beachwear. With swimsuits in a variety of cuts – from Brazilian to hipster and low to high – KAOHS Swim makes a swimsuit to flatter – and become the ultimate confidence booster for – every beach-going figure. Focusing on two-piece bikinis with a nod to one-piece swimsuits, KAOHS Swim’s collections feature edgy, feminine cuts, and a playful, modern, and earthy palette of colors. The high quality fabrics and seamless cuts were designed to compliment every shape of every woman. They really wanted KAOHS Swim to be the most perfect confidence boost when hitting the beach- or anywhere that calls for a good tan line!

The swimwear is designed in Orange County, California and made in Los Angeles, California

PR Agency: CECE FEINBERG PUBLIC RELATIONS

ABOUT MIAMI SWIM WEEK Even without longtime organizer IMG, Swim Week in 2016 has delivered a bounty of barely-there swimsuit collection for Spring/Summer 2017.

After IMG announced in May 2015 that it would be pulling out of what was formerly called Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim, following the loss of its title sponsor, those involved had a lot of scrambling to do. Without a strong sponsor or an experienced organizer, could Swim Week even continue in all its stringy, deeply spray-tanned glory? True to the old adage, the show did go on thanks to the (somewhat) cohesive efforts of the affected brands, production companies and publicists.

A week spread between the sweaty Miami heat of three separate trade shows – Swim Show, Cabana and Hammock – of various personalities, with relevant brands occupying space in the show that suit their vibe. All of these shows are situated within walking distance of each other. Brands also have parties or fashion shows throughout the four days at nearby hotels and pools, making Miami Swim Week super busy and a whole lotta fun.

There is a lot to take in with over 25 external runway shows after 5pm, parties and the three simultaneous trade shows, but it’s plenty pleasing on the eye. There’s hot, Miami energy and it’s awesome to be seeing a preview of swim collections from the hottest brands for 2017.

MIAMI SWIM SHOW: The world’s biggest swim show which occupies the convention center with hundreds of brands from across the globe. Brands featured that we liked included Seafolly, Billabong, NLP Women, Kopper & Zinc, and Rhythm amongst hundreds of others.

CABANA: This is the boutique show where the brands showcase in two big, cabana-style tents near the beach with coconuts issued to buyers, media and guests on entry. A few of our faves included Beach Riot, Minimale Animale, Tori Praver Swim, Mara Hoffman, Bec and Bridge, Boys and Arrows and Bower Swim.

HAMMOCK: Situated in the W Hotel, with the coolest brands of today occupying the luxury suites to showcase their latest collection with their marketing teams and a bevy of hot models. Leading Instagram swim brands seemed to be the big brands in this year’s Hammock W show including Mikoh, Indah and Frankies Swim.

LINKS: fashionfilesmag.com/kaohs-swim/ estrellafashionreport.com/2016/07/kaohs-swim-at-swimmiami… allfashion.press/kaohs-swim-runway-debut-miami-swim-week/ www.instagram.com/kaohs_swim/ thelafashion.com/2016/07/20/kaohs-2017-miami-swim-week/ www.bizbash.com/kaohs-runway-years-swim-week-miami-includ…

HISTORY OF THE BIKINI

Time magazine list of top 10 bikinis in popular culture

-Micheline Bernardini models the first-Ever Bikini (1946) -"Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" (1960) -Annette Funicello and Beach Party (1960’s) -The belted Bond-girl bikini (1962) -Sports Illustrated’s first Swimsuit Issue (1964) -Raquel Welch’s fur bikini in One Million Years B.C. (1966) -Phoebe Cates’ Bikini in Fast Times at Ridgemont High -Princess Leia’s golden bikini in Return of the Jedi (1983) -Official uniform of the female Olympic Beach Volleyball team (1996) -Miss America pageant’s bikini debut (1997)

The history of the bikini can be traced back to antiquity. Illustrations of Roman women wearing bikini-like garments during competitive athletic events have been found in several locations. The most famous of them is Villa Romana del Casale. French engineer Louis Réard introduced the modern bikini, modeled by Micheline Bernardini, on July 5, 1946, borrowing the name for his design from the Bikini Atoll, where post-war testing on the atomic bomb was happening.

French women welcomed the design, but the Catholic Church, some media, and a majority of the public initially thought the design was risque or even scandalous. Contestants in the first Miss World beauty pageant wore them in 1951, but the bikini was then banned from the competition. Actress Bridget Bardot drew attention when she was photographed wearing a bikini on the beach during the Cannes Film Festival in 1953. Other actresses, including Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner, also gathered press attention when they wore bikinis. During the early 1960’s, the design appeared on the cover of Playboy and Sports Illustrated, giving it additional legitimacy. Ursula Andress made a huge impact when she emerged from the surf wearing what is now an iconic bikini in the James Bond movie Dr. No (1962). The deer skin bikini Raquel Welch wore in the film One Million Years B.C. (1966) turned her into an international sex symbol and was described as a definitive look of the 1960’s.

The bikini gradually grew to gain wide acceptance in Western society. According to French fashion historian Olivier Saillard, the bikini is perhaps the most popular type of female beachwear around the globe because of "the power of women, and not the power of fashion". As he explains, "The emancipation of swimwear has always been linked to the emancipation of women." By the early 2000’s, bikinis had become a US $ 811 million business annually, and boosted spin-off services like bikini waxing and the sun tanning.

Interval

Between the classical bikinis and the modern bikini there has been a long interval. Swimming or outdoor bathing were discouraged in the Christian West and there was little need for a bathing or swimming costume till the 18th century. The bathing gown in the 18th century was a loose ankle-length full-sleeve chemise-type gown made of wool or flannel, so that modesty or decency was not threatened. In the first half of 19th century the top became knee-length while an ankle-length drawer was added as a bottom. By the second half of 19th century, in France, the sleeves started to vanish, the bottom became shorter to reach only the knees and the top became hip-length and both became more form fitting. In the 1900’s women wore wool dresses on the beach that were made of up to 9 yards (8.2 m) of fabric. That standard of swimwear evolved into the modern bikini in the first of half of the 20th century.

Breakthrough

In 1907, Australian swimmer and performer Annette Kellerman was arrested on a Boston beach for wearing a form-fitting sleeveless one-piece knitted swimming tights that covered her from neck to toe, a costume she adopted from England, although it became accepted swimsuit attire for women in parts of Europe by 1910. Even in 1943, pictures of the Kellerman swimsuit were produced as evidence of indecency in Esquire v. Walker, Postmaster General. But, Harper’s Bazaar wrote in June 1920 (vol. 55, no. 6, p. 138) – "Annette Kellerman Bathing Attire is distinguished by an incomparable, daring beauty of fit that always remains refined." The following year, in June 1921 (vol. 54, no. 2504, p. 101) it wrote that these bathing suits were "famous … for their perfect fit and exquisite, plastic beauty of line."

Female swimming was introduced at the 1912 Summer Olympics. In 1913, inspired by that breakthrough, the designer Carl Jantzen made the first functional two-piece swimwear, a close-fitting one-piece with shorts on the bottom and short sleeves on top. Silent films such as The Water Nymph (1912) saw Mabel Normand in revealing attire, and this was followed by the daringly dressed Sennett Bathing Beauties (1915–1929). The name "swim suit" was coined in 1915 by Jantzen Knitting Mills, a sweater manufacturer who launched a swimwear brand named the Red Diving Girl,. The first annual bathing-suit day at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 1916 was a landmark. The swimsuit apron, a design for early swimwear, disappeared by 1918, leaving a tunic covering the shorts.

During the 1920’s and 1930’s, people began to shift from "taking in the water" to "taking in the sun," at bathhouses and spas, and swimsuit designs shifted from functional considerations to incorporate more decorative features. Rayon was used in the 1920’s in the manufacture of tight-fitting swimsuits, but its durability, especially when wet, proved problematic, with jersey and silk also sometimes being used. Burlesque and vaudeville performers wore two-piece outfits in the 1920’s. The 1929 film "Man with a Movie Camera" shows Russian women wearing early two-piece swimsuits which expose their midriff, and a few who are topless. Films of holidaymakers in Germany in the 1930’s show women wearing two-piece suits,

Necklines and midriff

By the 1930’s, necklines plunged at the back, sleeves disappeared and sides were cut away and tightened. With the development of new clothing materials, particularly latex and nylon, through the 1930’s swimsuits gradually began hugging the body, with shoulder straps that could be lowered for tanning. Women’s swimwear of the 1930’s and 1940’s incorporated increasing degrees of midriff exposure. Coco Chanel made suntans fashionable, and in 1932 French designer Madeleine Vionnet offered an exposed midriff in an evening gown. They were seen a year later in Gold Diggers of 1933. The Busby Berkeley film Footlight Parade of 1932 showcases aqua-choreography that featured bikinis. Dorothy Lamour’s The Hurricane (1937) also showed two-piece bathing suits.

The 1934 film, Fashions of 1934 featured chorus girls wearing two-piece outfits which look identical to modern bikinis. In 1934, a National Recreation Association study on the use of leisure time found that swimming, encouraged by the freedom of movement the new swimwear designs provided, was second only to movies in popularity as free time activity out of a list of 94 activities. In 1935 American designer Claire McCardell cut out the side panels of a maillot-style bathing suit, the bikini’s forerunner. The 1938 invention of the Telescopic Watersuit in shirred elastic cotton ushered into the end the era of wool. Cotton sun-tops, printed with palm trees, and silk or rayon pajamas, usually with a blouse top, became popular by 1939. Wartime production during World War II required vast amounts of cotton, silk, nylon, wool, leather, and rubber. In 1942 the United States War Production Board issued Regulation L-85, cutting the use of natural fibers in clothing and mandating a 10% reduction in the amount of fabric in women’s beachwear. To comply with the regulations, swimsuit manufacturers produced two-piece suits with bare midriffs.

Postwar

Fabric shortage continued for some time after the end of the war. Two-piece swimsuits without the usual skirt panel and other excess material started appearing in the US when the government ordered a 10% reduction in fabric used in woman’s swimwear in 1943 as wartime rationing. By that time, two-piece swimsuits were frequent on American beaches. The July 9, 1945, Life shows women in Paris wearing similar items. Hollywood stars like Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth and Lana Turner tried similar swimwear or beachwear. Pin ups of Hayworth and Esther Williams in the costume were widely distributed. The most provocative swimsuit was the 1946 Moonlight Buoy, a bottom and a top of material that weighed only eight ounces. What made the Moonlight Buoy distinctive was a large cork buckle attached to the bottoms, which made it possible to tie the top to the cork buckle and splash around au naturel while keeping both parts of the suit afloat. Life magazine had a photo essay on the Moonlight Buoy and wrote, "The name of the suit, of course, suggests the nocturnal conditions under which nude swimming is most agreeable."

American designer Adele Simpson, a Coty American Fashion Critics’ Awards winner (1947) and a notable alumna of the New York art school Pratt Institute, who believed clothes must be comfortable and practical, designed a large part of her swimwear line with one-piece suits that were considered fashionable even in early 1980’s. This was when Cole of California started marketing revealing prohibition suits and Catalina Swimwear introduced almost bare-back designs. Teen magazines of late 1940’s and 1950’s featured designs of midriff-baring suits and tops. However, midriff fashion was stated as only for beaches and informal events and considered indecent to be worn in public. Hollywood endorsed the new glamour with films such as Neptune’s Daughter (1949) in which Esther Williams wore provocatively named costumes such as "Double Entendre" and "Honey Child". Williams, who also was an Amateur Athletic Union champion in the 100 meter freestyle (1939) and an Olympics swimming finalist (1940), also portrayed Kellerman in the 1952 film Million Dollar Mermaid (titled as The One Piece Bathing Suit in UK).

Swimwear of the 1940’s, 50’s and early 60’s followed the silhouette mostly from early 1930’s. Keeping in line with the ultra-feminine look dominated by Dior, it evolved into a dress with cinched waists and constructed bust-lines, accessorized with earrings, bracelets, hats, scarves, sunglasses, hand bags and cover-ups. Many of these pre-bikinis had fancy names like Double Entendre, Honey Child (to maximize small bosoms), Shipshape (to minimize large bosoms), Diamond Lil (trimmed with rhinestones and lace), Swimming In Mink (trimmed with fur across the bodice) and Spearfisherman (heavy poplin with a rope belt for carrying a knife), Beau Catcher, Leading Lady, Pretty Foxy, Side Issue, Forecast, and Fabulous Fit. According to Vogue the swimwear had become more of "state of dress, not undress" by mid-1950’s.

The modern bikini

French fashion designer Jacques Heim, who owned a beach shop in the French Riviera resort town of Cannes, introduced a minimalist two-piece design in May 1946 which he named the "Atome," after the smallest known particle of matter. The bottom of his design was just large enough to cover the wearer’s navel.

At the same time, Louis Réard, a French automotive and mechanical engineer, was running his mother’s lingerie business near Les Folies Bergères in Paris. He noticed women on St. Tropez beaches rolling up the edges of their swimsuits to get a better tan and was inspired to produce a more minimal design. He trimmed additional fabric off the bottom of the swimsuit, exposing the wearer’s navel for the first time. Réard’s string bikini consisted of four triangles made from 30 square inches (194 cm2) of fabric printed with a newspaper pattern.

When Réard sought a model to wear his design at his press conference, none of the usual models would wear the suit, so he hired 19 year old nude dancer Micheline Bernardini from the Casino de Paris. He introduced his design to the media and public on July 5, 1946, in Paris at Piscine Molitor, a public pool in Paris. Réard held the press conference five days after the first test of a nuclear device (nicknamed Able) over the Bikini Atoll during Operation Crossroads. His swimsuit design shocked the press and public because it was the first to reveal the wearer’s navel.

To promote his new design, Heim hired skywriters to fly above the Mediterranean resort advertising the Atome as "the world’s smallest bathing suit." Not to be outdone by Heim, Réard hired his own skywriters three weeks later to fly over the French Riviera advertising his design as "smaller than the smallest bathing suit in the world."

Heim’s design was the first to be worn on the beach, but the name given by Réard stuck with the public. Despite significant social resistance, Réard received more than 50,000 letters from fans. He also initiated a bold ad campaign that told the public a two-piece swimsuit was not a genuine bikini "unless it could be pulled through a wedding ring." According to Kevin Jones, curator and fashion historian at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, "Réard was ahead of his time by about 15 to 20 years. Only women in the vanguard, mostly upper-class European women embraced it."

Social resistance

Bikini sales did not pick up around the world as women stuck to traditional two-piece swimsuits. Réard went back to designing conventional knickers to sell in his mother’s shop. According to Kevin Jones, curator and fashion historian at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, "Réard was ahead of his time by about 15 to 20 years. Only women in the vanguard, mostly upper-class European women embraced it, just like the upper-class European women who first cast off their corsets after World War I." It was banned in the French Atlantic coastline, Spain, Belgium and Italy, three countries neighboring France, as well as Portugal and Australia, and it was prohibited in some US states, and discouraged in others.

In 1951, the first Miss World contest (originally the Festival Bikini Contest), was organized by Eric Morley. When the winner, Kiki Håkansson from Sweden, was crowned in a bikini, countries with religious traditions threatened to withdraw delegates. Håkansson remains the first and last Miss World to be crowned in her bikini, a crowning that was condemned by Pope Pius XII who declared the swimsuit to be sinful. Bikinis were banned from beauty pageants around the world after the controversy. In 1949 the Los Angeles Times reported that Miss America Bebe Shopp on her visit to Paris said she did not approve the bikini for American girls, though she did not mind French girls wearing them. Actresses in movies like My Favorite Brunette (1947) and the model on a 1948 cover of LIFE were shown in traditional two-piece swimwear, not the bikini.

In 1950, Time magazine interviewed American swimsuit mogul Fred Cole, owner of Cole of California, and reported that he had "little but scorn for France’s famed Bikinis," because they were designed for "diminutive Gallic women". "French girls have short legs," he explained, "Swimsuits have to be hiked up at the sides to make their legs look longer." Réard himself described it as a two-piece bathing suit which "reveals everything about a girl except for her mother’s maiden name." Even Esther Williams commented, "A bikini is a thoughtless act." But, popularity of the charms of Pin-up queen and Hollywood star Williams were to vanish along with pre-bikinis with fancy names over the next few decades. Australian designer Paula Straford introduced the bikini to Gold Coast in 1952. In 1957, Das moderne Mädchen (The Modern Girl) wrote, "It is unthinkable that a decent girl with tact would ever wear such a thing." Eight years later a Munich student was punished to six days cleaning work at an old home because she had strolled across the central Viktualienmarkt square, Munich in a bikini.

The Cannes connection

Despite the controversy, some in France admired "naughty girls who decorate our sun-drenched beaches". Brigitte Bardot, photographed wearing similar garments on beaches during the Cannes Film Festival (1953) helped popularize the bikini in Europe in the 1950’s and created a market in the US. Photographs of Bardot in a bikini, according to The Guardian, turned Saint-Tropez into the bikini capital of the world. Cannes played a crucial role in the career of Brigitte Bardot, who in turn played a crucial role in promoting the Festival, largely by starting the trend of being photographed in a bikini at her first appearance at the festival, with Bardot identified as the original Cannes bathing beauty. In 1952, she wore a bikini in Manina, the Girl in the Bikini (1952) (released in France as Manina, la fille sans voiles), a film which drew considerable attention due to her scanty swimsuit. During the 1953 Cannes Film Festival, she worked with her husband and agent Roger Vadim, and garnered a lot of attention when she was photographed wearing a bikini on every beach in the south of France.

Like Esther Williams did a decade earlier, Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot all used revealing swimwear as career props to enhance their sex appeal, and it became more accepted in parts of Europe when worn by fifties "love goddess" actresses such as Bardot, Anita Ekberg and Sophia Loren. British actress Diana Dors had a mink bikini made for her during the 1955 Venice Film Festival and wore it riding in a gondola down Venice’s Grand Canal past St. Mark’s Square.

In Spain, Benidorm played a similar role as Cannes. Shortly after the bikini was banned in Spain, Pedro Zaragoza, the mayor of Benidorm convinced dictator Francisco Franco that his town needed to legalize the bikini to draw tourists. In 1959, General Franco agreed and the town became a popular tourist destination. Interestingly, in less than four years since Franco’s death in 1979, Spanish beaches and women had gone topless.

Legal and moral resistance

The swimsuit was declared sinful by the Vatican and was banned in Spain, Portugal and Italy, three countries neighboring France, as well as Belgium and Australia, and it remained prohibited in many US states. As late as in 1959, Anne Cole, a US swimsuit designer and daughter of Fred Cole, said about a Bardot bikini, "It’s nothing more than a G-string. It’s at the razor’s edge of decency." In July that year the New York Post searched for bikinis around New York City and found only a couple. Writer Meredith Hall wrote in her memoir that till 1965 one could get a citation for wearing a bikini in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.

In 1951, the first Miss World contest, originally the Festival Bikini Contest, was organized by Eric Morley as a mid-century advertisement for swimwear at the Festival of Britain. The press welcomed the spectacle and referred to it as Miss World, and Morley registered the name as a trademark. When, the winner Kiki Håkansson from Sweden, was crowned in a bikini, countries with religious traditions threatened to withdraw delegates. The bikinis were outlawed and evening gowns introduced instead. Håkansson remains the only Miss World crowned in a bikini, a crowning that was condemned by the Pope. Bikini was banned from beauty pageants around the world after the controversy. Catholic-majority countries like Belgium, Italy, Spain and Australia also banned the swimsuit that same year.

The National Legion of Decency pressured Hollywood to keep bikinis from being featured in Hollywood movies. The Hays production code for US movies, introduced in 1930 but not strictly enforced till 1934, allowed two-piece gowns but prohibited navels on screen. But between the introduction and enforcement of the code two Tarzan movies, Tarzan, the Ape Man (1932) and Tarzan and His Mate (1934), were released in which actress Maureen O’Sullivan wore skimpy bikini-like leather outfits. Film historian Bruce Goldstein described her clothes in the first film as "It’s a loincloth open up the side. You can see loin." All at sea was allowed in the USA in 1957 after all bikini-type clothes were removed from the film. The girl in the bikini was allowed in Kansas after all the bikini close ups were removed from the film in 1959.

In reaction to the introduction of the bikini in Paris, American swimwear manufacturers compromised cautiously by producing their own similar design that included a halter and a midriff-bottom variation. Though size makes all the difference in a bikini, early bikinis often covered the navel. When the navel showed in pictures, it was airbrushed out by magazines like Seventeen. Navel-less women ensured the early dominance of European bikini makers over their American counterparts. By the end of the decade a vogue for strapless styles developed, wired or bound for firmness and fit, along with a taste for bare-shouldered two-pieces called Little Sinners. But, it was the halterneck bikini that caused the most moral controversy because of its degree of exposure. So much so as bikini designs called "Huba Huba" and "Revealation" were withdrawn from fashion parades in Sydney as immodest.

Rise to popularity

The appearance of bikinis kept increasing both on screen and off. The sex appeal prompted film and television productions, including Dr. Strangelove. They include the surf movies of the early 1960’s. In 1960, Brian Hyland’s song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" inspired a bikini-buying spree. By 1963, the movie Beach Party, starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, followed by Muscle Beach Party (1964), Bikini Beach (1964), and Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) that depicted teenage girls wearing bikinis, frolicking in the sand with boys, and having a great time.

The beach films led a wave of films that made the bikini pop-culture symbol. In the sexual revolution in 1960’s America, bikinis became quickly popular. Hollywood stars like Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Gina Lollobrigida, and Jane Russell helped further the growing popularity of bikinis. Pin-up posters of Monroe, Mansfield, Hayworth, Bardot and Raquel Welch also contributed significantly to its increasing popularity. In 1962, Playboy featured a bikini on its cover for the first time. Two years later, Sports Illustrated featured Berlin-born fashion model Babette March on the cover wearing a white bikini. The issue was the first Swimsuit Issue. It gave the bikini legitimacy, became an annual publication and an American pop-culture staple, and sells millions of copies each year. In 1965, a woman told Time it was "almost square" not to wear one. In 1967 the magazine wrote that 65% of "the young set" were wearing bikinis.

When Jayne Mansfield and her husband Miklós Hargitay toured for stage shows, newspapers wrote that Mansfield convinced the rural population that she owned more bikinis than anyone. She showed a fair amount of her 40-inch (1,000 mm) bust, as well as her midriff and legs, in the leopard-spot bikini she wore for her stage shows. Kathryn Wexler of The Miami Herald wrote, "In the beginning as we know it, there was Jayne Mansfield. Here she preens in leopard-print or striped bikinis, sucking in air to showcase her well noted physical assets." Her leopard-skin bikini remains one of the earlier specimens of the fashion.

In 1962, Bond Girl Ursula Andress emerged from the sea wearing a white bikini in Dr. No. The scene has been named one of the most memorable of the series. Channel 4 declared it the top bikini moment in film history, Virgin Media puts it ninth in its top ten, and top in the Bond girls. The Herald (Glasgow) put the scene as best ever on the basis of a poll. It also helped shape the career of Ursula Andress, and the look of the quintessential Bond movie. Andress said that she owed her career to that white bikini, remarking, "This bikini made me into a success. As a result of starring in Dr. No as the first Bond girl, I was given the freedom to take my pick of future roles and to become financially independent." In 2001, the Dr. No bikini worn by Andress in the film sold at auction for US$61,500. That white bikini has been described as a "defining moment in the sixties liberalization of screen eroticism". Because of the shocking effect from how revealing it was at the time, she got referred to by the joke nickname "Ursula Undress". According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, "So iconic was the look that it was repeated 40 years later by Halle Berry in the Bond movie Die Another Day."

Raquel Welch’s fur bikini in One Million Years B.C. (1966) gave the world the most iconic bikini shot of all time and the poster image became an iconic moment in cinema history. The poster image of the deer skin bikini in One Million Years B.C. made her an instant pin-up girl. Welch was featured in the studio’s advertising as "wearing mankind’s first bikini" and the bikini was later described as a "definitive look of the 1960’s". Her role wearing the leather bikini raised Welch to a fashion icon and the photo of her in the bikini became a best-selling pinup poster. One author said, "although she had only three lines in the film, her luscious figure in a fur bikini made her a star and the dream girl of millions of young moviegoers". In 2011, Time listed Welch’s B.C. bikini in the "Top Ten Bikinis in Pop Culture".

In the 1983 film Return of the Jedi, Star Wars’ Princess Leia Organa was captured by Jabba the Hutt and forced to wear a metal bikini complete with shackles. The costume was made of brass and was so uncomfortable that actress Carrie Fisher described it as "what supermodels will eventually wear in the seventh ring of hell." The "slave Leia" look is often imitated by female fans at Star Wars conventions. In 1997, 51 years after the bikini’s debut, and 77 years after the Miss America Pageant was founded, contestants were allowed wear two-piece swimsuits, not just the swimsuits (nicknamed "bulletproof vests") traditionally issued by the pageant. Two of the 17 swimsuit finalists wore two-piece swimsuits, and Erika Kauffman, representing Hawaii, wore the briefest bikini of all and won the swimsuit competition. In 2010, the International Federation of Bodybuilders recognized Bikini as a new competitive category.

In India

Bollywood actress Sharmila Tagore appeared in a bikini in An Evening in Paris (1967), a film mostly remembered for the first bikini appearance of an Indian actress. She also posed in a bikini for the glossy Filmfare magazine. The costume shocked the conservative Indian audience, but it also set a trend of bikini-clad actresses carried forward by Parveen Babi (in Yeh Nazdeekiyan, 1982), Zeenat Aman (in Heera Panna 1973; Qurbani, 1980) and Dimple Kapadia (in Bobby, 1973) in the early 1970’s. Wearing a bikini put her name in the Indian press as one of Bollywood’s ten hottest actresses of all time, and was a transgression of female identity through a reversal of the state of modesty, which functions as a signifier of femininity in Bombay films. By 2005, it became usual for actors in Indian films to change outfits a dozen times in a single song — starting with a chiffon sari and ending up wearing a bikini. But, when Tagore was the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification in 2005, she expressed concerns about the rise of the bikini in Indian films.

Acceptance

In France, Réard’s company folded in 1988, four years after his death. By that year the bikini made up nearly 20% of swimsuit sales, more than any other model in the US. As skin cancer awareness grew and a simpler aesthetic defined fashion in the 1990s, sales of the skimpy bikini decreased dramatically. The new swimwear code was epitomized by surf star Malia Jones, who appeared on the June 1997 cover of Shape Magazine wearing a halter top two-piece for rough water. After the 90’s, however, the bikini came back again. US market research company NPD Group reported that sales of two-piece swimsuits nationwide jumped 80% in two years. On one hand the one-piece made a big comeback in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, on the other bikinis became briefer with the string bikini in the 1970’s and 80’s.

The "-kini family" (as dubbed by author William Safire), including the "-ini sisters" (as dubbed by designer Anne Cole) has grown to include a large number of subsequent variations, often with a hilarious lexicon — string bikini, monokini or numokini (top part missing), seekini (transparent bikini), tankini (tank top, bikini bottom), camikini (camisole top and bikini bottom), hikini, thong, slingshot, minimini, teardrop, and micro. In just one major fashion show in 1985, there were two-piece suits with cropped tank tops instead of the usual skimpy bandeaux, suits that are bikinis in front and one-piece behind, suspender straps, ruffles, and daring, navel-baring cutouts. To meet the fast changing tastes, some of the manufacturers have made a business out of making made-to-order bikinis in around seven minutes. The world’s most expensive bikini, made up of over 150 carats (30 g) of flawless diamonds and worth a massive £20 million, was designed in February 2006 by Susan Rosen.

Actresses in action films like Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003) and Blue Crush (2002) have made the two-piece "the millennial equivalent of the power suit", according to Gina Bellafonte of The New York Times, On September 9, 1997, Miss Maryland Jamie Fox was the first contestant in 50 years to compete in a two-piece swimsuit to compete in the Preliminary Swimsuit Competition at the Miss America Pageant. PETA used celebrities like Pamela Anderson, Traci Bingham and Alicia Mayer wearing a bikini made of iceberg-lettuce for an advertisement campaign to promote vegetarianism. A protester from Columbia University used a bikini as a message board against a New York City visit by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

By the end of the century, the bikini went on to become the most popular beachwear around the globe, according to French fashion historian Olivier Saillard due to "the power of women, and not the power of fashion". As he explains, "The emancipation of swimwear has always been linked to the emancipation of women", though one survey tells 85% of all bikinis never touch the water. According to Beth Dincuff Charleston, research associate at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "The bikini represents a social leap involving body consciousness, moral concerns, and sexual attitudes." By the early 2000’s, bikinis had become a US $811 million business annually, according to the NPD Group, a consumer and retail information company. The bikini has boosted spin-off services like bikini waxing and the sun tanning industries.

Continued controversies

The bikini remained a hot topic for the news media. In May 2011, Barcelona, Spain made it illegal to wear bikinis in public except in areas near the beaches. Violators face fines of between 120 and 300 euros. In 2012, two students of St. Theresa’s College in Cebu, the Philippines were barred from attending their graduation ceremony for "ample body exposure" because their bikini pictures were posted on Facebook. The students sued the college and won a temporary stay in a regional court.

In May 2013, Cambridge University banned the Wyverns Club of Magdalene College from arranging its annual bikini jelly wrestling. In June 2013, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who also is interested in fashion, produced a bikini for her clothing line that is designed to be worn by girls 4 to 8 years old. She was criticized for sexualizing young children by Claude Knight of Kidscape, a British foundation that strives to prevent child abuse. He commented, "We remain very opposed to the sexualization of children and of childhood … is a great pity that such trends continue and that they carry celebrity endorsement."

Four women were arrested over the 2013 Memorial Day weekend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for indecent exposure when they wore thong bikinis that exposed their buttocks. In June 2013, the British watchdog agency Advertising Standards Authority banned a commercial that showed men in an office fantasizing about their colleague, played by Pamela Anderson, in a bikini for degrading women.

Links:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_bikini en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_variants en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimsuit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_in_popular_culture en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indecent_exposure en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indecent_exposure_in_the_United_States

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