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Kōrero: Beach culture

The shrinking bathing suit

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The shrinking bathing suit

As with men’s costumes, women’s bathing suits became briefer, as this cartoon of 1926 suggests. Initially, women wore two-piece costumes, with a tunic covering woollen pants. But by the 1920s, one-piece suits appeared, and more of the arms and the thighs were exposed to public view.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Reference: Auckland Star, 2 October 1926, p. 23

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Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Jock Phillips, Beach culture – Beach culture, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/cartoon/9118/the-shrinking-bathing-suit (accessed 25 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Jock Phillips, i tāngia i te 2 March 2009.