Americans celebrate #NationalBikiniDay

#NationalBikiniDay marks the anniversary of the invention of the two-piece bathing suit.

Americans commemorate the invention of the revealing two-piece bathing suit, known as the bikini, which was introduced on 5 July 1946. 

The iconic swimsuit, primarily worn by girls and women, consists of a top that covers the breasts and a bottom piece that covers the pelvis while typically exposing the navel and varying amounts of the buttocks. 

The modern bikini was created by French engineer Louis Réard and named after the Bikini Atoll, where a nuclear bomb test had taken place just days earlier. 

July 5 1946;
French engineer Louis Réard introduced the modern bikini, modeled by Micheline Bernardini.
A 19-year-old Micheline , wearing the first bikini with a newspaper-print design in 1946, while displaying a matchbox capable of holding the entire outfit.#NationalBikiniDay pic.twitter.com/eIu7NpJlOU

— J.J. ✨️✨️ (@alexanjk1123) July 5, 2024

Although two-piece swimsuits were in use as early as the 1930s, Réard's design gained prominence partly due to material rationing after the Second World War. 

National Bikini Day celebrates this fashion milestone, reflecting on the bikini's cultural impact and its evolution in swimwear fashion over the decades.