The Bikini's 60th Birthday

The bikini celebrated its 60th birthday in July 2006 and the event created a flurry of press coverage. Here is just a sample of the interesting stories from news reports:

• Micheline Bernadini, the first woman to model the bikini, received 50,000 marriage proposals.
• In 1951, the Miss World competition banned bikins, saying any contestant wearing one would gain an unfair advantage.
• In 1964 the Vatican denounced the wearing of bikinis. The same year that Sports Illustrated published its first swimsuit issue.
• In 2001, the Dr No bikini sold at auction for $61,500.
• British women spend about forty-five million pounds on bikinis every year.

Click on any of the following links for more information:

BBC

Times online

American heritage