Fun Fact: Monokinis were once illegal!

Monokini in the 60s

Ok, so here’s a bit of trivia on the monokini one piece. In 1964, the first monokini was designed here in the US by an Austrian-American fashion designer, Rudi Gernerich. It first appeared in Look magazine as part of an article about futuristic fashions.

We already told you about how Zoe Duchesne wore the fabulous Bendito Napoleon topless in the latest Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, and turns out that, well, this thought had crossed the mind of the original monokini creator. Gernerich’s monokini was designed to be topless. It looked like a one-piece from mid waist down suspended from two halter straps running down the cleavage of, you guessed it, bare breasts.

As you might imagine, this was very risqué for the time. Although the 60s were at the height of the Sexual Revolution, people were still largely conservative. The New York City Police Department had strict instructions to arrest any woman found wearing a monokini in the city’s parks, and a 19 year old woman was charged $100 for wearing one on a public beach in Chicago. Despite its many critics, the monokini sold in record numbers but very few people wore them in public.

Grafitti Exoticae Monokini by Maaji

Since the monokini comes in a variety of styles now, you don’t have to wear them topless if you don’t want to! One of our favorites is Graffiti Exoticae Monokini by Maaji Swimwear, which has the designer’s notorious collage of fabrics with a polkadot pattern on ruched straps. The straps go over the shoulder and tie at the back. To look at more of our monokini styles go here.

| | | | | |

Posted in Fun Facts | Tagged Grafitti Exoticae monokini, Maaji, Maaji 2010, maaji swimwear, monokini, swimwear, swimwear 2010