In case you missed it the first time
The “first time,” in this context, was 1964, when Rudi Gernreich introduced something called the “monokini,” which, you might infer from the name, was approximately half of a bikini. (“Bikini,” Steve Rushin once explained in a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, was a composite of “bi,” meaning “two,” and “kini,” meaning “square inches of Lycra.”)
Gernreich, it appears, was about four and a half decades before his time, because Victoria’s Secret, not a name you’d normally associate with over-the-top fashion, has come up with something much the same, though they’re calling it simply a “topless bikini”.
VS does in fact provide a bandeau top for this, um, apparatus, though it’s detachable.
If your next question is “Couldn’t you have put up a picture of Gernreich’s swimsuit being worn by an actual person?” the answer is “Yes, but I’d already assembled this graphic.” I will, however, refer you to Jeff Weinstein, who has a shot of Peggy Moffitt wearing the original monokini in a color I’d call None More Black.
I need hardly point out that neither of these garments, despite their billing, is likely to be particularly good for actually swimming.
Lisa Paul »
18 January 2010 · 7:56 pm
I’m assuming Steve Rushin was joshing about the origin of Bikini. It was, of course, named after the famous atoll where a nuclear device had just been tested. So called because the lycra, or lack thereof, was expected to cause a cultural explosion akin to the real explosion.
CGHill »
18 January 2010 · 8:02 pm
I think it’s a safe bet that Rushin was doing the old chain-pull for laffs.
unimpressed »
18 January 2010 · 10:46 pm
Rather than “over-the-top” fashion, wouldn’t it better be described as “off-with-the-top” fashion? :)
Dick Stanley »
19 January 2010 · 12:31 am
Tantalizing, yes, but in most places probably illegal.
fillyjonk »
19 January 2010 · 6:16 am
I was going to observe that “monokini” is what linguists call a back-formation. In this case, a false back-formation, as of, of course, “Bikini” was named for the atoll.
People do this kind of back-formation all the time; an instance that makes me particularly gnash my teeth is “orientate” instead of “orient.”
Oh, and they did a nice hairstyling/photoshop job on that model on the right. Very Lady Godiva.
McGehee »
19 January 2010 · 6:26 am
And all this time I thought a “monokini” was simply the lower part of the bikini worn without the upper part. Who knew an actual monokini had to be designed?