Because it’s summer, here’s an interesting topic, in an interesting approach:
The Most Iconic Swimsuits Ever
The best bathing suits aren’t always practical — Raquel Welch’s prehistoric two-piece wouldn’t have lasted long in open waters — but they’re impossible to forget. With a little help from InStyle Fashion Director Hal Rubenstein, we’ve compiled a list of the most iconic swimsuits ever.
Raquel Welch, “One Million Years B.C.,” 1966 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation, TM Copyright/Courtesy Everett Collection The best bathing suits aren’t always practical — Raquel Welch’s prehistoric two-piece wouldn’t have lasted long in open waters — but they’re impossible to forget. With a little help from InStyle Fashion Director Hal Rubenstein, we’ve compiled a list of the most iconic swimsuits ever.
Raquel Welch, “One Million Years B.C.,” 1966
“If women in prehistoric times really looked and dressed like this,” Rubenstein said of the animal-skin two-piece Raquel Welch wore in 1966’s “One Million Years B.C,” “a lot more people today would be studying cave paintings. As fabulous as it is ludicrous, it may be film’s most famous bathing suit that never got wet.”
The first-ever Bond girl, in 1962’s “Dr. No,” set the bar pretty high. (Indeed, this was Rubenstein’s pick for Most Iconic Suit.) “As Honey Rider,” he said, “Ursula Andress stepped out of the Caribbean and into the fantasies of every guy longing to be James Bond. The matching knife belt was a cute touch.”
Courtesy Everett Collection
Yes, the plot was rather melodramatic. But the pure white tank that Elizabeth Taylor wore in 1959’s “Suddenly, Last Summer” — in which she played a mental patient disturbed after witnessing her cousin’s shocking death — was nothing short of perfection.
Courtesy Columbia Pictures
To promote her instant celebrity in “Charlie’s Angels,” a Cleveland poster company arranged to shoot Farrah Fawcett in a bikini at her house in 1976. As Rubenstein explained, “She wasn’t comfortable so exposed, so she pulled this red one-piece from her closet. The company hated the pic, but Farrah had final approval (and retained photo rights). Smart girl: The poster sold over 12 million copies and is still for sale today.”
Globe Photos/ZUMAPRESS.com
“Her perfect score has never been beaten,” Rubenstein said of Bo Derek’s appearance in a nude maillot in the 1979 movie “10.” “She may have been the best thing to happen to sales of the one-piece,” he added.
Courtesy Everett Collection
In 1982’s “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” Phoebe Cates plays a sophisticated teenager with, as Rubenstein said, “a skimpy bikini as red as her lipstick.” The scene in which she emerges in slow motion from a friend’s backyard pool is still a classic.
Courtesy Everett Collection
After being captured by Jabba the Hutt in 1983’s “Return of the Jedi,” Princess Leia was forced to wear this bikini Rubenstein described as “swirling gold and chain link bondage gear.” The over-the-top getup made actress Carrie Fisher a sex symbol, and copies of the so-called “slave girl costume” are still sold online today.
Zuma/LUCASFILM
As Rubenstein pointed out, Pamela Anderson wasn’t even in the original cast of the syndicated ’90s series “Baywatch.” But she certainly looked good in her “sky-high-cut” red suit. “Who can imagine ‘Babewatch’ without her?” Rubenstein asked.
Courtesy Everett Collection
For 2002’s “Die Another Day,” Oscar winner Halle Berry paid homage to the first Bond girl, Ursula Andress. She made her entrance in an unforgettable orange-red bikini, complete with a knife belt, “and killed,” Rubenstein said, “both literally and figuratively.”
MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection
“Nobody remembers the film,” Rubenstein said of 2005’s “Into the Blue.” “It had something to do with sunken treasure, drugs, bad guys, and a water park called ‘Atlantis.’” But when this promo picture of Jessica Alba wearing an un-matched two-piece was released “plenty of people took notice. No doubt bikini separates gained in popularity.”
MGM/courtesy Everett Collection
Source: http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/a-line/the-most-iconic-swimsuits-ever/537?nc
This entry was posted
on Monday, July 12th, 2010 at 7:17 AM and is filed under
Funny.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the
RSS 2.0 feed.
You can
leave a response, or
trackback from your own site.
Great information! I’ve been looking for something like this for a while now. Thanks!