The Skirtini is two-piece swimsuit that consists of a bikini top and a small skirted bottom. It gives the wearer an option for a swimsuit that has more coverage than the typical bikini swimsuit offers. Two-piece swimsuits with skirted bottoms were very popular in the USA before World War 2. But during the war, the US government ordered a 10% reduction in fabric for all women's swimwear and other types of clothing as a rationing of materials for the war effort.
The Sling Bikini, sometimes know as a Sling swimsuit, is a one-piece swimsuit that resembles a bikini that has a normal bottom, but has side straps and fabric that extend upwards to cover the breasts, and then crosses over or encircles the shoulders or neck, while a second set of straps crosses around the stomach area and acts as a belt. They were introduced in the early 1990s and have also been referred to as Pretzel suits.
The most popular of all bikini styles is the String Bikini. Its bottom design consists of two triangular-shaped pieces of fabric sewn together at the crotch but not at the sides, and then a string is either sewn on or fed through the side seams on either side and then tied together to hold the swimsuit bottom in place. The top of the swimsuit also consists of two triangle pieces of fabric, each covering a breast, with strings attached to or sewn through the seams, and the tied around the back of the neck and the center of the back to hold the top to the wearer’s body.
The Tankini is a two-piece swimsuit that consists of a tank top and a bikini bottom. These styles of swimsuits are usually made of a blend of Spandex or Lycra and cotton. The Tankini was the brain child of US fashion designer Anne Cole in 1998.
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