Monokini

"Topless swimsuit" redirects here. For a general discussion of topless swimming, see Toplessness § Topless swimwear. For the album by Stereo Total, see Monokini (album). For the sling swimsuit worn by men, see Mankini.
Monokini
Peggy Moffitt, a model wearing a monokini, as published in Women's Wear Daily, 3 June 1964[1]
DesignerRudi Gernreich
Year1964
TypeBathing suit
Materialwool jersey[2]
for Life magazine, 10 July 1964
Daphné Dayle [fr], 1964, by Paul Schutzer
image icon monokini, tied behind neck, 46 images[3]
image icon monokini, underwater photographs, 23 images[3]
image icon topless bathing suit with matching large scarf, 32 images

The monokini (also known as a "topless bikini" or "unikini")[4][5] was designed by Rudi Gernreich in 1964, consisting of only a brief, close-fitting bottom and two thin straps;[6] it was the first women's topless swimsuit.[7][8] His revolutionary and controversial design included a bottom that "extended from the midriff to the upper thigh"[9] and was "held up by shoestring laces that make a halter around the neck."[10] Some credit Gernreich's design with initiating,[8] or describe it as a symbol of, the sexual revolution.[11]

Gernreich designed the monokini as a protest against a repressive society. He did not initially intend to produce the monokini commercially,[12] but was persuaded by Susanne Kirtland of Look to make it available to the public. When the first photograph of a frontal view of Peggy Moffitt wearing the design was published in Women's Wear Daily on June 3, 1964,[1] it generated a great deal of controversy in the United States and other countries. Gernreich sold about 3,000 suits, but only two were worn in public. The first was worn publicly on June 19, 1964, by Carol Doda in San Francisco at the Condor Nightclub, ushering in the era of topless nightclubs in the United States, and the second at North Avenue beach in Chicago in July 1964 by artist's model Toni Lee Shelley, who was arrested.

  1. ^ a b "The Rudi Gernreich Book". Archived from the original on March 10, 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  2. ^ "Bathing suit, 1964, Rudi Gernreich, American, born Austria". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 4 September 2021. Gernreich's paradox is that the bottom of the topless suit is very conservative, with ample coverage and made in the same wool material that had been used for Victorian bathing apparel.
  3. ^ a b Loke, Margarett (4 September 1998). "Photography Review; Fashion and Art: The Gown Was Gorgeous, but the Picture Was Divine". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 September 2021. Any history of fashion photography has to recognize the work of Paul Schutzer and his 1964 photographs in Life magazine of the infamous topless bathing suit by Rudi Gernreich. ... For the Gernreich swimsuit assignment he took an underwater photograph of a female model in the topless black swimsuit surrounded by males in black trunks, the models' heads obscured by the surface lines of the water.
  4. ^ "Monokini". Archived from the original on 18 August 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  5. ^ "Bikini Science". Archived from the original on 2018-01-27. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  6. ^ "Monokini". Free Dictionary. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  7. ^ Rosebush, Judson. "Peggy Moffitt Topless Maillot in Studio". Bikini Science. Archived from the original on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  8. ^ a b Alac, Patrik (2012). Bikini Story. Parkstone International. p. 68. ISBN 978-1780429519. Archived from the original on 2018-01-29.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference everything was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Nangle, Eleanore (June 10, 1964). "Topless Swimsuit Causes Commotion". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 14 September 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  11. ^ "Fit Celebrates the Substance of Style". Elle. July 5, 2009. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference bay was invoked but never defined (see the help page).