“Women being arrested in Chicago for defying a ban on wearing brief swimsuits in public. Women were meant to cover-up when not in the water”
Australian National Maritime Museum
Australian National Maritime Museum
The 1920s there was not only a change in fashion but also in other areas of beauty, many women wanted to be tan, a big change from the desire to be as close to porcelain white as possible. This shift not only effected the choice swim wear, but also the uses of the swimsuits. Swimsuits primary use used to be only for in water use, some of which were long and loose. Now, in the 1920s, women wanted to soak in the sun more then they wanted to soak in the water. This attributed primarily to the change in bathing suit styles. They went from being long and loose nylon dresses to mid thigh length, tight suits. These seemingly skimpy outfits were too much for the older generation to handle, the young people were taking their new styles too far. Agatha Cristie describes her feelings towards the flappers as, "“Now I am old-fashioned. A woman, I consider, should be womanly. I have no patience with the modern neurotic girl who jazzes from morning to night, smokes like a chimney, and uses language which would make a billingsgate fishwoman blush!". In 1922, the United States government passed a law regarding the length of women's bathing suits, which was not only not the governments place to tell women what they can and can not wear, but also sexist for not regulating what men wore. Those whose bathing suits were too short were often escorted off the beach so further reprimands could take place.
On June 30, 1922, Washington policeman Bill Norton measuring the distance between knee and suit at the Tidal Basin bathing beach after Col. Sherrill, Superintendent of Public Buildings and Grounds, issued an order that suits not be over six inches above the knee.
While the requirements were adjusted as time went on, police men continued to measure women's bathing suits into the 1930s.
In 1933, policemen measure Peggy Graves’s swim suit, to check and see whether it meets minimum clothing requirements, or not.