Cool Things - Bikini It's hard to imagine vacationing on a sunny
beach today and not seeing a bikini. The popular swimsuit is an
icon of sun worshipers everywhere. Though common today, 65 years
ago women wouldn't be seen in public in such a small amount of
clothing. Women did wear two-piece swimsuits in the years before
and during World War II. In fact, at a time when resources were
scarce, two-piece suits helped support the war effort because
they were made of less fabric—precious material that could be
used to make uniforms and other war goods. Despite their obvious
similarities, there was a difference between the two-piece and
the bikini: the two-piece covered the navel and was therefore
considered decent. The bikini, though, was meant to be shocking.
Louis Réard, the lingerie designer who created the first bikini,
wanted to get people's attention and make them talk. Just one
week before Réard debuted his swimsuit on a Paris runway, the
United States dropped an experimental atomic bomb on Bikini
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