When you hit the beach, you have to have the right swimwear.  But did you ever wonder where and how today's modern sexy bathing suits came from?

Swimwear or a bathing suit, is an item of clothing designed to be worn for swimming. In New Zealand English and some areas of Australian English, swimsuits are usually called togs. This term is less common in other parts of the Commonwealth where it can also refer to clothes in general. Swimsuits can be skin-tight or loosely fitting and range from garments designed to preserve as much modesty as possible to garments designed to reveal as much of the body as possible without actual nudity. They are often lined with a fabric that prevents them from becoming transparent when wet.

The history of the swimsuit is a story of the changes in social mores and values that have accompanied the growth of civilization from ancient Greece to the modern era. Beginning in an era when swimming in the nude was not only common but also completely socially acceptable, the swimsuit has traveled through several different styles and designs, meant to both conceal and display, to excite and mollify. Given its rather revealing and, at times, erotic nature, it is not surprising that the history of the swimsuit can be closely linked to a classic Freudian statement. The famous psychoanalyst once suggested that “the progressive concealment of the body which goes along with civilization keeps sexual curiosity awake.” As the world has progressed throughout history, the swimsuit has always maintained a somewhat exciting presence in its combined purposes of revealing and concealing. In many ways, the swimsuit is so titillating a piece of clothing because it is and always has been the most revealing, socially appropriate clothing worn by either men or women.

The Ancient Greeks dressed very simply with a 'chiton', an oblong of woolen cloth large enough to wrap around the body from the neck down to just above the knees. The side left open was fastened by a 'fibulae' ­ a pin or brooch. A girdle was worn round it and the 'chiton' could by pulled through it and worn high by those who were physically active and left long by the older gentlemen. Over this was worn the 'himation', an outer cloak. Slaves wore loincloths. However, the ancient Greeks did not wear underwear.

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