Figure 1.--This photo was taken in San Pietro Vara, a village on the hills near Genoa. This family is taking a dip in the local river (August 18, 1933). Swim suits styles were changing at the time were changing. We can see that the boys are wearing swimming suits with and without tops. The families here look to be middle-class families. Boys this age in Italy from poorer families would not have had swim suits.

Swim suits unlike regular clothing were fairly uniform throughout Europe. There were differences with American swimsuits in the 20th century. We note many children wearing wool knit swim suits in the early 20th century. Swim suits early in the century had tops, but this had begun to disappear by the 1930s. These knit suits began to disappear after World War II, but we still see them in the early 1950s. More modern swimsuits were being wornby the end of the decade. The prosperity of post-War Italy had a major impact on fashion and most Italian children were well dressed for the first time which included swim suits.

Created: 8:10 AM 7/13/2009
Last updated: 8:37 PM 8/3/2009