Vintage Bathing Suits

True Story: after months and months of planning, accounting for all details, managing and micromanaging we finally had a lovely wedding that went off without a hitch. Hooray! We were all set to leave for our honeymoon the next day. Hooray! Late afternoon international flight to a perfectly beach-y and remote locale, where we would spend a week blissed out, swimming and sunning and relaxing. Hooray!!

I had our tickets, our passports, everything was accounted for….but in all the planning, all the anticipating, I had forgotten to purchase one sorta kinda maybe key thing: a swimsuit.

I didn’t own one, not even a ratty one, and we were about to go somewhere a bathing suit was pretty much a requirement. And so we found ourselves rushing to a local mall, hours before our flight, where I shoved four random bathing suits into a shopping bag, no time to try anything on.

I hoped for the best, and spent a grotesque amount of money on mediocre suits. It worked out OK (a couple of them fit just fine) but obviously would not have been how I planned it. The vintage style bathing suits below? Now that is how I would have planned it. Let my idiocy be a lesson to you! And may these retro bathing suits be an inspiration. For spring break, for summer, for honeymoons, for life, this is some seriously gorgeous vintage swimwear.

First up, Shabby Apple, who just debuted a brand new collection that was essentially made for us here at Art Deco Weddings… they call it “The Silent Era” swim collection, and… YES. Yes. All gorgeous. (click the thumbnails to enlarge the photos and scroll through the gallery. It is worth it.)

Next up? We move from the 20s through the 30s and into the 40s and 50s… we’re big fans of repro vintage genuises ModCloth in general, and their vintage swimwear in particular. Gorgeous retro bathing suits abound! And they almost always have plus sizes of the most popular styles, which we love.

That’s the Beach Blanket Bingo One Piece, the Merry Mariner vintage nautical suit and the Coupe of Tea One Piece.

Chevrons! Very deco. Love this two piece, called the Chevron the Boardwalk.

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