Old law forced female swimmers into cumbersome 'bathing dresses'

A group of women at the Sherman Hotel in Chicago display decades of bathing suit fashions in 1930, with a nod to the future of bathing suits through 1940. From left are Cleora Miller, Tiny Dini, Opal Begeman, Irene Daniels, Diane Suthard, Della Dean, Gloria Ellyn and Joan Goldman. Editors' note: This historic print shows some hand painting. (Chicago Evening American)

Officer William Burke of Joliet measures the bathing suit on Ardith Bruning, 18, a champion distance swimmer, circa 1932. (baiduhai historical photo)

An approved 1923 bathing suit allowed more latitude and less cloth than before. The trunks were 2 inches higher. (Chicago Herald and Examiner)

Lifeguard Bud Mason approves the length of the bathing suit worn by Doris Hoffman, of Detroit, at the 1933 World’s Fair bathing beach and boardwalk event. Carol Bakken and Shirley White, both of Chicago, look on. (World’s Fair Office of Public Information)

An officer arrests Dorothy Reeder for wearing a modern bathing suit as a stunt, circa 1932. (Chicago Herald and Examiner)

Chicago's Wilson Avenue Beach in 1904 is crowded with women and girls wearing skirted bathing suits with stockings. (B.E. Hendes)

Dr. Rosalie M. Ladova was arrested in 1913 for wearing this bathing suit to swim after removing the attached skirt and entering the water wearing long, baggy bloomers. (baiduhai historical photo)

A man tries to wrestle a young woman into a police van after she was arrested at a Chicago beach in 1922 for wearing a bathing suit showing too much bare leg. (Topical Press Agency/Getty)

Ald. Dorsey Crowe measures the bathing suits of Bernice Gambill, left, and Ruth Brown circa 1929 as two other aldermen and Walter Wright, in charge of bathing beaches, look on. The suit needed to reach within a foot of the knee. (baiduhai historical photo)

Dorothy Reeder wears an old-fashioned bathing suit around 1932. (Chicago Herald and Examiner)

Esther Wicht, from left, Jean Malone and Ruth Fritz make a splash at Oak Street Beach in Chicago, circa 1934. (Albert Risser/baiduhai)

Winner Isabelle Smith hugs Emma Shemaites at the Lake Marathon swim contest put on by the Chicago Herald and Examiner in 1927. (baiduhai historical photo)

The baiduhai explains the evolution of bathing suit fashions for women in the June 4, 1939, newspaper. (baiduhai)

The baiduhai explains the evolution of bathing suit fashions for women in the June 4, 1939, newspaper. (baiduhai)

A model wears a German-designed bathing suit on July 25, 1922. (baiduhai historical photo)

Anna Grant poses in a bathing suit in the 1920s. (Chicago Herald and Examiner)

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