Westchester County Continues Ban on Men’s Topless Swim Suits
The Westchester County, New York, Park Commission on this day voted to continue its ban on topless men’s swim suits. The New York State Park Commission in June had voted to permit trunks-only swim suits.
Herman Merkel, Superintendent of the county park commission stated that “I still believe that a few things had better be left to the imagination . . . .”
The issue was one of many controversies over swim suits in the first decades of the twentieth century, although most involved women’s swim suits. See, for example, the controversies on February 25, 1917 and July 28, 1920 (in which one-piece women’s swim suits were permitted).
Learn more about the history of women’s swimwear: http://blog.lulus.com/fashion/fashion-era-the-evolution-of-swimsuits-over-the-years/
Learn about controversies over male and female swimwear from 1932 to 2011 here
And learn about the history of the bikini at Bikini Science