Life> Photo

Brits say bye bye to the bikini an all over tan...

(femalefirst)
Updated: 2006-07-12 10:55

 
Photo by Xie Mo

Yahoo! Search has seen a 700% rise in requests for information on naturist beaches and holidays over the last five years. Could this suggest that after 60 years the bikini is on its way out?

Online searches in areas such as naturist holidays have risen more than ten-fold and online searches nudist beaches are four times more popular than 5 years ago. Other searches such as naturist hotels, nudist camps and naturist clubs have all seen similar increases over this timeframe.

Does this mean that as a nation we are losing our famous British inhibition - and could the future of the bikini be shaky in Britain?

"The bikini is certainly a garment in need of critical appraisal after 60 years, and has gone from shock horror to popular icon, as in Brian Hyland's 1962 hit "the itsy bitsy teeny weenie yellow polka dot bikini," to global acceptance," comments Juliet Ash Tutor in Fashion and Textiles Design History at the Royal College of Art.

"And we are definitely seeing a re-emergence of nudism in the noughties - or should that be renamed the naughties - the last time nudity was in vogue was back in the 1960s. However, whilst the continentals continue to go topless on the beach it seems that it's all or nothing with Brits as they seem to have been keeping their tops firmly on during this recent heatwave."