Australian Dress Register

These swimming tights are based on the design worn and championed by Annette Kellerman for use by women in the early 1900s. 

In 1907, Kellerman made a controversial appearance on Revere Beach, Boston, wearing a man's one-piece unitard swimsuit with her legs uncovered, for which she was arrested (this unitard resembles modest female fashion by today's standards). This was the mechanism for a shift in public opinion as to what was considered acceptable for women to wear when bathing and swimming in public, and saw the replacement of cumbersome bathing dresses with styles allowing greater freedom of movement in the water, closer resembling modern swimming costumes. 

Though at first this style was considered 'risqué' and even somewhat pornographic, especially in Europe and America, it gained popularity in due course, perhaps helped by Kellerman's celebrity and athletic status.  

ANMM object record 

Colmer, Michael. Bathing Beauties: The Amazing History of Female Swimwear. London: Sphere, 1977.

Horwood, Catherine. “Girls Who Arouse Dangerous Passions: Women and Bathing, 1900-39.” Women's History Review 9, no. 4 (2000).

Kennedy, Sarah. The Swimsuit. London: Carlton, 2007.

Lenček, Lena, and Gideon Bosker. Making Waves: Swimsuits and the Undressing of America. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1988.

Martin, Richard, and Harold Koda. Splash!: A History of Swimwear. New York: Rizzoli, 1990. 

Previously on display in the ANMM exhibition 'Exposed! The Story of Swimwear' from November 2009 to February 2011. 

The silk overdress is trimmed with black and white striped silk; two lengths of trim at the neck tie into a bow. This swimming costume is intended for practical use and so is not greatly decorative (though may be considered decorative by today's standards). 

Swimming tights are black wool knit tights (wool swimsuits were the norm during the 1910s, 20s and 30s, even though woolen fabric clung to the body when wet and posed quite a challenge for swimmers, and many knitting mills took to manufacturing swimwear).

The overdress is made of black silk, with black and white striped silk trimming.

Presumably machine knitted and sewn

"Asbury Mills USA." tag sewn inside neck of swimming tights. Reads "The/ Annette Kellermann/ Swimming Tights/ Reg. U.S. Pat. Off. Asbury Mills". Annette Kellerman's name is in red cursive. 

Possibly designed in collaboration with Kellerman herself.

There are signs of a placket on the silk overdress that may once have had buttons and have been buttonable (turning the dress inside-out, one can see remnants of buttonholes); it appears, however, that the placket was sewn shut after manufacture, presumably by the dress' owner. 

The motion of pulling the dress over one's chest would have caused stress to the dress' sideseams, which would explain why they are internally reinforced. 

Single presumably Bakelite or other synthetic resin button fastening on proper left shoulder of swimming tights, (reinforced with Velcro and zigzag stitching inside shoulder by ANMM conservators).

This swimming costume predates boned, corsetry-like swimsuits of the 1940s and 50s. 

Swimwear, of a style that afforded women more freedom of movement in the water than previous styles. 

Annette Marie Sarah Kellerman, born on the 6th of July, 1886 in Darlinghurst, Sydney, was a New South Wales swimming champion who left for England at age 18 to help her struggling family; this spring-boarded her career as a professional swimmer and celebrity. She competed as a long distance swimmer, attempted to swim the English Channel three times, and swam against men in the annual race along the Seine in 1907, coming equal third. 

By 1906 Kellerman had established herself as a performer through exotic swimming and diving demonstrations, and moved to vaudeville theatre in America as 'Australia's Mermaid' as well as film production. 

Kellerman wrote books such as Physical Beauty and How to Keep it (1918), How to Swim (1918), a book of children's stories titled Fairy Tales of the South Seas (1926) and My Story, an unpublished autobiography. She also wrote numerous mail order booklets on health, beauty and fitness.

Kellerman is often credited for inventing the sport of synchronised swimming after her 1907 performance of the first water ballet in a glass tank at the New York Hippodrome.

She also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Supplied is a photograph of Alice Docker, champion swimmer of Coogee (known for Wylie's Baths and Coogee Palace Aquarium and Baths). Docker is wearing a one-piece swimsuit, as popularised by Annette Kellerman, her contemporary. 

This photograph was taken in approximately 1909, two years after Kellerman's arrest on Revere Beach, Boston. It is a stark contrast to the purported photograph of Kellerman's apprehension (whilst there is controversy over the identity of the woman in the photograph, the sentiment remains the same), evidencing an extraordinary transformation in societal attitudes towards female swimwear at the turn of the last century. 

Swimming tights are in good, slightly stretched but non-brittle condition, though should be handled with caution. Fastening button is chipped at its circumference. There is also one pin-sized hole at the back of the bodice. The gusset of the swimsuit is faded and has been hand-repaired at the front. The inside leg seams appear to have been intentionally separated 30mm on both the left and right legs, perhaps to make wider openings. 

Silk overdress is in fragile but fair to good condition and must be handled with extra caution. Whilst the silk is not terribly shattered there are points of weakness, particularly at the bodice, on the skirt, and near the trim (which is also fraying at the ends, and has been restitched with a machine for added strength). There is also weakness at the back of the neck and some hand repairs. The overdress' side seams are frayed and open, worst of all at the proper left side. 

It is probable that there was once a buttoned-up placket at the front of the silk overdress that has been stitched shut, resulting in the stress that is at the side seams of the garment. 

The ruching and shirring that is at the proper right shoulder is also coming undone. 

Repairs to front of gusset of swimming tights 

Some hand repairs to silk overdress