Beach Styles & Trends

Just like music, art, and film, fashion is a sign of the times. Even something as specific as beachwear can give insight into the general attitude and social climate of the day. Colors and patterns tell a story about the mood of a nation.

Racy for the Times

The form fitting women’s swimsuits of the 1920s have become rather famous for pushing the limits of modesty. Although those antiquated modesty standards seem rather comical today, these tight bathing suits revealed a woman’s figure more than any other widely worn garment in American history. One aspect of this trend that many people overlook is that because many women felt self-conscious in these swimsuits, the simple beach towel became a more important beach accessory than ever before.

Discreet Cover-ups

Women often wore their beach towels as wraps to cover up their figures and make them feel more comfortable, so in effect, the beach towel or beach wrap became part of the swimsuit. The suits of the 1920s were typically made with vibrant abstract patterns or horizontal stripes. Women who found this beachwear a little too loud could tone it down with a neutral colored towel. Those who liked the dramatic patterns but wanted to cover up a bit could accessorize with a complementing beach towel or wrap in similarly flashy patterns.

The Depression Era

In the 1930s, women’s bathing suits became considerably more flattering. Designers toned down the prints and muted the colors to make them less flamboyant, which matched the nation’s economic situation. Small skirts were attached to the bottoms to provide cover up for thighs. With these changes in swimsuits, the beach towel underwent a few changes itself. Beach towels were now more neutral colors, and anything that sported a pattern did so mildly with small floral prints on cotton.

A Touch of Glamour

Ever since the 1940s women’s swimwear has seen an ebb and flow between corseted models with bra cups and padding for bust support and more natural designs. Two piece styles and bikinis gradually caught on in the 1950s and 1960s after movie stars introduced them on the silver screen. Through all this, beach towels remained relatively the same, simply following the design trends from stripes to polka dots to checkerboard patterns and everything in between.

Beach Towels Toned Down

In the 21st Century, swimsuits are still getting racier, but there are still plenty of updated yet more modest alternatives to thongs and stringy tops. If anything on the beach has taken a turn toward the conservative, it is the beach towel.

While there are more beach towels than ever before with everything from Nascar beach towels to Star Wars beach towels and just about every theme under the sun, the most fashionable beach towels of the past few years have been simple horizontal stripes and basic two toned beach towels in bright, cheery colors, which are surprisingly similar to the classic towels of the 1920s and 1930s.

The beach towel has come full circle in fashion trends, so maybe the swimsuit is next. The women’s swimwear of tomorrow probably won’t be as cautious as the 1920s body suits, but it is hard to imagine them getting much smaller than they are today.

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