1930s ladies in Swimsuit — Marie McKenna and Gladys Cooling at Southport, 1938. Source: Flickr-State Library of Queensland

Summer is here and that means it’s Swimsuit season! For this post I have rounded up some of my favorite vintage swimsuits from the internet (1940s-1960s) to inspire, purchase or just admire. Enjoy!

NOTE: Post updated April 2024

If you click on a swimsuit and it’s no longer avail don’t fret, just keep searching. Etsy and eBay are always adding new vintage items on the daily (by the 1000’s).

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy , eBay & Unique Vintage are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Further Reading:

Vintage Swimsuits Inspiration: 1940’s – 1960’s

Vintage 1950’s CATALINA Umbrella print cotton swimsuit. So cute!

1950s vintage swimsuit -Vintage 1950s CATALINA Umbrella print cotton swimsuit

Source: Etsy – vintage109online

1950’s Rose Pink swimsuit with floral applique (avail as of March 2023 HERE).

1950s Fashion: 1950's Rose Pink Pin Up Style Swimsuit with Floral Applique.

Source: Etsy

Vintage 1950s Skirted Playsuit, Swim Dress by “Rose Marie Reid” with a novelty rose toile print.

1950s fashion: Vintage 1950s Skirted Playsuit, Swim Dress by "Rose Marie Reid" with a novelty rose poile print.

Source: Etsy – GeronimoVintage

A fun 1950s vintage swimsuit with polka dots and a skirt.

1950s vintage swimsuit with polka dots and a skirt. Fun 1950s fashion, maybe early 1960 fashion.

Source: Etsy

Artist Model an Art Knit Original 1940s/1950s Deadstock blue one piece cotton blend swimsuit.

Artist Model an Art Knit Original 1940s/1950s Deadstock NOS w/ Tags Blue One Piece Cotton Blend Swimsuit

Source: Etsy

Vintage 1950s Rose Marie Reid blue one Piece bombshell swimsuit.

Vintage 1950s Rose Marie Reid Blue One Piece Pinup Bombshell Swimsuit

Source: Etsy

1940s to 1950s Swimsuit From Vetrix Bleyle, sold at Harald Löfberg store in Stockholm (see image below).

1950s Vintage Clothing store Harald Löfberg store in Stockholm. Image shows woman in the 1950s shopping.

Source: Etsy

Playsuits that turn into swimsuits are fantastic for summer parties, because you only have to worry about one outfit for the whole day. This 1940s beauty is the perfect example.

1940s Swimsuit - 1940s Playsuit — Source: Etsy-jumblelaya

Another Playsuit/Swimsuit from the 1950s. Who does not love Gingham?!

1950s playsuit in black and white gingham — Source: Etsy-traven7

I love details like lovely scalping on the bust of this 1940s swimsuit.

This next suit is stunning and so very 1930s. This swimsuit is luxuriously sleek white and silver striped Lastex stretch satin with skinny black pinstriping. Wow! You would turn heads everywhere you went, that is for sure.

1930s swimsuit for women — Source: Etsy-Fabgabs

Ohhhhh I wish this next darling of Marina Del Mar 1950s swimsuit would fit me, it’s just so beautiful. At last it won’t so I will have to wish for it to go to a good home instead. Bummer.

1950s vintage swimsuit -Marina Del Mar — Source: Etsy-jumblelaya

1950s Swimsuits with pleated skirts is the ultimate in style, especially when it looks like it would be good to from the pool to the tennis court. Fantastic!

1950s vintage swimsuit with pleated skirt — Source: Etsy-SoftServeVintage

This 1950s bathingsuit would be perfect for VIVA with its patriotic red/white/blue theme but honestly it could be worn anytime because CUTE is perfect anytime.

1950s vintage swimsuit — Source: Etsy-OrchidRoomVintage

While not the same swimsuit above, this 1950s two piece Jantzen swimsuit is just a cute! Look at those shorts?

1950s Fashion: Rare Vintage Jantzen bathing suit , 2 piece red white and navy swimsuit. Cute vintage bathing suit.

Source: Etsy

Sometimes all a swimsuit needs is a few fantastic details, like this Ivory cream piping scalloped wave pattern with buttons on the below 1950s swimsuit. So pretty.

This 1950s Jantzen Rhinestone beauty is a bit pricey but it’s too stunning to leave on Etsy PLUS it has its vintage ad to match!

1950s Jantzen Swimsuit — Source: Etsy-LakesideVintageColl

Lets not forget the men! Can we all take a moment to revel on how PERFECT these 1950s vintage swim trunks are for the Tiki party? Or for VIVA? WOW!

1950s men vintage swimtrunks — Source: Etsy-MintageClothingCo

Here is another perfect Tiki 1950s Vintage Swimsuit for the guys.

And there is the roundup. Still looking for a suit? Etsy and eBay are always good places to go (as seen above) as well as vintage shops in your hood.

I have also put together an Etsy Collection of Vintage Swimsuits that is updated monthly (click the highlighted text to the left).

April 2024 Update: Please check out my friends online vintage style clothing shop, SUZIE’S BOMBSHELL CLOTHING for the PRESALE of her vintage style swimsuit (two colours), romper, beach jacket and swing skirt (her collection). It’s fantastic and I would be thrilled if you supported this woman run business in Ontario, Canada.

vintage style swimsuit (two colours), romper, beach jacket and swing skirt from Suzie's Bombshell Clothing.

Now Question Time: Do you own a vintage swimsuit? Or is one on your bucket list? Share any thoughts in the comments section below!

Lastly here is my latest purchase (June 2022 update). A mint condition 1950s Lane Bryant swimsuit. Isn’t it lovely?

Liz 🙂

(Note: To view my other days at VIVA click on the days: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday)

Last day of VIVA, wow it went so fast how was that possible? I guess it’s possible when you are having the time of your life. All good things must eventually come to an end, right?

Happy Easter! Sunday for me is ALWAYS shopping at the vintage vendors day, since many of the vendors put their items on sale as they don’t want to take tons of stuff home. Every year I have gotten lucky and have found some wonderful items and this year was no different. However I did find that I purchased less this year due to the Canadian dollar being so poor so that the exchange rate made everything so much more expensive. Oh well more money left over for future trips.

First up I picked up a couple of great scarfs to add to my collection.

This souvenir San Francisco scarf is my favorite of the two.

I also purchased the cutest brooch, it’s a Heinz 57 Ketchup bottle!

Then just as I was about to walk out a happy camper with what I had, I saw out of the corner of my eye a vintage 1950s Shirtwaist dress from the vendor “Love Street Vintage” who I had the pleasure of purchasing past dresses from before. It fit like a glove and it was a good price so it CLEARLY came home with me.

After shopping we thought we would see if we could get into the Sunday Pool Party which normally in the past we have not been able to do, due to it being the popular day and there are normally long line ups. But this year ended up being really easy and I think it might have had to do with the high winds making people think it was cold at the pool (which it was not). Yay for us!

My friend had secured several lounge chairs for the gang which ended up being in good prime viewing of the women’s swimsuit contest and the bands on the stage. Thank you!

There was so many GORGEOUS swimsuits to be seen, as you can see from these 3 lovely women. The red head is actually a fellow Canadian who has a super blog called “Pinup Persuasion“, who I did not realize I had taken a photo of until I just looked at now and clearly missed saying hello. Opps. She did later on enter the vintage swimsuit contest, which I’m glad she did because her suit was stunning (as did the girl in the green suit).

VLV 18 Pool Party Sunday 2015 Vintage Swimsuits

The band that played earlier in the afternoon “The Cavaleros” were really good (and Canadian) and kept the party going with their cool surf sounds. My favorite part though was when they took “Sing Sing Sing” and made it into a Rockabilly/Surf Version. The video I took even had Lindy Hoppers (from San Francisco I found out later) dancing to it. LOVE IT!

Speaking of San Fran here is my new friend from San Fran who was also a Lindy Hopper and really cool to chat with.

Then my friend Bill stole my camera to take a picture with beautiful women.

Bill JUST missed his chance with these ladies, by seconds. His loss.

I guess the pool party is not amusing for everyone….

Unfortunately I have no great photos of the swimsuit contest as the sun was pretty bright and was making it hard to see what I was taking pictures of. So you just have to take my word on the fact that the suits were stunning (as you saw above). Here is one photo though that turned out okay.

After the contest, we packed up our stuff and headed in to get ready for the Sunday evening favorite of mine and many others..the Jive Contest! BUT first what is starting to become a tradition, getting as many Canadians together for a group photo.

Here is this years, we clean up nicely don’t we?

Okay back to the Jive Contest…Once again the dance floor was filled with lots of wonderful dancers and once again my favorite did not get picked (I always chose wrong) but it was still fun to watch. Here is a clip of the 2nd round of the contest. The couple in the front of the video in the matching pink outfits ended up winning the whole thing.

And here is another tradition! Taking a photo with the Orleans Sign.

Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend 18, 2015 — Me and the Sign

Now the evening is really winding down and now my body is telling me that it’s soon time to call it quits. We did however want to see the Doo Wop All Stars Show. This years show included: Herb Cox-The Cleftones; Eugene Pitt-The Jive Five and Bobby Lewis (“Tossin & Turning”) It was really great and super stylish as Doo Wop bands tend to be.