Casgliadau Arlein

Woman's blue bathing costume, about 1947-50. Made from a satin weave synthetic fabric with a cotton ground. Constructed in sections with three panels at the front and two bust sections, each made in two parts with seams down the centre of the bust. There is an additional panel underneath the centre-front which connects with the gusset and the back of the costume. This panel is sewn to the seams of the central panel but is loose at the top. The reverse of the costume is cut to sit halfway down the back. It has several lines of elastic sewn in (approx 2cm apart) to give stretch to the costume. There are two loops made from the same fabric close to the underarm area through which long straps can be threaded it is not clear exactly how they would have been tied (the ties are 80cm long x 1.7cm wide). The inside of the bust section and the gusset are lined with a blue plain weave cotton. All the sewing is done by machine in a mixture of running stitch and over-locking to finish seams.