Knitted/Crochet Swimwear Experience - YouLookFab Forum

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Knitted/Crochet Swimwear Experience

deb

Veteran

I have been reading everywhere that knitted and crochet bathing suits are the 'thing' to wear this summer. In the late '60's my mom made me a knitted bikini out of what was supposed to be water ready yarn. The first time I wore it, in the company of male and female friends, the top and bottom stretched so much as I got put of the pool I could not get to my towel fast enough. Did you or have you ever worn a knitted or crochet bathing suit and what was your experience?

Dressing

23 replies

Latest reply was from Cassie Lyons

Diana

Veteran

I think they're mostly for lounging by the pool with a drink in your hand. Not for getting wet.

I suppose if you made one in fine,elastic yarn it might be ok. But even still... Not sure how water ready that would be.

Also crochet is lumpy. Knitting is smoother but still not very smooth. I can't imagine that would be very comfortable unless you lined it. I suppose that is one way to go, and I bet some of the commercial ones will indeed be more like regular swimsuit material with a crochet overlay.

Lucy

Veteran

Lol - when I saw the heading this is exactly what I remembered! My mother so thoughtfully crocheted me a bikini in the late 70s. The bottoms fell off every time I wore it. It's possible the technology has improved things - and maybe a good lining would help - but this is not a look I will be revisiting - I like my pants ON my body

Anonymous

You have my permission to send me back to my hotel room to change if you ever see me in one. And cut me off of the strawberry margaritas.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Good lord, no thank you! I have a hard enough time with the regular spandex kind staying in place.

And LOL to Lisa.

JAileen

Veteran

I think they would work if they weren't cotton. In high school PE we were issued one piece cotton jersey swimsuits with straps that criscrossed in the back. I think they were from the 40s. They were very difficult to get into, but in the water they grew and grew! It was very embarassing.

catgirl

Veteran

Ah, but I have one! It's not this model but this brand:

http://shop.nordstrom.com/sr?o.....rochet+swi

and it's super flattering because it's very "illusion" like in disguising fat and flaws. It's fine in water too, although I would not use it to swim laps or surf. I've been in pools and hot tubs with no problem.

I think this would be flattering too:

http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/be.....wordsearch

RobinF

Veteran

Haha Lisa you crack me up!

Those Nordstrom ones are pretty cute, obviously not the same as the old crocheted ones from the 70's.

Anonymous

I have the Robin Piccone Sophia style that AG linked to above. It's hands down my favourite swimming cossie as it's stretchy enough to work on my long torso.

Love Lisa's comment!

deb

Veteran

Ha! I knew there were others out there with similar stories as mine. Una, those look really nice. I have no doubt that technology has changed in the manufacturing of yarn since my knitted bikini debut.

krishnidoux

Veteran

My experience of them is when I was 9 or 10, one evening, leafing through my mother's knitting French magazines in search of a small, relatively easy project to execute, and running into a full spread of extra thin women proudly sporting colorful crocheted swimwear, including a psychedelic multicolored bikini with the center white part of the pattern hitting just the tip of the breasts. Now for a prepubescent girl, this appeared outrageous, and grotesque, because, well, because first there was so much attention on her... hum... her chest, and then, How could one swim with something like that? For sure it would take the water and sink to the bottom of the pool the minute you entered it, right? Right? I asked my mother. "Silly!" she hissed, "It's for parties". I went back to staring at the spread. It was featured in a respected magazine too, "De fil en aiguille", which had my grandmother's approval, and which was already at least 10 years old at the time, so it didn't make sense. But then, I became obsessed with the idea. To imagine that my hand could produce not only sweaters or hats or scarves which were donned over layers of other clothes, but also... could fashion something so intimate as an undergarment! The idea of it hypnotized me and I began attempting creating various versions using Phentex and other cheap yarn, whatever within the reach of a little girl. I remember a gray pair of boxer shorts I was quite proud of, except for the fact that it was gray, but hey it was the only wool I had. I never tried it in the water because my mother would have never let me go out in them, but they did suit me, they did hold (while dry). And although I later needed to undo them to use the wool for something else, the fact that I had actually made an intimate piece of coverage was most empowering.

(I actually found the very photo on the net!)

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Ledonna N.

Veteran

I don't have a bathing suit but I do have a crocheted dress that got very wet last summer do to a rainstorm, I wear a bathing suit underneath it now.

Gaylene

Veteran

Another rueful smile from a late 60s wearer of a crocheted bikini. Mine was of cotton yarn which I suspected might expand when wet, so I had the bright idea to line it with a scrap of fabric I found in my mother's sewing box. Five minutes in the water was all it took for me to realize I'd managed to create a garment which could simultaneously shrink and expand--the lining was 100% rayon! It's not easy to wear a bikini with a size 2 lining and a size 18 outer layer.

krishnidoux

Veteran

LOL Gaylene the image is hilarious!

Helen11

Veteran

Oh Gaylene, how did you get out of the water?

Style Fan

Veteran

I rarely get in the water. I am a pool lounger. I loved my crochet bikini. I have no idea how it would behave in the water. I always think of bathing suits as "decoration suits" which are the kind I wear or "performance suits" which are the kind people wear to swim in.

Aquamarine

Veteran

I was a child in the late 60s and early 70s, and did have such a swimsuit. I don't *think* my mother made it, but the one and only time I wore it in water was a disaster. So no, I can't recommend one

Colette

Veteran

I never wore crochet anything in my youth. And I will not even attempt a bathing suit now but I think the new versions are gorgeous, especially some of the one piece styles. Even though fabrics have come along way, a crochet bikini, that you actually swim in, would still scare me.

Anonymous

Never would I ever! We've all heard the horror stories. Crochet is French for "disaster waiting to happen."

Gaylene

Veteran

Helen, let's just say a beach towel and a good friend rescued me.

The story gets even more bizarre. I hated the thought of tossing out those crocheted triangles so my next bright idea was to transform them into pot holders. My husband, bless his soul, never figured out why the pair of pot holders I used in my pre-marriage apartment were mis-matched crocheted triangles.

Anonymous

You have the best stories, Gaylene. The bikini story is classic.

krishnidoux

Veteran

Gaylene, continuing to laugh on the floor. This IS a great story!

RobinF

Veteran

Too funny! We need a like button!

Cassie Lyons

I have seen the crocheted ones online on swimsuit stores and they are adorable. No clue how they would be for swimming but for lounging around really cute.