The sling swimsuit is a

one-piece swimsuit A one-piece swimsuit most commonly refers to swimwear worn primarily by women and girls when swimming in the sea or in a swimming pool, playing water polo, or for any activity in the sun, such as sun bathing. Today, the one-piece swimsuit is usua ...

which is supported by fabric at the neck. Sling swimsuits provide as little coverage (or as much exposure) as, or even less than, a

bikini A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features two triangles of fabric on top that cover the breasts, and two triangles of fabric on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but exposing the navel, and the back coverin ...

Monokini The monokini, designed by Rudi Gernreich in 1964, consisting of only a brief, close-fitting bottom and two thin straps, was the first women's topless swimsuit. His revolutionary and controversial design included a bottom that "extended from t ...

types also exist. The sling swimsuit is also known by a variety of names including "suspender bikini", "

sling bikini The bikini has spawned many stylistic variations. A regular bikini is a two-piece swimsuit that together covers the wearer's crotch, buttocks, and breasts. Some bikini designs cover larger portions of the wearer's body while other designs provid ...

", "slingkini", "suspender thong", "slingshot swimsuit" or just "slingshot". It is so named because of its resemblance to the Y-shape frame of a

slingshot A slingshot is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame, with two natural rubber strips or tubes attached to the upper two ends. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket that holds the pro ...

. It is sometimes listed as a

bikini variant The bikini has spawned many stylistic variations. A regular bikini is a two-piece swimsuit that together covers the wearer's crotch, buttocks, and breasts. Some bikini designs cover larger portions of the wearer's body while other designs provid ...

. When designed for or worn by a man, it is often called a "mankini".

Design

Usually, a sling swimsuit comprises a bikini bottom of any style, with side straps extending upwards to cover the breasts, then going over the shoulders and behind the neck or extending down the back. The sling swimsuit leaves the sides of the torso uncovered, while covering the nipples and pubic area. Behind the neck, the straps may join and reach down the back to the buttocks

thong The thong is a garment generally used as either underwear or in some countries, as a swimsuit. It may also be worn for traditional ceremonies or competitions. Viewed from the front, the thong typically resembles a bikini bottom, but at the ...

or string style.Jenny Pate
History of the swimsuit
, Article Dashboard The variation of sling swimsuits is a pretzel swimsuit, which has the straps behind the neck and another set of straps around the midriff, instead of straps down the back. Even more "risqué"

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an designs include the bodyform-suspender (by German manufacturer Nixxxe) and other open bust and/or crotchless variants such as the "peekaboo" slingshot (by Spanish manufacturer the-Bikinis) and "ouvert" sling bikini (by German manufacturer Tangaland). The Mankini

A sling swimsuit worn by men is often called a "mankini". It was popularized by

Sacha Baron Cohen Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is an English actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral ...

, who donned one in the film ''

Borat ''Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'' ( Kazakh / Russian: ''Борат'') (also stylized as ''BORДT'', or simply ''Borat'') is a 2006 mockumentary black comedy film directed by Larry Charle ...

''. The buzz around the film started building during the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

in May 2006, when Baron Cohen posed in character on the beach in a fluorescent green mankini, alongside four models. A

garden gnome Garden gnomes (german: links=no, Gartenzwerge, lit=garden dwarfs) are lawn ornament figurines of small humanoid creatures based on the mythological creature and diminutive spirit which occur in Renaissance magic and alchemy, known as gnomes. T ...

in the 2011 film ''

Gnomeo and Juliet ''Gnomeo & Juliet'' is a 2011 computer-animated romantic comedy film directed by Kelly Asbury from a screenplay by Rob Sprackling and John Smith. It is loosely based on the play '' Romeo and Juliet'' by William Shakespeare and features the voi ...

'' was also shown wearing a mankini, which gets referred to as a Borat-Mankini by newspapers.

History

Corresponding to the introduction of Lycra into swimwear, sling swimsuits emerged in the early 1990s. They are more popular on some beaches of Europe, including Saint-Tropez,

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the reg ...

Mykonos Mykonos (, ; el, Μύκονος ) is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island has an area of and rises to an elevation of at its highest point. There are 10,134 inhabitants according to th ...

and Ibiza. Suspender-like straps running between the breasts and around the neck that held the suit up were introduced in the mainstream in 1994. News reports said that within a week of putting the suit on their racks, New York's major stores had sold 150. By season's end, the tally sold was over 3000, at a cost of $24 a suit.Fashion Correspondent,
Itsy bitsy teenie weenie... trivia think swimsuits. If two-pieces and t-backs are all that come to mind... think again
, ''Miami Herald'', page 1G, 1995-07-15

References

External links

* {{Clothing Swimsuits History of clothing (Western fashion) One-piece suits de:Bikini#Mankini