Surfwear & swimwear bargains

To 1919

Nude & loin / Bathing style

The story of surfwear is based on the people who surfed and where they surfed, the clothes-makers and the fabrics available, and the social times they all lived in. The earliest written account of boardsurfing is from 1779 by James King, Captain of the Discovery after Cook's fatal return voyage to Hawaii. King marvelled at the excitement of surfing, which was clearly more than a sport and social pastime. Surfing was rooted in centuries of Hawaiian culture and history, and was an important social-exercise intertwined with names songs social status religion ceremonies and legend. Practiced across Polynesia for hundreds of years, surfing had risen to be a complex social activity, but however socially sophisticated surfing was it was practiced nude, or at best in loin cloths.

Subsequent contact with the rest of the world led to a general decline in pure Hawaiian culture, and surfing waned over the next 140 years until the turn of the 20th century. It was re-ignited by writer Jack London meeting promoter Hume Ford in Hawaii. Ford's personal passion for surfing rubbed off on London, whose subsequent article on surfriders made local wunderkind George Freeth, an Irish-American living in Waikiki Beach, hot-property. On the mainland in California Henry Huntington's LA to Redondo railroad needed promotion, so George Freeth was hired in 1907 as the 'man who could walk on water' to attract travellers to Redondo Beach. The expanding train network brought more people to the coast for recreation, and they saw the growing number of surfers on the beaches of southern CA. Freeth is credited as first surfer of CA, where he worked, but he still lived in Hawaii and knew local ('The') Duke Kahanamoku.

Duke was a champion swimmer winning Olympic gold in the pool in 1912. Worldwide recognition of his swimming led to him showcasing his other great talent surfing. He was invited in 1915 to Sydney and took standing-up surfing to Australia, where there had been only body surfing. Up to this time fitted one-piece woollen neck-to-knee costumes evolved from early bathing-costumes, wool because it was a main export of British economy in Victorian times. Competitive swimming began a change in style and armless tank-suits were soon adopted around the world, including the UK where surfing started in 1918 as WW1 soldiers returned from abroad.

1920s

Swim style / trunks

Jantzen was a leading maker of bathing suits and the first to rename them swimming suits in 1921. They and other swimwear manufacturers, including Cole Catalina and Mabs, started using spandex, a new fabric of cotton wound around an elastic core. It was stretchy and smooth fitting, though usually black or dark in colour. BVD (Bradley, Voorhees & Day) who made the classic knitted underwear body-suits known as 'union suits', like those in movie Westerns, developed a new fabric 'Sea Satin', and made suits for men with detachable tops. 1928 swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller moved from Jantzen to BVD to promote its swimwear. He requested a wider and lower cut around the arm, a natural waist cut and fuller seat. Two-piece suits gave rise to trunks, their appearance at the time was shocking. The roaring 20s saw a mix of tank-suits and trunks as a naked torso gradually became socially acceptable.

Trunks, considered risqué, were more readily available in France and adapted to American market with false fly front and belt to make it appear more like outer rather than underwear. Weissmuller's exposed bare chest (later to gain popularity as Tarzan) paved the way for trunks. In 1928 the first surfriding competition at Newport Beach CA was won by Tom Blake. In the same year Speedo was established at Australia's Bondi Beach, introducing the racerback style of ladies swimwear, where shoulder straps and an open-back allowed for greater flexibility and movement of the arms, so you could 'Speed in your Speedos'. In New York in 1929 plastics specialists Foster Grant Co moved from making ladies hair accessories to sunglasses, and eyewear became cheap.

1930s

Surf style / new materials

Tom Blake was a joint friend of Weissmuller and Duke, and he is recognised as the pioneer of modern surfing for his technique and respect for Hawaiian surfing history. His string of innovations included lighter hollow long surfboards (which by themselves made surfing more accessible to more people), a fin or skeg on the bottom of the board, rescue paddleboards, surfing photography, and even the first sailboard. Blake popularised trunks, faster in the more relaxed Hawaii than Los Angeles where it was still less proper to show a bare chest: Hermosa Beach for example warning 'shoulder straps must be kept in place' and not rolled-down! He lived surfed and worked between both locations. Originally from Michigan he relished the relaxed Hawaiian lifestyle, insisting on surfwear comfort in his free way-of-life, he wanted to 'wear swimming trunks all day'.

Between 1931 and 1935, brilliant American organic chemist Wallace Carothers invented polyester and nylon, and neoprene - three new materials still at the core of surfwear today. But the then mass produced swim trunks, even with an inner drawstring waistband, were not strong enough for surf use, leading to custom creations by Tom Blake and fellow surfer Doc Ball. By 1935 Blake's trunks had narrow rigid-waistband with two-inch inseams, sewn-in drawstrings to help keep them on during surfing, often with white stripes down one or both sides, and a side pocket for paraffin wax. Duke Kahanamoku had swapped old style swim suits used at Olympics for the shorter trunks for surfing; hardwearing and tight fitting in style, 'bunhuggers' were a good surf trunk but not fashionable; neither were white or striped armless cotton vests still worn for protection from the sun. Ladies expressed their newfound surfriding freedom by starting to wear two-piece bikini-type tops and shorts, frilly so as not to be figure-hugging and often patterned. Surfwear and swimwear were getting more colourful. Then in 1937 Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses from Bausch & Lomb first became available to the public. Anti-glare they used polarising technology invented the previous year after research by the US military.

1940s

Grunge / glamour

WW2 changed what you wore at the beach, attitudes, social expectation, and what was affordable or even available. Surfwear was significantly impacted. By 1945 long sailor pants, navy surplus in Salvation Army stores after end of the war, were 'cut-off' by Dale Velzy at Manhattan Beach Surf Club in CA. He and his fellow surfers adapted these sturdy garments into cut-offs 'you could live in', along with cut-off Levi jeans. Different groups of surfers at different beaches 'found their styles'. Today's long boardshorts evolved from these cut-offs. They offered more protection against rash from sand embedded in board-wax when lying on a surfboard paddling, but without covering the knees and affecting mobility. Plus bigger trunks meant more room for style!

Until then surfing had been a pastime, but post-WW2 booming recreation in CA and recognition of big waves in Hawaii fuelled more interest in surfing as a sport. Plain trunks from JC Penny and other stores became prevalent as cheap swimwear and commodity beach clothes, but didn't last nor serve as a fashion statement for proud surfers, so surf clothing evolved to meet the needs of surfing as a sport and as a lifestyle. An essentially individual pursuit it banded non-conformist surfers together with fashion as the collective expression of their camaraderie and community spirit. Still briefs were often worn underneath shorts, which might not be strong enough to hold out and save the owner flashing more than their moves. T shirts had moved from being underwear to outerwear as standard issue clothing by the US military, and post war the classic surf t shirt was cheap and convenient. American soldiers brought home Japanese zori (sandals made from rice straw), which when upgraded with rubber soles became flip flops. Cheap footwear became part of post-war 'pop culture'.

At the Hawaii Outrigger Canoe Club, the original surf club, shorts were styled with stripes down the side and were exclusive to members, indicative of the importance of emerging group-fashion. In the latter-40s film moving-images accelerated interest in surfing, they better captured the action than static old black and white photographs. Media spread surf fashion and culture as entertainment. Anyone could 'travel' to glamorous exotic beaches through the movies. This mix was typified by the next sensation: in 1947 Louis Réard's bikini exploded on French beaches. Aptly named after the nuclear testing site of Bikini Atoll, the bikini caused a social shock wave and immediately became swimwear.

1950s

Designer / custom

In the 1950s Brigitte Bardot glamorised the bikini into social acceptability in Europe, not to happen in North America until into the 1960s. However designer-style did spread to surfing in Hawaii, where in 1952 M. Nii, a Filipino tailor to the rich and famous, also made custom surfing trunks and 'made to measure' shorts. He introduced a new 'cut', not old fashioned tailoring; a 'young man's fit' where the front of the waistband was lower than the back. He fixed torn trunks and made new designs, using traditional Hawaiian bright colours. Nii's shorts were highly prized by surfers, many taken back to mainland for friends. Top surfers like Greg Noll took their white cut-offs to Nii to customise, the wilder the better, and with pockets for wax combs and wallets so they could 'live in them'! Also in Hawaii, the Miura General Store sold school gym shorts with stripes down the legs in school colours, considered very cool by new young surfers. Surfwear was now also about status.

In 1953 neoprene wetsuits appeared from Body Glove and O'Neill, who found this was the best material for hardwearing flexibility and warmth. Until then wool sweaters had remained in use for warmth in the water. Wide spread use of swimming briefs at 1956 Melbourne Olympics led to the modern swim-style with briefs sitting more on the hip rather than the waist. By 1959 in CA shorts were often homemade by surf-Moms, including Nancy Katin; Kanvas by Katin, were sturdy boat-cover canvas shorts that softened but had bright colours and unique designs, strong stitching and a pocket for wax with button down flaps; home-start Birdwell Britches still makes shorts today. Custom-made trunks with customised colours, and even embroidered names, were more highly regarded than cut-offs. Various surf club designs between LA and San Diego 'competed' for the most fashionable yet hardwearing trunks, and these started selling through independent surf shops along the CA coast.

1960s

Surf brands / manufacturers

1960 saw Surfer Magazine sold out the back of a Volkswagen van. Elvis in the surf movie 'Hawaii Blue' in 1961 meant more exposure for surfing and Hawaiian shirts with bold prints, the Aloha dress shirt with floral patterns was in. The Beach Boys saw that the culture of surfing was manifested in music, often as movie sound tracks. Other bands like Jan and Dean, Dick Dale and the Del Tones also made surf music. In 1962 Duke Boyd made the first mass produced and marketed surfwear, Hang Ten. Their advert in Surfer Magazine and surf shops, promoted the surfer image, including bikinis, and competed with homemade canvas versions. Velcro, patented in 1955, was used as fastenings together with double-stitched cotton nylon for strength. Hang Ten shorts were priced $3.75 and named after the surfing equivalent of a 'hole in one', the brand logo was two feet on a yellow background. Sold as cool clothes, they were 'California Authentic'. Strong demand increased the commercialisation of surf clothes, surfwear was now an industry, against which hardcore surfers rebelled believing the fashion-image was not authentic. Surfwear needed to ensure it didn't become 'standard'. Hang Ten was first brand popular with non-surfers, the surf brand an important selling tool as it is to any clothes label. Sponsorship of well-known surf riders became a weapon in surfwear promotion. Jantzen sponsored Pat Curren, Ricky Grigg, and Warren Miller (more famous for his later annual ski films) amongst others, reinforcing the value of celebrity and image.

Custom trunks made from heavy canvas 'stood out' in their own way with a stripe down one or both legs. They had to look used; new or clean wasn't cool! True soul-surfing style was of no style. In 1963 Hawaii surfer Dave Rochlen (who had dated Marilyn Monroe) wore big brightly coloured 'jams' or 'baggies' as loose as possible, later sold by his Surf Line Hawaii company as Surf Line Jams. These big brightly coloured floral baggies, that were also made from comfortable soft cotton, defined a new expression and a new mood for surf fashion. Greg Noll's now iconic black and white striped 'jail-house' trunks were used in the movie 'Ride The Wild Surf' in 1964, the same year of the first Sports Illustrated swimwear edition. By 1965 Catalina was accused of over commercialising Katin clothes; Laguna's surf clothes, matching tops and mass marketed beachwear, were accused of being over-processed. In the mid-60s lots of manufacturers sprang up, including 'Big Gun' using dacron-cotton and 'Sandcombers' selling their 'Grapefruit Gs!' 1966's movie 'Endless Summer', considered to be the original surf movie, shows most 'trunks' (as the movie refers to them) were single colour only some with second colour stripes or waistbands but little floral.

Movies helped drive the marketing of lifestyle and fashion, Hollywood stars who had protected their eyes from lighting on set and used shades for privacy, the made sunglasses chic. The end of the 60s saw cultural rebellion arising from the music of The Doors to the evolution of skateboarding from Californian surfing, and businesses looked hungrily at the new market. By 1969 Sundek began manufacture in Florida on the East Coast, all makers using more modern materials including stronger nylon. The arrival of shortboards and their hard rails heralded a faster more competitive vain of surfing. More competitions and more professional riders led to greater merchandising. The professional era arrived, and with it big-money and the business of making big-money. For surfing the cultural rules changed to commercial rules.

1970s

Big brands

On TV 'The Brady Bunch' kids often wore Hang Ten clothes, part of the 70s' surge in surf clothes and fashion that defined the super-brands of surfwear. In 1970 Quiksilver and Rip Curl both in Torquay Australia, started selling wetsuits. As one of world's best surfers for a number of years, Mike Doyle won the 1970 World Surfing Championship, but he for one was starting to feel that the modern surfers were forgetting surfing's spiritual past. Some took a new direction, skateboarding taking off at this time in Dogtown at the Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zephyr surf shop, their Z-boys led this renegade sport. Even if some of the soul of surfing was being lost, surfers were happy, bronzed, in good physical shape, and liked to party. They had a lifestyle others envied but were able to associate with through wearing the same clothes and brands. Ocean Pacific (now Op) began in the US in '72, and in 1973 Billabong began on The Gold Coast Queensland.

Wetsuits improved dramatically with the use of double-lined neoprene (nylon applied to both sides for protection) and blind-stitching (where the needle doesn't go all the way through the neoprene so not creating any holes). Effective wetsuits allowed surfing in any conditions around the world, opening up the sport to more people, who in turn demanded more surf clothes. Quiksilver's 1976 boardshorts used two-snap Velcro and scallop-leg design; in the same year the professional surfing world tour started, with it more opportunity for sponsorship and surfwear sales. Gotcha joined Quiksilver as style leader with ranges of clothes for beach and water, and also in 1978 the infamous movie 'Big Wednesday' reinforced the culture, and cult, of surfing to a wider audience. In 1979 Hurley was launched by boardshaper Bob Hurley. He licensed the US rights to the up-and-coming Australian surf brand Billabong, and formed Billabong USA in 1983. Further competition between the surf brands led to sponsored tour surfriders promoting their own signature boardshorts to help differentiate their surf gear.

1980s

More brands / more sports

80s fashion was dominated by vivid colours and styling, memorably luminous colours on wetsuits. Surf brand logos like sports logos could be prominent on clothes, helping increase their exposure and value, and transcend them into general fashion. Quiksilver launched 'Echo Beach' boardshorts featuring radical print designs of polka dots, harlequins, stars and checks, as surfwear rediscovered its wild side. Maui and Sons based its surf clothes on creativity and nature, symbolised in its cookie logo. In 1980 Jim Jannard's Oakley made sunglasses using soft 'grippy' rubber compound, and with the Oakley logo highly prevalent. Sunglasses would never be the same. 1984 saw Reef started in La Jolla CA by Fernando and Santiago Aguerre, as well as Mambo in Australia, their t shirts screen-printed with strong humorous religious and political themes, and the infamous 'poo-shooter' defecating box-shaped dog.

Surfing fashion spread again as related spin-off sports grew: windsurfing, more popular in Europe, brought new brands including F2 Mistral and Neil Pryde; snowboarding snowballed on North America slopes during 70s and 80s, with new brands like Burton and Sims joining their surf brand cousins; kite-surfing developed from the 80s, given the surfing seal of approval when demonstrated by big-wave-riding Laird Hamilton in Maui later in the 90s; wakeboarding also at this time grew from waterskiing and water-based sport demanded strong swimwear, the ideal match for surf brands even if missing the 'pure natural heart' of wave riding. Each had hardware-specific manufacturer brands, but surf clothing applied readily to each, a logical extension for surfwear brands given wider licence for lifestyle-fashion.

1990s

Girls / uniform

90s women's surfwear grew on the back of their joining the world tour, and surfing was made cool for women by movies like Blue Crush. It presented a marketing dream-mix of sun good looks and action. The Roxy brand was launched by Quiksilver in 1993 with the 'double heart' logo to appeal to the growing number of female surfers and surf-life-stylers. Sex met surfwear with the Reef Girls in skimpy bikinis and the inaugural Sports Illustrated TV Special in '95. Those sponsored were no longer just surfers but models.

Australian swimwear companies established standards for sun protective clothing in 1996. Other swimwear innovations included less surface resistance for speed and chlorine resistance for longer fabric life. Surfwear boardshorts regularly had mesh lining for when the outer layer got wet (particularly white shorts) and for greater comfort. Often triple-stitched for extra durability, modern shorts used ultra-light four-way stretch fabrics. Blends of polyester nylon and lycra were light, quick drying, flexible, and durable, even antibacterial. Rash vests, or rash guards, exploited these properties and prevented chafing against sand while lying and paddling on a surfboard. Benefiting from new flat-lock stitching and six-panel construction, rash vests were strong and tight fitting yet mobile, dry or wet. And provided warmth and sun protection. Surfers now had a 'uniform' of long boardshorts and rash vest, or bikini, wetsuit t shirt flip flops and sunglasses, complemented by branded tops, jeans, jackets, watches, caps, Hawaiian shirts and surf bags.

2000

Lifestyle / online

Surf brands extended their franchising of fashionable lifestyles, from their own DVDs and high street outlets, to music festivals on the beach. In 2000 Tigerlily swimwear appeared in Australia as a brand focused on fashion (later bought by Billabong in 2007). Further improvements in comfort came from stretch properties, Rip Curl's STL boardshorts and Hurley's Phantom fabric as examples, whilst the use of laser cut materials with electro-welded seams maintained high durability. Boardshorts continued to developed, doing away with Velcro-fastening, that was 'felt' as hard squares of fabric which could entangle pubic hair, replaced with a stretch-fly. Hurley were granted a patent on their 'EZ Fly' closure for boardshorts in 2001 (Quiksilver granted their version in 2007), and with front draw strings made the most comfortable boardshort yet.

Hurley was bought by Nike in 2002, four years after going alone from and not renewing its licence for Billabong. In 2004 Speedo joined force with Brazilian designer Rosa Cha to give their swimwear a new style and edge. Speedo is owned by a sports and fashion brand management company (Pentland Group, along with other brands including Ellesse and Ted Baker), illustrating how modern brands are managed as fashion brands.

By the end of the decade the global surfwear industry is worth over £15bn a year. The three leading surfwear brands controlling 70% of the global market: Quiksilver (the first $1b sales surf brand) and Billabong, both based in CA, and Rip Curl - they all originated in Australia. Many surf brands are controlled by corporates: Billabong own other brands including Element Von Zipper Kustom and Nixon (and is itself now owned by Nike). Volcom is purposely managed to appeal across surfing skating and snowboarding, and so is a lifestyle-brand. Recently the surf companies have been in a rush to get online, with the rise of online surf shops and online commerce, putting pressure on stores and their high costs. In 2009 during the recession UK surf clothing sales suffered as high street stores offered only high prices. O'Neill in the UK (owned by Blacks) went bust trying to mix shelf-space with outdoors clothes.

Surfwear.co.uk innovates the industry, the website finds all leading surf and swimwear brands at their lowest prices for easy comparison of cheap surfwear and surf shop sales. Surfwear has evolved in clear steps of affordability and function, innovation and fashion, under the influence of the media military and technology; and now online technology is changing the way surf clothes are marketed, found and bought.

The future

The consumption of surf culture and surfwear will be fuelled by the Internet. Surf brands will exploit online marketing and embrace social media, but remain reliant on resellers, as more surfwear is sold online. Hawaii will remain the spiritual home of surfing, but surf companies will use the Internet to reach a global audience, in particular a new youth audience. The youth market with its sense of rebellion and expression will always resonate with surfwear, and be eager to associate with cool brands and causes like the environment. Eco tourism to established surf locations, and the protection of beaches, will be an important part of the surfing and its world tour, visiting Hawaii CA Australia's Gold Coast Indonesia Spain El Salvador Costa Rica Brazil Samoa, the UK, and France. It must also apply the same care to new locations including China (hosts of the Hainan Open), India and the Philippines, each with an increasing population, and large coastline ready for 'ripping', with respect.

Surf lifestyle is synonymous with green issues, so will be embraced more by surfers and manufacturers in their operations and use of materials. Recycled surfwear and green surf clothing will become part of the surf range, including surfwear sold with carbon offsets, sustainable surfing and sustainable surfwear will become a must. Respect for traditional surf values could see a retro feel to style, but only if it makes money and harnesses new fabric innovations. In the future the gap will widen between soul-surfers and the marketed-to surfing sub cultures, surf fashion being serious business in contrast to surfing's informality. Without forgetting it's sporting roots, surfwear will become more image conscious: the water, the beach, and the planet. Surfwear will continue to project life-style qualities of health freedom and fun, but in an increasingly virtual world anyone can live vicariously through surfers at the beach by wearing their clothes.