Annette Kellerman, Champion Lady Swimmer and Diver of the World
This studio photograph shows the famous Australian swimmer and silent Hollywood film star Annette Kellerman wearing a very daring one piece swimsuit. Kellerman produced several studio photographs of herself in different poses as illustrations for her book 'Physical beauty, how to keep it.', published by G H Doran Company in New York in 1918.
In her book How to Swim, 1918, she objected to the early heavy swimsuits of the late 1800s and early 1900s:
'The bathing girl of our popular beaches only a few seasons ago wore shoes, stockings and bloomers, skirts, corsets and a dinky little cap...There is no more reason why you should wear those awful water overcoats – those awkward, unnecessary, lumpy “bathing suits,” than there is that you should wear lead chains.'
Object no. 00031908
See our blog on Annette Kellerman: bit.ly/Jw0xm2
Annette Kellerman, Champion Lady Swimmer and Diver of the World
This studio photograph shows the famous Australian swimmer and silent Hollywood film star Annette Kellerman wearing a very daring one piece swimsuit. Kellerman produced several studio photographs of herself in different poses as illustrations for her book 'Physical beauty, how to keep it.', published by G H Doran Company in New York in 1918.
In her book How to Swim, 1918, she objected to the early heavy swimsuits of the late 1800s and early 1900s:
'The bathing girl of our popular beaches only a few seasons ago wore shoes, stockings and bloomers, skirts, corsets and a dinky little cap...There is no more reason why you should wear those awful water overcoats – those awkward, unnecessary, lumpy “bathing suits,” than there is that you should wear lead chains.'
Object no. 00031908
See our blog on Annette Kellerman: bit.ly/Jw0xm2