Monokini
Videos
The monokini was designed by Rudi Gernreich in 1964, consisting of only a brief, close-fitting bottom and two thin straps; it was the first women's topless swimsuit. His revolutionary and controversia
Rudi Gernreich's original monokini design
Monokini designer Rudi Gernreich in 1951. Gernreich had predicted in a September 1962 issue of Women's Wear Daily that "Bosoms will be uncovered within five years."
Carol Doda wore Gernreich's monokini for her act at the Condor Club, starting the trend of topless bars
Woman wearing a monokini, 2010
Toplessness
Videos
Toplessness refers to the state in which a woman's breasts, including her areolas and nipples, are exposed, especially in a public place or in a visual medium. The male equivalent is known as bareches
Monokini
…or "unikini") was designed by Rudi Gernreich in 1964, consisting of only a brief, close-fitting bottom and two thin straps; it was the first women's topless swimsuit. His revolutionary and controversial design included a bottom that "extended from the midriff to the upper thigh" and was "held up by shoestring laces…
Topless woman at the 2008 Oregon Country Fair
Duplessis's portrait of Marie Thérèse baring a nipple (c. 1775)
Two Tahitian Women (1899) by Paul Gauguin
A barechested man running out of the water