the real bikini

This article is about the women's bathing suit. For the island group, see Bikini Atoll. For other uses, see Bikini (disambiguation).
Woman wearing a bikini at a beach

A bikini is generally a women's two-piece swimsuit. The design is simple: two triangles of fabric on top cover the woman's breasts and two triangles of fabric on the bottom cover the groin and the buttocks, leaving the woman's midriff exposed. What distinguishes the bikini from other swimsuits is its brevity. The size of the panty can range from full coverage to a revealing thong or g-string design.

The modern bikini was introduced by French engineer Louis Réard and separately by fashion designer Jacques Heim in Paris in 1946. Many western countries declared it illegal and the Vatican declared it sinful. Popularized by filmstars like Brigitte Bardot and Ursula Andress it became common in most western countries by the mid-1960s.

Further variants were added to the bikini family of beachwears and bathing costumes, contributing to the popular lexicon a variety of -kinis and -inis: monokini, microkini, tankini, trikini, pubikini, bandeaukini, skirtini and sling bikini. A man's brief swimsuit may also be referred to as a bikini.A variety of men's and women's underwear are known as bikini underwear.