Around 1980, a new type of bottom came to light, the clip bikini. Those replacements for bikinis were clips that stayed on thanks to a plastic covered steel wire frame. At first there was the bottom part. I saw them in use in St Tropez, France and later in Holland. Also a top was later introduced that was hooked around the side of the body and almost invisible from behind.
Then the bottom existed of two triangles, sewed to the frame. Being an engineer, I liked the idea and tried to make one for myself. For the frame I used the wire from a coathanger. After some bending I had a frame that stayed on quite firm. I covered the frame with some leftover fabric of my sister's sewing projects.
I went to the beach and walked around with it. In those days, people were not that prude as they are now and certainly not in Holland.
It felt very nice and I could walk easily with it, it stayed on firm. I also went into the sea with it to see if it stayed on in the water. No problem at all. Because of the back triangle it had better staying power, not like the present C-strings with only a vertical strip between your cheeks.
A week later I went to the beach again. It was in the weekend so it was quite crowded. I made a long beach walk and when I was in the middle of a crowded part of the beach, the frame snapped. It fell on the sand, leaving me totally naked in the middle of a crowd. I dove to the sand and pulled the pieces up and covered my front and back. With two hands holding the contraption, I walked back to my spot. I was too busy saving the moment that I have no idea if there were any reactions of the public. After examination, it appeared that the salt water of the sea had corroded the metal frame.
Later I made C-strings with plastic covered steel wire for use on garden fences. That was much sturdier. Like the one in the picture.
