As you know, Circa is hosting a vintage swimwear parade at the Wintersun festival in June, and it’s been a wonderful excuse to stock up on swimwear from the ’30s to the ’60s (not that I needed one).

Although I’ve bought quite a few lately, some styles are particularly hard to come by so I turned to the Vintage Fashion Guild for help. I’ve bought over thirty suits from fellow VFG traders around the world now and finally began to feel as if I have enough. That’s on top of about thirty or so that I already had.

But there was one style that I really wanted – and I found it on ebay, from a seller who wouldn’t ship outside of the US. Thankfully Jennifer from Vintage Visage came to my rescue, and the following beauty was mine for the princely sum of $3.99US. I don’t think the seller knew what she had…and she photographed it badly. Oh dear.

I waited eagerly for it’s arrival and here it is – from the late 1930s or early 1940s, it’s made of ribbed knitted wool and features a cut-out midriff and adjustable straps that can be worn either halter-neck or cross-over style. The straps have been replaced, and it looks like it’s gone a few rounds in a washing machine but all in she’s looking pretty good for seventy years old.

Here’s Fiona showing the swimsuit to much better effect:

In case you’re wondering why the swimsuit has suspenders attached, don’t worry….it’s not some wacky old-fangled kind of bathing suit, it’s just that Fiona (like all well behaved ladies) has kept her underwear on when trying it on. Doesn’t she look smashing?

If you’d like one for yourself, I found a nice stretch satin version on Glamoursurf’s website. This one will be appearing at Wintersun in June – and speaking of which, thank you to everyone who has volunteered to model or help out, I shall be contacting you soon with some shots of swimwear that will be available for the parade, and yes, we’re still looking for models – please email me at xxxx.