A swimsuit (also swimmers), bathing suit (also bathers) or swimming costume (sometimes shortened to cozzie) is an item of clothing designed to be worn for swimming. In New Zealand English, swimsuits are usually called togs. This terms is less common in other parts of the Commonwealth where it can also refer to clothes in general. Swimsuits can be skin-tight or loosely fitting and range from garments designed to preserve as much modesty as possible to garments designed to reveal as much of the body as possible without actual nudity. They are often lined with a fabric that prevents them from becoming transparent when wet.

Swimsuits in general

---

Swimsuits are generally designed to cover at least the genitalia. Men's swimsuit styles tend to be shorts, trunks, boardshorts, jammers, speedo-style briefs, thongs, or cut-off jeans. Women's swimsuits are generally either one-piece swimsuits, bikinis, or thongs.

The monokini, a style of swimsuit that most often takes the form of a bikini bottom without the corresponding top, leaves a woman's breasts uncovered. Monokinis are quite common in many places throughout South America and Southern Europe, though due to particularly stringent taboos they are almost never seen in the Northern Europe and the United States, except in places with a strong European tourist influence. For pre-pubescent girls leaving the chest uncovered is sometimes considered more acceptable.

Special swimsuits for competitive swimming, designed to reduce skin drag, can resemble unitards. For some kinds of swimming and diving, special bodysuits called diveskins are worn. These suits are made from spandex and provide little thermal protection, but they do protect the skin from stings and abrasion. Most competitive swimmers also wear special swimsuits including partial and full bodysuits, racerback styles, jammers, and racing briefs to assist their glide through the water and gain speed advantages (see competitive swimwear).

More on [ Swimsuit ]

BBC News | Business | UK Edition

Tax rich at higher rate, says TUC
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:22:11 -0000
People earning more than £100,000 a year should pay higher tax rates, the Trades Union Congress says.
US lenders 'face state takeover'
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:25:17 -0000
US officials will outline plans for mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which are expected to be put under federal control.
Nationwide in talks over mergers
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:05:06 -0000
The Nationwide Building Society is in merger talks with two smaller rivals, the Derbyshire and Cheshire Building Societies.

Subscribe to Business_and_Economy RSS feed