If a flimsy triangle 'kini or a strappy Cher-style cossie are far too modern for your retro tastes, check out the vintage togs by My Sister Pat.
Stitched by Ballarat artist Margie Delahunty-Spencer, from vintage and vintage-inspired cotton, they are the ladylike alternative to over-branded lycra swimwear for the impending summer.
"I'm inspired by Doris Day movies for the shapes, I'm a fan of the whole fifties era," says Margie. Shirring is the technique that gathers the fabric, making it stretchy at the back.
Margie has friends who help her find vintage fabrics by trawling markets, op-shops and garage sales. She also uses re-printed vintage sixties and thirties fabrics from a South Australian agent, and would love to develop her own prints, if she could keep the runs small. "I like that the rarity of the vintage fabric means that most swimsuits are unique. I would love to print my own designs, but you really have to print hundreds of metres, and that would make me feel like we were in mass production," she says.
Cotton is indeed not what we're used to wearing poolside these days. It does stay wet longer than lycra, and will fade slowly with chlorine and sun exposure. Of course, it's also not stretchy, which is why the pieces are shirred at the back. Shirring is the sewing technique that gathers the fabric with a durable elastic thread to make the piece stretchy and easy to pull on.
One upside to a cotton cossie is that you can wear it as a bodysuit with a skirt or some skinny jeans over the top, and no-one knows you're in your bathers. I can just see you now, swanning in a wide-legged lounge trouser. Very French Riviera circa 1959.
To order your $220 custom cossie, email
spencerm (@) ncable.net.au for all the current fabric and shape options.
Stockists include:
Elvevated, Northern Territory
Thread Den,
Velour Vintage and
El Segundo, Melbourne
Retail Therapy, South Australia
Studio Gas, Horsham, Hamilton and Ballarat
Vintage Clothing Shop, St James Arcade, Sydney