Between the years 1935 - 1961 Bondi Beach was patrolled by inspectors to maintain the decency of swimming costumes. Requirements were to be met otherwise the offenders would be escorted off the beach.

In an article by Waverly Council, bathing suits needed to meet stringent measurement requirements to be allowed on public beaches. The Local Government Ordinance No. 52 (1935) indicated that both men and women’s costumes must have legs at least 3" long, must completely cover the front of the body from the level of the armpits to the waist, and have shoulder straps or other means of keeping the costume in position.

We were flawed by this - our beloved Bondi having inspectors walking around deciding if a woman’s bikini was too revealing - we digged a little further and found story after story of women being removed from the beach.

Then we found Miss Baker.

She was carefree. She was fun. She didn’t like the rules.
She represented change for women.

We were on the hunt to find a name that represented something about Bondi and its history. Something fun. Something bold.

The bikini was not only banned from beaches public places in Australia but in Spain, Italy, Portugal and the US. It was from the help of Hollywood pinups and the influx of beach films that made the bikini popular.

Thankfully by 1962, the act was abandoned in Australia, meaning bikinis and speedos were no longer deemed an affront to public decency.

Today, bikinis are a normal part of summer wardrobes and thanks to the women who pushed to make them a normal part of beach culture, we can luckily all wear whatever we want.