Road trips, picnics, and finding the perfect swim suit to get bronzed in, that what summer brings to mind. And even on those days that are just too sweltering to bear we can always stay inside and kick back with a feel good summer movie. Recently Elle Magazine picked their top 25 best movie swimsuit moment of all time… here we edited down to our favorite picks including legendary looks from Birgitte Bardot, Ursula Andress, Bo Derek and more. And walked away with a great list of movies to watch again… Take a peek!
From Here To Eternity 1953
Censors demanded that Deborah Kerr’s haltertop swimsuit include a skirt so as not to be too provocative. But this modification didn’t stop her beach scene with Burt Lancaster from becoming one of the most smoldering ever created for mainstream cinema, and it certainly didn’t hinder her rise to fame. “I don’t think anyone knew I could act until I put on a bathing suit,” the leading lady once said. She went on to be nominated for the Oscar for best actress six times.
Photo: Courtesy of Everett Collection
Suddenly Last Summer 1959
In the film version of Tennessee Williams’ dark play, Elizabeth Taylor’s character Catherine Holly is asked by her cousin to wear an alluring white maillot in order to attract his would-be paramours. Taylor ended up succeeding both onscreen, and off, where the image of her in this one-piece still endures to this day
Photo: Courtesy Getty Images
A Very Private Affair 1962
Brigitte Bardot is often credited with popularizing the bikini first by wearing the look in her 1952 film, The Girl in a Bikini, and then by wearing it a year later in Cannes, where paparazzi photographed her sunbathing in a strapless two-piece. But it is this white underwire top and ruffled bottom from Louis Malle’s New Wave film that truly makes waves for us. Photo Everett Collection
Lolita 1962
Close to 800 girls auditioned for the brazen role of Lolita Haze, but it was former model Sue Lyon who ended up getting the part and creating film history in this scene in which she first meets her older lover in a tropical print hipster bikini, wide-brimmed hat, and cat-eye—not heart-shaped—sunglasses Photo Everett Collection
Dr No 1962
Selling for over $60,000 in 2001 at a Christie’s auction, this bikini is perhaps one of the most valuable ones in existence, and it’s no wonder why. When it rose out of the Caribbean waters, dangerously hugging every curve of actress Ursula Andress, it gave birth to her character Honey Ryder and the lasting phenomenon of The Bond Girl, as well Photo Everett Collection
Coffey 1973
Pair a little macramé and a lot of attitude and you have Pam Grier, in her first leading role as a nurse turned “baddest one-chick hit-squad” out to avenge a criminal drug gang. Hexagonal shades are not optional when emulating this look. Photo AIP
10 1979
This beyond basic nude one-piece proved sometimes it’s the simpler things in life that matter the most, unless you factor in Bo Derek’s trendsetting cornrow braids Photo Getty Images
Lara Croft Tomb Raider 2001
Not all bikinis are created alike, as Angelina Jolie proved in this poised-for-action black two-piece that was almost the perfect homage to Ursula Andress’s swimsuit in Dr. No. Photo Courtesy Paramount Pictures
Charlie’s Angels Full Throttle 2003
At 41, Demi Moore in a black crocheted design made a case for wearing a barely-there bikini at almost any age, stealing the screen from fellow Charlie’s Angel Cameron Diaz. Photo Columbia Pictures
Atonement 2007
Vintage photography comes to life in this scene with Keira Knightley. Every detail, from her soigné bathing suit and cap to how she lounges on the diving board, conjures images taken in the ’30s by lensmen like Horst P. Horst and George Hoyningen-Huene
Photo Courtesy Focus Features
To see the full list of legendary suits elle.com
Source: Elle.com
