Bathing suit

Tom Brigance

1952 · cotton, rayon · Costume Institute

Though Brigance retired in the 1970s, one of his swimwear manufacturers Gabriel Colasante reported at Brigance's death in 1990 that a Brigance-designed skirted swimsuit remained one of his best-sellers: "It sells no matter what print I do it in." A Lord & Taylor designer from 1939, when his first beachwear collection so entranced the Duchess of Windsor that she bought six outfits, through 1949, Brigance excelled as a designer of the endless, expansive American summer of leisure and recreation.

Artist

Tom Brigance

Date

1952

Medium

cotton, rayon

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Thomas F. Brigance of Sportsmaker, 1952