BIKINI AND POM POM GIRLS

HISTORY OF CHEERLEADING ⇨ 1972 : VONCIEL BAKER AND THE GROUNDBREAKING CHEERLEADERS OF THE DALLAS COWBOYS.

2026-06-25T19:22:42.157-04:00

Tex Schramm, a 40-year-old Californian, was appointed general manager of the Dallas Cowboys for their 1960-61 National Football League (NFL) debut, facing quite a challenge ahead. From the ground up, he has to create a new professional football franchise in Texas, a place where college and university football dominate and leave little room for anything else.

In their early seasons, the Cowboys had a hard time winning over the public, as the new Texas franchise struggled to make its mark and draw crowds to the Cotton Bowl, where they played their home games. In addition, under head coach Tom Landry, the first five seasons were rough, with the team winning only 18 games, while suffering 46 losses and 4 draws.

Faced with these disadvantages, Tex Schramm (On the left in the photo below, with Tom Landry, December 28, 1959.) desperately looked for ways to make the franchise he was in charge of more popular and profitable.

Before joining the Cowboys organization, the University of Texas at Austin journalism graduate spent three years at CBS as an assistant sports director, making his mark with energy and creative innovations.

While at CBS he noticed that television shows featuring attractive women tended to draw large audiences. To boost the Dallas Cowboys' popularity, Schramm wanted to combine these elements: broadcasting the team's games with engaging concepts and hiring appealing cheerleaders to entertain fans during breaks at home games.

Schramm helped bring in changes that boosted the excitement of both the players and cheerleaders on the field. By introducing these innovations and recognizing the draw of media, television, and attractive women, the Cowboys’ general manager proved to be a true visionary who played a key role in making the NFL the most powerful sports league in the country.

From the start of his time as GM in Dallas, Tex Schramm aimed to revamp the image of cheerleaders to draw more attention from spectators. His initial idea was to recruit attractive female models to serve as cheerleaders, entertaining the crowd and boosting attendance at the team’s home games.

The Cowboys boss believes there’s an untapped opportunity in this area of the marketing department to boost the team’s popularity. To tackle it, he’s bringing in Dee Brock, a Dallas English teacher who also works as a model.

When Dee Brock asked Tex Schramm how much the new model cheerleaders would be paid, he replied, “Nothing, not a penny.” By then, the Cowboys boss had already built a reputation for being especially cheap, refusing to loosen the purse strings.

Faced with the negative attitude of her interlocutor, Dee Brock (photo shown above) quickly shuts down his plan to hire models for free as cheerleaders. No professional model would agree to work without pay in the humid, oppressive heat of the Cotton Bowl, lacking both the motivation and the physical stamina to endure it.

Instead, Brock suggests using teenagers who are students in local schools and wouldn’t need to be paid by Schramm. Even though Dee spent a dozen years trying to improve this formula, which is traditional and common in cheerleading elsewhere, it didn’t work.

Something is still missing to achieve Schramm’s goal of creating an additional show within the football game to entertain the spectators.

Before the 1972 season, following the Cowboys’ narrow 16-13 loss to the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl V that January (the Colts being the first team to introduce professional cheerleaders back in 1954 → photo shown above), Brock came to his boss with fresh ideas.

First, according to her, cheerleaders should be older than the teenagers who have been unsuccessfully doing the job for over a decade on the sidelines. Schramm, skeptical, asks in confusion, “Old women?” Dee Brock clarifies, “Between 18 and 25 years old.”

She goes on, suggesting they should put on a real show by being more mobile. Brock vaguely imagines a choreographed dance something reminiscent of the Broadway performances in New York.

This shift in activities would call for a new, more glamorous and stylish costume that could also support the more demanding moves of this new generation of pom-pom girls. This way, they’d draw even more attention from the spectators, which is exactly the goal.

Tex Schramm decided to give it a shot and gave his cheerleader manager the go-ahead.

For the "choreographed dance" component, Dee Brock didn’t feel qualified to handle it herself. So she thought of bringing in a former professional dancer—a jazz dance and musical theatre instructor in Dallas. Her name was Texie Waterman (photo shown above), a petite woman with red hair, full of humor and a cheeky personality!

Dee met her in 1954 while they were both in the musical «Wish You Were Here». In one scene, several women paraded across the stage in swimsuits, with two of them wearing bikinis—an outfit still considered quite “scandalous” in 1950s America.

Dee Brock (seen at the far left of the photo ⇧), and Texie Waterman were the only two volunteers brave enough to wear such a daring outfit for the time—especially in Dallas, a conservative and puritanical Southern city where religious morality was strict.

Back in the day, wearing a bikini in public was seen as indecent and even sinful. For women, exposing their belly—especially the navel—was strictly forbidden and unacceptable. It’s all part of the bikini’s history, which I also share in this blog. (https://bikiniandpompomgirls.blogspot.com/).

When Dee Brock shared her idea for the Cowboys' new cheerleaders with Texie Waterman, the former professional dancer thought it was a wild idea to have them dance. She told Dee that putting on a Broadway-style dance show on a football field was impossible: "There’s no stage, no lights, no illusion," she said, clearly offended.

Eventually she’s persuaded to take on the project, but there’s a catch. Tex Schramm, known for being tight with money, refuses to pay her for her work. Undeterred by the stingy Cowboys boss, Dee Brock decides to give half of her own salary (600 dollars) to Texie Waterman so they can team up and lead this innovative, unprecedented project that had never been done anywhere before.

All that’s left is to find the new cheerleaders and decide on their uniforms. For this, Schramm and Dee Brock will place an order with the clothing manufacturer Lorch, whose manager was appointed by Lester Melnick, a major player in Dallas’s textile industry and a friend of Tex Schramm from their golf days.

Lorch's manager asked one of his seamstresses and designers, Paula Van Wagoner, if she wanted to create the new Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders uniform. She agreed and headed to the team’s offices to meet Tex Schramm and Dee Brock, eager to hear exactly what they envisioned for the uniform’s style.

The Cowboys' general manager and the director of cheerleaders gave Paula Van Wagoner (photo shown above) clear instructions. They wanted something that truly captured the spirit of the Cowboys with a western theme tied to Texas, while also being modern, stylish, and classy.

But 50 years later, a revelation sparks controversy over who truly designed this iconic uniform, recognized worldwide and added to the famous Smithsonian Museum in 2018, as an American symbol and part of the nation’s heritage. (https://bikiniandpompomgirls.blogspot.com/2022/06/50-years-ago-in-1972-fashion-designer.html).

In a 2021 interview with a journalist, Dee Brock, then 91, claimed that she—not Paula Van Wagoner—was the first to design the famous uniform that became iconic. She recalled sketching it on a yellow legal pad in the locker room with the cheerleaders, and one of them, Vonciel Baker, later confirmed seeing her draw it.

Brock said she had the drawing when she met Tex Schramm and Paula Van Wagoner. However, when asked about it, the Lorch designer curtly replied, “It didn’t happen like that,” and refused to elaborate. Maybe Dee Brock’s simple sketch was never shown to her, or perhaps she just didn’t consider it when working after that in her sewing studio.

Back then, it didn’t carry the significance it would later gain. Over time, a legend grew around this uniform, turning it into an iconic symbol embedded in American cultural history and heritage.

Although history and the Smithsonian credit Paula Van Wagoner as the creator of this remarkable costume, some sources attribute it to Tex Schramm or the Lorch company. Paula Van Wagoner also noted that one of her co-workers had claimed credit as well. Van Wagoner created two versions of the design, and Schramm went with the one on the left (see photo above).

In the early 1970s, women’s contributions in the workplace were still largely overlooked, and they were often paid far less than men for doing the same jobs. In fact, neither Dee Brock nor Paula Van Wagoner ever got paid (she said it was just part of her job at Lorch) or officially credited for designing the uniform that revolutionized cheerleader fashion, influencing about twenty NFL teams, and later inspiring similar outfits for other sports, including basketball, and hockey’s “Ice Girls".

To protect the design of their iconic uniform and keep it from being copied by others, the Cowboys organization registered it as a trademark (copywrigth). This proved useful when some people later tried to imitate or use the design. Lawsuits followed, costing the Dallas Cowboys a million dollars, but the richest team in the NFL won every case.

Once the uniform and choreographer were secured for Dee Brock's bold project, the next step was to find the cheerleaders. Brock and Texie Waterman would lead the auditions, seeking “all-American sexy girls,” though the word “sexy” wasn’t widely used at the time, especially in the conservative states of the American Southeast, known as the Bible Belt.

Physical appearance played a key role in the selection process. Texie and Dee were looking for attractive, well-proportioned young women with charming personalities, as well as backgrounds or skills in dance and cheerleading.

A short and simple message was aired on the local radio to attract candidates for the auditions. Just over a hundred girls responded to the call. For the audition, each was asked to perform a two-minute routine in front of Dee and Texie.

Among the candidates is 20-year-old African-American Vonciel Baker (photo shown below), who broke the racial barrier by becoming the first Black student on the Texas Lutheran University cheerleading squad. Back in high school, she wasn’t accepted for cheerleading because she was considered too skinny and not pretty enough.

As a teenager raised by a single mother, Vonciel loved dancing in the park near her home to the sounds of James Brown and the Rolling Stones. At her audition for a spot on the Cowboys’ cheerleading squad, she broke out her signature “James Brown-style” moves, but caught sight of Texis Waterman laughing as she leaned in to whisper to Dee Brock.

Vonciel figured she’d blown her chance to impress the two judges and wasn’t expecting anything good from the hearing results. A few days later, a special delivery from the Cowboys organization arrived, but she couldn’t bring herself to open it, afraid it held bad news about her failed audition.

Her brother was the one who finally opened the envelope and—surprise! Vonciel was among the eight candidates selected to join the Dallas Cowboys cheerleading squad for the 1972 season!

Later, one of the chosen girls dropped out, leaving the group as the "seven original cheerleaders" who, without them knowing, would go on to make history in their country and the NFL.

What they didn’t realize at the time was the type of training that awaited them in the pre-football sessions: workouts focused on choreographed dance unlike anything any cheerleader had experienced before. It was something completely new and unprecedented.

And then, there was the huge surprise waiting for the new recruits when they went to Lester Melnick’s clothing store to try on the new uniforms they’d wear for their routines on the field of the brand-new Texas Stadium, which had opened just the year before and would host the football team’s first game in August 1972.

Until the 1960s, American cheerleaders typically wore long pleated skirts that reached the knees, over baggy panties. The upper body was covered by a bulky pullover, a loose button-down shirt, or a blouse that extended from the neck to the waistband. On their feet, they wore white socks paired with two-tone shoes or classic Keds. The uniforms were made from thick materials like wool, felt, and corduroy. That was just the standard back then.

In the sixties, cheerleader costumes became lighter to allow for more movement. Unlike the fifties, when they mostly made a few gestures and shouted slogans into megaphones, cheerleaders in the '60s were far more active, often shaking their pompoms with energy and enthusiasm.

In the sixties, fashion shifted to lighter materials like acrylic and synthetic knits, offering better stretch and freedom of movement. Skirts got shorter, reaching mid-thigh, and evolved into miniskirts by the decade’s end.

Waistcoats or sweaters were also more fitted and shorter, often worn bare-bottomed without a shirt underneath, and featuring large, colorful felt appliqués in the shape of letters.

When it came to shoes, girls had shifted from chunky wedges to casual sneakers.

The Cowboys' cheerleaders' uniform in 1970-71 had evolved, offering a hint of what designer Paula Van Wagoner would craft in just two days the following year. The suit’s colors were similar, and it also featured white stars.

Van Wagoner swapped the loose blue blouse from 1971 for a cropped top made of vibrant royal blue polyester satin. This slim-fitting, long-sleeved piece is designed to show off the midriff, wrapping around the bust with a tie at the front and featuring a sharp, standout collar.

The loop forming the front knot should be crafted with precision, following a specific order and shape, while the overall design should highlight the silhouette in an alluring way.

Over the blouse, a western-style waistcoat or small jacket of plain royal blue satin was added. It was open at the front, trimmed with a white fringe along the bottom hem, and adorned with blue and white star badges, a clear tribute to the Dallas Cowboys logo.

Inspired by the trends of the era, Paula Van Wagoner swapped the typical late '60s mini-skirt for short, white "hot pants." They were secured with a wide, spotless white belt, fastened at the center with a large, heavy silver metal buckle.

For shoes, Paula draws inspiration from the fashion of that era, opting for white go-go boots with block heels, low and flat.

The set created a look that was both elegant and sexy, while being revolutionary for cheerleaders. It was a brilliant success destined to have a huge impact!

Vonciel Baker experienced a real “wow” moment when she went to try on the new uniform at the Lester Melnick boutique in the summer of 1972. Nervous and worried about being late, she caught the bus and ended up arriving three hours early. This made her the first—well ahead of the other cheerleaders—to slip into the brand-new costume, a moment that would stay etched in her memory forever.

In her excitement at the time, she didn’t immediately pick up on the “sexy” vibe of the new uniform. Still, she had a vague, odd feeling that certain parts of her body were missing the fabric needed to cover them.

Vonciel Baker marked the start of the groundbreaking 1972 Dallas Cowboys cheer. She wore her stunning uniform until 1981, completing eight seasons—a record for longevity that would remain unmatched. Over the years, she would notice the iconic outfit becoming shorter and increasingly “sexy.”

She’ll eventually get used to it, since it’s no more intimidating to wear than a bikini. By then, the women’s sexual revolution of the 1970s will have run its course.

Before these shifts in morals took place, many parents of the first cheerleaders of the new '70s era felt uneasy and embarrassed seeing their daughters in such sexy outfits. Some opposed it, including Cowboys pilot Tom Landry and his wife Alicia, both devout and principled Christians.

Another defining moment for Vonciel Baker came on August 5, 1972, during the Cowboys' season opener at the brand-new Texas Stadium, packed to the brim. In the tunnel leading to the field, she waited with her six teammates, heart racing with excitement, ready to step out in front of 65,000 spectators.

As they emerged from the tunnel and sprinted down the field, the Cowboys' new cheerleaders stunned much of the crowd, who pointed and shouted in surprise. People wondered what extraordinary phenomenon they were witnessing. Who were these celestial beauties dressed in superhero—if not slightly risqué—costumes? The astonished spectators had never seen anything like it!

It was love at first sight! They quickly fell for these sweethearts, who would go on to become idols just as popular, if not more so, than the Cowboys' star players.

Before long, Americans will see them as symbols of beauty and grace, much like the most admired supermodels of the era. Interestingly, this proves the foresight of Tex Schramm, who, back in 1960, at the very start of the Cowboys franchise, envisioned cheerleaders as attractive models.

His dream was finally coming true, twelve years later, and these stunning cheerleaders cost only fifteen dollars per match ! They would turn into a money-making machine, a godsend for the tightfisted general manager of the Cowboys !

These girls, giving outstanding performances on the field, were admired for being both talented dance artists and stunning athletes, showcasing their strength and endurance in the scorching heat of Texas Stadium.

After the games, fans—many of them little girls dreaming of becoming like their idols—would wait by the field to get autographs and hand over bouquets of flowers. It was a kind of adoration the Cowboys’ new cheerleaders hadn’t expected, one that would follow them for the rest of their lives.

At one point, things even turned dangerous. Hordes of fans swarmed them, and they started receiving awkward mail. The Cowboys had to step in and protect them with bodyguards.

At the same time, they helped turn the NFL into the most popular league in the USA and sparked an unprecedented commercial success for the Cowboys organization. They were in demand everywhere—at events, on television shows, and more. They had become a financial cornucopia for the Cowboys and for the ever-greedy Tex Schramm!

Vonciel Baker plays a key role in this captivating story as the best-documented early pioneer of the "Original Seven." She was the most active in the media, sharing her long experience as a groundbreaking Cowboys cheerleader and reflecting on the issues and consequences, both at the time they occurred and still today.

What made the 1972 Cowboys' cheerleaders’ unforgettable adventure even more special was that the football team won the Super Bowl that season, clinching the NFL championship. It was a double triumph, shining both on the field with their formidable players and on the sidelines with their sensational pom-pom girls.

Vonciel Baker made her long tenure with the team memorable through her elegance, athletic skills, precise routines, strong sense of musical rhythm, charisma, and remarkable stage presence.

As the only African-American in her group—a rarity among NFL cheerleaders—Vonciel comes from a humble background, raised by a single mother. She’s shown remarkable resilience and proudly represented the Cowboys with honor, pride, and humor in a state and city that have long held onto the lingering traces of segregation toward Black people.

On this subject, credit must be given to Dee Brock who worked hard to persuade the reluctant Tex Schramm to recruit Black cheerleaders in the 1960s. At one point, half of the young cheerleaders on the squad were Black.

After her time as a Cowboys cheerleader, joined by her sister Vanessa in 1973, Vonciel Baker enjoyed a long and steady career as a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines. She was often recognized and happily signed autographs for both passengers and pilots. In 2021, she shared her remarkable journey on the "America's Girl" podcast.

But, as I’ll share in a future post, Vonciel and her glamorous 1972 companions will face opposition and spark heated debates among feminists and puritanical circles in Texas. They will be accused of being the first pin-ups of sport, female objects who delighted male voyeurs at the Cowboys stadium, and who spread the phenomenon of hypersexualization.

Some extremists have even gone as far as to call them scandalous.

Tex Schramm aimed to draw more attention by having cheerleaders put on a show at Texas Stadium, and it’s safe to say that this mission was a complete success!

HISTORY OF THE BIKINI : IN 1962, URSULA ANDRESS EMERGES FROM THE SEA TO ENTER HISTORY.

2026-02-03T11:19:00.002-05:00

We saw in a previous article that the bikini was not immediately adopted by women in the 1950s, after its bold creation, deemed too daring for the morality of the time, by the French engineer Louis Réard, after the Second World War, in 1946.

Condemned by religious authorities who influenced civil authorities, the bikini was banned from public spaces in almost every country until the 1960s, when major changes occurred in Western societies.

Artists have often been at the forefront of change, whether in fashion (Similar to the commercialization of the mini skirt in 1962 by stylist Mary Quant, as shown in the video above) or other aspects of popular culture.

This was the case with the bikini when famous actresses wore it in films. The incredible success of the James Bond films, the first of which, in 1962, was Dr. No (cost $ 950 000 → Box Office 60 M.), helped establish the bikini as a legitimate fashion item. From that moment on, bikini sales began to accelerate.

The famous scene from the film showing actress Ursula Andress emerging from the sea in her famous white bikini enhanced by a wide belt has become a cult scene.

To fully grasp the shock caused by this famous cinematic scene, one must consider the context of the time. It's one of the most striking and "sexy" scenes in the history of film. This excerpt from the first James Bond film ( Dr. No , 1962, check out the scene at the end of this article) resembles a dream imbued with beauty, grace, and poetry, and, according to polls, remains the most memorable of all the spy and action films based on the work of British author Ian Fleming .

Fifty years ago, to the sound of a captivating calypso, in the enchanting setting of Laughing Waters beach in northern Jamaica, a new actress, beautiful as a goddess, the Swiss Ursula Andress , emerged from the Caribbean Sea, holding seashells in her hands. These “maritime sculptures” harmonized perfectly with the super sexy white bikini worn by this glistening beauty, her body adorned with sun-kissed pearls.

This appearance, this moment of grace, this character of Honey Ryder (a diver collecting seashells), would haunt the torrid dreams of men in the 1960s. This scene would also determine the rest of the life and career of this seductive newcomer, from a Protestant family of German origin. Unaccustomed to seeing such a scantily clad beauty on the big screen, and in all her splendor, English filmgoers were very impressed and humorously nicknamed the new pin-up "Ursula Undress ."

It's worth noting that the voice of the character Honey Ryder in Dr. No was dubbed by Nikki van der Zyl , because at the beginning of Ms. Andress's film career, her English was imperfect and she had a strong German accent. And in that famous scene, when she sings a song on the beach, it's actually Diana Coupland 's voice we hear. Another trick: the tan, which further enhances the Swiss actress's beauty, was artificially enhanced by the film's technicians.

Like Marilyn Monroe in the 1940s, and later Brigitte Bardot , Raquel Welch , and Gina Lollobrigida, Ursula Andress became a sex symbol, an enchantress of men. Her meteoric rise to fame coincided almost exactly with the emancipation of women and the accompanying sexual revolution.

The spectacular way in which this ravishing Bernese woman showcased that stunning white bikini (which she is said to have designed herself and which sold for $59,755 at auction in 2001) helped popularize these tiny swimsuits, while also challenging some taboos imposed by religion and the prevailing moral standards of the time.

Deemed indecent after its creation in 1946 by the French engineer Louis Réard (above), the bikini was hardly fashionable before the power of cinematic imagery helped change things in the most progressive societies of Western countries. But, in essence, this popular movement was merely an extension of the immense thirst for freedom that manifested itself after the end of the Second World War.

Like all great stars and legendary figures, Ursula Andress, now 89, still basks in an aura where it's sometimes difficult to separate fact from fiction, and to distinguish rumor from historical fact.

Saying she never ceases to be amazed by the extraordinary luck that has made her a woman fulfilled by an exciting life, enriched by captivating experiences and encounters with exceptional people, the long-retired actress now prefers to stay out of the public eye so that the public can cherish beautiful images and fond memories of her.

Because she has always taken care of her appearance and has had plastic surgery, Ursula has been able to maintain her legendary beauty well into old age. But when she looks at photographs from her youth, the inimitable former Bond girl humorously remarks that in those days, getting beautiful was much easier and quicker than it is now, in her old age!

In recent years, her public appearances have been mostly limited to her advocacy work to raise awareness about osteoporosis, an insidious disease from which she suffers. She fears losing her health because she has always been an active woman: "I would be miserable if I had to stay in bed. I would be embarrassed and unbearable if someone had to take care of me. If I can't be active, I want to leave..."

The movies are definitely over for her, unless, perhaps, she were offered a role in a film about art... These days, she laments, there is too much violence and too many special effects on the big screen. Producing good films is far too expensive. In the past, you could make action-packed adventure films with just the right amount of special effects. The focus was on simple yet coherent plots.

Throughout her life, Andress has maintained a deep appreciation for beauty. She studied painting, sculpture, and dance in Paris. She remains a passionate collector, loving to browse antique shops and flea markets wherever she goes. It's her favorite pastime. She buys antique furniture, rugs, paintings, frames, pottery, porcelain, woodwork, and more.

"My home is the world. I live part of the time in Spain, the United States, Italy, and Switzerland, and I collect objects all over the globe—Shanghai, the Andes, Kuala Lumpur, Hungary, Romania." Her many trips abroad have allowed her to become fluent in English, French, and Italian.

If Ursula hadn't pursued an acting career, she would have been a decorator or interior designer. She owns so many collectibles that she has to store them in warehouses. Thieves beware of stealing any part of her treasure. A few have already done so, and she chased them for months until she caught them! An adventure worthy of...James Bond!

Ursula Andress never considered herself a great actress, even after winning a Golden Globe in 1964. Cinema wasn't her main focus in life. It was more a means to achieve the life she had always dreamed of: traveling the world, experiencing a wide range of authentic cultures, and living among local communities.

"Today, the world has become so small. It's so sad that everything is becoming the same, that different traditions and cultures are disappearing." The London she knew and loved in the 1960s no longer exists. "I really enjoyed London in the 1960s. Everything about it was pleasant. It was a happy city, an English city. But now there are no English people left in London," she exclaims, dejected.

Because humans are destroying nature and not taking care of their environment, Ursula is not very optimistic about the future.

The daughter of a German diplomat who was expelled from Switzerland and disappeared during World War II, Ursula spent part of her childhood on her grandfather's farm, a stern and authoritarian man. A very shy child, she dreamed of freedom. Even in her early teens, she realized the power of attraction she held over boys when she went to the public swimming pool!

Later, at 17, after returning to the canton of Bern, where she was born, Andress captivated the French actor Daniel Gélin , who was filming Julien Duvivier 's L'Affaire Maurizius in the area. Duvivier and his crew had scouted locations at Ursula's school. She had even acted as a guide for the film's cast and crew. Gélin fell in love with her and then took her with him to Paris. She will also follow him to Rome, where he will soon succumb to drug addiction, which will break his relationship with Ursula.

After playing a few minor roles in small Italian films, Ursula met Marlon Brando and had a brief affair with him. The American actor encouraged her to try her luck in Hollywood. She did so, but without much conviction. Whether it was learning the basics of the craft or the English language, Andress didn't put in the necessary effort.

By nature fickle, bohemian, and adventurous, this strikingly beautiful brunette was more interested in the actors themselves than in what they did. She flirted with James Dean before succumbing to the charms of John Derek, whom she married in Las Vegas in 1957. The couple divorced in 1966, and Ursula subsequently had a multitude of romantic relationships with other actors (including a rather tumultuous one with Jean-Paul Belmondo → photo overhead).

Andress explained this constant need to change countries and lovers by her rather fiery, gypsy-like nature. This facet of her personality contrasts strangely with the lack of expressiveness and the rather "icy" or "distant" style of her acting. Away from the film sets, she was a curious nomad, seeking change and new horizons. This "sex bomb," standing at 1.65 meters (5 feet, 5 inches), was restless and would die of boredom if she were condemned to stay put.

Five years after Ursula's marriage, and two weeks before the start of filming for Dr. No, the producers still hadn't found the actress to play Honey Ryder. They stumbled upon a photo belonging to John Derek which, according to the caption, showed his wife, Ursula Andress, very scantily clad, in a wet t-shirt contest! The film's directors offered her the role of Honey Ryder without even meeting her!

The pretty young Swiss woman hesitated before accepting. Enthusiastic about the quality of the script for this first James Bond film, her friend Kirk Douglas convinced her to seize this wonderful opportunity, which would earn her $10,000 and...instant fame!

She quickly became the most desirable and most photographed woman in the world. As a result, she set the bar very high for all the other Bond Girls who would follow her, without ever surpassing her, in the hearts of British filmgoers.

In 1965, she posed nude for PLAYBOY magazine, much to the delight of her many admirers! When asked why she dared to do that, she simply replied: "It's because I'm beautiful."

Ursula Andress always knew that if she was given film roles, it was because of her physical attributes. After her experience with PLAYBOY, this became even more obvious. Films where she wasn't required to perform at least one nude scene were rare. Ursula accepted this situation without complaint, aware that she had become a sex symbol, and that this status confined her to roles linked to her reputation.

It should be noted that she herself didn't consider herself strong or competent enough to play major roles: "I chose to do light and funny films or action films, excluding dramatic and psychological films, out of modesty, fear, and lack of confidence." (...) "Committing myself entirely to a film where I would have to bring personal feelings, a part of my soul, scares me."

Andress sometimes broke contracts with production companies (including Paramount) when they tried to mold her into someone she wasn't.

Ultimately, her most important role would be that of mother. From the 1980s onward, after the birth of her only son (Dimitri, whose father is actor Harry Hamlin ), Andress gradually with Drew from acting, contenting herself with a few episodic roles on television and in films in Europe. At that time, giving birth at the age of 43 was rare and frowned upon. But the new mother wasn't one to follow the crowd.

Free to act and express her often controversial opinions, Ursula never hesitated to go against the grain of conventional society. What truly mattered to her was being honest, happy, and living her life to the fullest.

Ursula Andress rubbed shoulders with the biggest stars of her era. She even starred in a film alongside none other than Elvis Presley (above)... It was reported that the "King" of Rock & Roll was so intimidated by this "super sexy" woman that he was terrified at the thought of having to take his shirt off in front of her. Andress recalls their meeting: "At first, I didn't like him. You know, you judge people by what you've read about them. But Elvis was lovely, so kind, gentle, and affable. We remained friends afterward. I saw him once or twice a year. But he was a tormented soul..."

It's fascinating to consider that a film scene could have such a powerful impact as the one that made Ursula Andress a sex symbol in 1962. But this sensual Swiss woman was no ordinary person. She will still be remembered fifty years from now... Unforgettable, as Nat King Cole sang ...

NO HISTORY OF CHEERLEADING WITHOUT MENTIONING ITS MODERN FOUNDER LAWRENCE HERKIMER...

2025-06-27T16:11:00.000-04:00

Lawrence Herkimer (October 14, 1925 - July 1, 2015) contributed more than anyone to elevating cheerleading into an art, a science, an Olympic sport, and a multi-million dollar industry.

Lawrence Herkimer passed away a decade ago in Dallas due to heart failure at the age of 89. His passing served as a poignant reminder of the profound legacy he left in shaping American culture.

If a mural were to be created for the United States of America, it could include a small section depicting a cheerleader performing the iconic "herkie jump," a move invented by Lawrence Herkimer. It would serve as an emblem embodying the American spirit, defined by leadership, strength of character, youthful enthusiasm, beauty, discipline, cooperation, and sportsmanship.

Herkimer has justifiably earned the nickname "Mr. Cheerleader," as he is widely acknowledged as the father of modern cheerleading. He elevated the standard, transforming a collegiate pastime into a professional sport and a makeshift operation he began in his garage into a network of companies generating $55 million annually.

A gymnast and cheerleader, Herkimer graduated in 1948 from the University of Illinois, where he earned a master's degree after pursuing studies in physical education at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. That same year, he founded the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA), with which he served as a teacher.

He went on to establish the first cheerleading camps across the United States and in several other countries. He is credited with training approximately three million cheerleaders.

He and his wife, Dorothy, were remarkable pioneers. In 1951, they established the Cheerleader Supply Company. Initially operating from the Herkimers' Dallas garage, the company rapidly expanded into a thriving retail business specializing in sweaters, skirts, booster ribbons, custom-made shoes, and various cheerleading equipment.

Herkimer patented the spirit stick and introduced a revised version of the pompom, renaming it "pompon" after realizing that "pompom" carried an obscene connotation in certain Asian languages.

The advent of color television prompted Lawrence's innovation of the pompom. Cheerleaders were gaining increasing camera attention, and Herkimer identified the need to offer vibrant and visually appealing accessories for them. Consequently, he attached paper streamers to a stick to invent the "pom-pom".

For his subsequent design update, a flameproof Mylar version featuring a hidden handle, Herkimer was awarded U.S. Patent No. 3,560,313 by the Patent Office in 1971.

It was a frenzy. Pompon sales surged dramatically, as cheerleaders nationwide sought to acquire their own. Herkimer successfully sold millions upon millions of them. In addition to being an exceptional innovator and an esteemed trainer, he achieved great success as a wealthy entrepreneur— a quintessential example of the true American self-made man. In 1986, when Herkie sold his training camp business (not his other assets), he pocketed the staggering sum of 20 million dollars.

At the NCA, celebrating both attitude and athletics was integral to Herkimer's philosophy. «The physical skills we teach the kids are just a part of it,» he said in a 1983 UPI interview. «We also teach how to build school spirit, we teach crowd control, we teach crowd psychology, we teach them what to do when a crowd boos, we teach how to plan a pep rally.»

Each year, the NCA trains 150,000 cheerleaders in Dallas, and the business established by Herkimer eventually generated annual sales of $50 million. Later, he also founded the larger Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA), headquartered in Memphis.

Although his hometown was the birthplace of the renowned Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, one of the most flamboyant squads in professional sports, Lawrence Herkimer was not an avid admirer. He stated, around 1972, that "professional cheerleaders are not cheerleaders; they are dancing girls and entertainers."

In 1987, Herkimer stated to the Dallas Morning News that he had elevated cheerleading «from the raccoon coat and megaphone to greater heights."»

When he died, (July 1, 2015), in honor of him, cheerleaders and would-be cheerleaders lighted up social media with photos of themselves doing the "Herkie Jump".

«Lawrence Herkimer was a wonderful guy and an SMU legend,» said Brad Cheves, Southern Methodist University vice president for Development and External Affairs. «He was very proud of his association with his alma mater, and very generous to the University throughout his lifetime in ways that directly impacted students. We will cherish his memory.»

It is worth noting that, during World War II, he served in the United States Navy aboard the USS Jamestown for two years in the Philippines. He was awarded the American Campaign Medal, Victory Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Medal, and Philippine Liberation Campaign Ribbon in recognition of his service.

🎖🎖🎖

Cheerleaders worldwide, along with their parents and fans, will always remember Mr. Cheerleader and his enduring legacy to the American people, a true national treasure.

HISTORY OF THE BIKINI : DIFFICULT TIMES IN THE "FIFTIES"...

2025-03-14T17:31:00.000-04:00

The bikini emerged as a cultural icon at the end of the 1960s; however, prior to this period, it was not widely accepted.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the fashion for women's clothing did not evolve significantly. Women's bodies remained concealed from the neck to the ankles. This was also true for swimsuits, which were made of heavy fabrics and were not very comfortable when wet.

After the First World War, in the 1920s, societal morals were liberated. This marked the beginning of women's emancipation, which significantly impacted women's bathing costumes. Gradually, the sleeves became shorter, the legs were exposed, and the neckline began to lower modestly before eventually becoming more revealing.

The fabrics used in the production of one-piece swimsuits have evolved over time. Initially made from wool, which was uncomfortable and impractical, swimsuits began to incorporate synthetic fibers such as rayon in the 1920s. Rayon, a semi-synthetic fiber, is significantly lighter, more breathable, and offers better water resistance compared to wool.

Almost simultaneously, lastex emerged to revolutionize the swimwear worn by women. This elastic synthetic rubber thread enabled the creation of more refined, fitted, tighter, and practical designs in the 1930s. These swimsuits often featured lower necklines and sometimes even belts to accentuate the silhouette.

However, their use remains marginal compared to the woolen uniform, which still largely predominates.

In 1935, the first modern two-piece swimsuit was introduced, featuring a mid-rise top and a high-waisted bottom. This design, considered very daring for its time, marked a significant milestone in the evolution of swimwear and paved the way for the iconic bikini, created in France by Louis Réard in 1946.

The first bikini is a bold and revolutionary two-piece swimsuit that forever changed the landscape of swimwear design. Its minimalist design represented a radical departure from the modesty and conservatism of the time. Consisting of a bra-like top and panties, the bikini was designed to be form-fitting and liberating, accentuating the natural contours of the female body.

On July 5, 1946, at the Molitor swimming pool in Paris, Réard could not find any model willing to present his new invention to the public. Only the famous nude dancer, Micheline Bernardini, volunteered to dare to wear this revolutionary two-piece that was too avant-garde for the morality of the time.

Réard's presentation went largely unnoticed, except by the Vatican's religious authorities in Rome, who condemned and banned the bikini in 1947.

Indeed, the bikini is considered scandalous, and wearing it is perceived as immoral, indecent, and vulgar.

Subsequently, throughout the 1950s, the bikini became a more acceptable garment, especially due to star actresses such as Brigitte Bardot, Jayne Mansfield (photo), Marilyn Monroe, and Diana Dors, who wore it in films or at film festivals in Cannes or Venice. Even British Princess Margaret, photographed on a yacht in 1950 on the outskirts of the Costa del Sol, helped to make the bikini better known.

During the 1950s, swimwear models became more varied, featuring high-waisted bottoms and different styles of tops, such as halter tops and bandeaux. However, the one-piece swimsuit remained far more popular and best-selling, with more flattering cuts. The use of stretchy and elastic materials like lycra and nylon became more common, improving fit and comfort.

However, the wearing of bikinis on public beaches remained forbidden during those years, with the exception of the Mediterranean beaches in the south of France, and in Spain where, In order not to harm tourism, Franco's (photo) fascist regime surprisingly allowed women to wear the two small triangles of fabric that make up this kind of swimsuit.

The bikini was banned in Germany until 1970. However, in other regions, particularly in America, the rise of private swimming pools in the 1960s provided many women with the opportunity to wear this type of swimsuit without the scrutiny of onlookers.

Other reasons delayed the popular adoption of this piece of clothing. In politics, in France, communist thought "embarks" the bikini in the class struggle, due to its very high price, making it accessible only to the wealthy upper bourgeois class.

Feminists, on the other hand, oppose the bikini because, according to them, it reduces those who wear it to the status of an object, or objects of sexual desire.

Fashion magazines such as "Elle," Marie Claire, and Vogue were not particularly enamored with the bikini at this time, until the latter magazine declared it the "garment of the season" in 1959, having scorned it eight years earlier.

There was also a form of self-censorship in the sense that bikinis were deemed appropriate only for young women or teenage girls who conformed to beauty standards, namely: slim, without physical defects, and especially "without a big belly".

It referred to a kind of stereotype, a form of discrimination against imperfect, even unsightly bodies. Perhaps a legacy of the pin-up girls and the beautiful movie stars who made the bikini famous in the 1950s.

It was not until the women's liberation movements and the sexual revolution of the 1960s that the bikini became a staple of popular fashion and conquered beaches worldwide.

A MONTH AFTER GINA LOLLOBRIGIDA, ANOTHER FAMOUS BIKINI GIRL, RAQUEL WELCH, PASSED AWAY.

By 1966, bikini was becoming increasingly popular, especially among young women, in Western countries. This two-piece bathing suit was not the very minimalist one that had caused a scandal on the almost totally naked body of stripper Micheline Bernardini, in Paris, on July 5, 1946. This was shortly after the creation of the tiny bikini by the French engineer Louis Réard.

In the early 1950s, only pin-up girls (or a few other women who sometimes received police fines for indecency on public beaches) most of them movie stars, such as Brigitte Bardot, Gina Lollobrigida, Esther Williams, Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe, dared to appear in this very light outfit.

But for ordinary mortals, to appear in public, with so few clothes, was simply indecent, at least, for the mores of the time.

In the early 1960s, the American actress and signer Annette Funicello (brown hair girl on the photo above) will create the fashion of the Beach Party, in a series of movies around this theme. Already a recognized artist thanks, among other things, to her roles in Disney studio productions, she is recommended by the producers to wear sober bathing suits, one-pieces, or, at least, not-too-revealing two-pieces that do not show her navel.

Because, for a woman, showing her navel was considered indecent, still, in puritanical America, at that time.

In 1963, from the first of this series of Beach Party films, that will be very popular, young people will imitate this kind of activity in their everyday life, obviously also wearing the famous bikini.

A little while before, in 1962, in a dazzling scene from the movie "Dr No", the famous Bond Girl Ursula Andress (photo), coming out of the sea with her splendid white bikini, had entered history, not only of cinema, but as a beauty icon who greatly contributed to the brand image of the bikini.

In 1966, Raquel Welch did the same by emerging from the water wearing a partially torn bikini, made of animal skin and fur, in the film "One Million Years B.C.". The movie, almost totally silent, is a failure, and all Raquel Welch hopes is that it quickly sinks into oblivion, so that it does not damage her career, which is still in its infancy.

If this film, in which she says only three lines, is a failure, its promotional posters will be a phenomenal publicity stunt for Raquel Welch. She appears in the foreground, dressed in her original cave woman bikini. The sales sucesses of this poster are instant and overwhelming. They break records and are distributed all over the planet.

Overnight, thanks to this poster that testifies to her extreme beauty, Raquel Welch achieves worldwide fame, and she becomes a sex symbol, of which all moviegoers dream. Every magazine wants photos of her, and she becomes an actress and a top model much sought after by film directors and fashion designers. It is a total surprise for this young woman born in 1940, in Chicago, of an American mother, and a father of Bolivian origin.

In her memoir (Raquel : Beyond the Cleavage, 2010) Welch wrote : "I was not brought up to be a sex symbol, nor is it in my nature to be one" (...) "The fact that I became one is probably the loveliest, most glamorous and fortunate misunderstanding".

Just before One Million Years B.C., Welch had the first success of her career thanks to her role in the sci-fi film Fantastic Voyage. Previously, she had played small roles (including one, in 1964, in the film Roustabout starring Elvis Presley). As was the case for Marilyn Monroe and Gina Lollobrigida, film producers confined Raquel Welch to many superficial roles, betting only on the beauty of her body. Like her two famous colleagues, she will always protest against this categorazation of "woman object".

Curiously, Welch, every man's sexual fantasy, first owes her breakthrough in the Hollywood film industry (in 1965) to... a woman, the wife of producer Saul David, who, after seeing a magnificent photo of Raquel in Life magazine, sees great potential in her, and points it out to her husband.

David recommended Welch to a contract with 20th Century Fox. She agreed to a lucrative seven-year contract, for five pictures over the next five years. Almost forty other films will follow, as well as fifty television shows, making Raquel Welch a legend.

Her curves and beauty captured pop culture attention. Playboy crowned her the "most desired woman" of the '70s, despite the fact that she never appeared completely naked in the magazine. In 1995, she was named one of the 100 sexiest stars in film History. The year after, she received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And in 2013, Welch nabbed the No. 2 spot (behind only Jennifer Aniston) on Men's Health's "Hottest Women of All Time" list.

The film and television industry had finally rewarded her talents as an actress, singer and dancer by awarding her a Golden Globe for her role as Constance Bonacieux in the fil "The Three Musketeers (1973, photo). She was nominated for this award, in 1988, thanks to her excellent performance in the television film "Right to Die".

Her remarkable career spanned five decades. Unlike Gina Lollobrigida, who became an actress by chance, to pay for her studies at the School of Fine Arts of Rome (she wanted to become a painter), Raquel Welch became an actress by training.

In 1942, to serve his country's war efforts, her father, an aeronautical engineer, moved his family to La Jolia, California. Very early, the one who then bears the name of Jo-Raquel Tejada, will want to become an artist of show business. She took classes un dance, singing and acting.

Already, at 14 years old, aware of her advantageous physique, she won beauty contests, and she soon landed a few modeling contracts. Funny enough, after seven years of ballet lessons, seeing how much her feminine attributes have grown, her instructor makes her give up a career in this field, telling her right away that she really does not have the physique of the job !

For posterity, Raquel Welch holds a very high place in the Pantheon of female beauty of all time. This stunning and breathaking beauty, and her glorious acting and modeling careers will ensure that she will never be forgotten. Even if she died last Wednesday, at the age of 82, she will remain, in a way, immortal... And one of the most famous bikini girl of all time !

Here is an audio-visual montage that attests to her legendary iconic beauty.

2023-01-22T11:44:00.000-05:00

GINA LOLLOBRIGIDA, ONE OF THE FIRST BIKINI GIRL, DIES AT THE AGE OF 95.

In a previous article (https://bikiniandpompomgirls.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-most-beautiful-girl-in-world-to.html), we saw that after its creation, in 1946, by the French engineer Louis Réard, and the fashion designer Jacques Heim, the bikini, considered too daring for the mores of the time, did not know an immediate popular success. It wasn't until the early 1950s, when movie stars like Brigitte Bardot and Gina Lollobrigida wore it, either in films, or posing for wide-ranging photos, that common women began to wear it timidly, and then increasingly in the 1960s.

Legendary diva Gina Lollobrigida died last week at the venerable age of 95. Back in 1950, her photos showing her in a bikini played an important role in launching her great film career. At the age of 20, in 1947, she studied at the School of Fine Arts in Rome. To pay for her studies and bring home some money, after her family was ruined by the 39-45 war, she landed a few small roles in the cinema and she participated in beauty contests.

Her first big film contract will be granted to her by the renowned American producer Howard Hughes. Falling under the spell of the young woman after seeing one of these photos where she poses in a bikini, Hughes brings her to Hollywood after signing her a contract.

Literally crazy about her body, of sculptural beauty, with voluptuous forms, he will lock her up for months in a Los Angeles hotel room. Sometimes, during the night, he rents an orchestra, and he takes her out of the room to dance with her in the hotel restaurant. Lollo, as she was later nicknamed, will eventually free herself from her confinement and she will participate in some American films. For thirteen years, Hughes will try to seduce her. In vain ...

Subsequently, Gina Lollobrigida will play the main roles (in 30 years she turned in more than sixty films) in cinematographic successes such as «Fanfan la Tulipe» (Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1952), in which she plays a bohemian character fortune teller, alongside the formidable French actor Gérard Philipe.

The same year, she burst onto the screen in her role as Leila, in René Clair's famous film «Les Belles de Nuit».

In 1957, Gina Lollobrigida won a Bambis Award for Best Actress for her unforgettable role as Esmeralda in the film «Notre-Dame de Paris».

In 1959, her bewitching beauty reached a peak when she played the Queen of Sheba in the film «Solomon and the Queen of Sheba». His partner, Yul Brynner, who plays King Solomon, is bewitched by the splendid Italian actress. In scenes where the two actors kiss, they continue to do so even after the director shouts : «cut» !

Subsequently, her career faded somewhat when Sophia Loren, another Italian actress -another beauty queen- came to compete with her. At first jealous of her new rival, Lollo will eventually make a great friend of her.

Provocative, characterized by her ember gaze reflecting her fiery temperament, she will go too far in 1966, in a new sketch film («The Dolls»), wearing outfits deemed too daring. She was sentenced to two months in prison, but was fortunately amnestied.

In the 1970s, like Brigitte Bardot, she grew tired of cinema and became a photo journalist. She also returned to her first love at the School of Fine Arts in Rome by devoting herself to sculpture and drawing. She will explain that she began to make cinema by pure chance, and that she continued out of curiosity.

From her youth, she dreamed of being a painter. Her goal was first and foremost to become a visual artist, but she did not regret her career in cinema. A career that she considered very successful and satisfactory.

Like Bardot, too, at the beginning of her career, she will have the audacity to ask for an exorbitant fee (one million) to turn in films. Launched as a joke, this immense request, unimaginable fortune for the time, will be accepted, to the great surprise of Gina !

Like Bardot, Lollobrigida will long be considered the most beautiful woman in the world. Ambitious, she said she wanted to become a very great actress and she refused to be reduced to a status of sex symbol.

In her long and wonderful career, she played with the greatest actors of her time. Marilyn Monroe will take Gina as a model and the Italian super star will influence her a lot by her advice. It has been said that she "sculptured" the legendary American blonde actress.

Orson Welles, another great actor, director and producer, called Gina Lollobrigida : «the most fabulous woman in the world, the Queen».

The Italian novelist and journalist Alberto Moravia called her «the archetype of Italian female beauty». Italians loved her so much that the used to say that she was the greatest discovery since the invention of spaghetti !

Gina Lollobrigida received many prizes and awards (more than 20) for her fabulous career, but the one that perhaps pleased her the most was the latest : her star on the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard, in Los Angeles, in 2018. A kind of final consecration or crowning. She received this ultimute honor with her characteristic exuberance.

Although Gina Lollobrigida married in 1949, at the age of 22, to a Yugoslav doctor named Milko Skofic, who became her manager, and divorced him in 1971 after giving him an only son, she later declared that her only regret in life was never meeting the soul mate. Many of her countless admirers, for whom she was an extraordinary sexual fantasy, would certainly have liked to be that ideal lover she never found.

In 2017, in some od her latest public confidences, Lollo confessed to having suffered two sexual assaults in her youth. Events that marked her character and that she was never able to erase from her memory and her being.

After her death on January 16, photographer Rino Barillari, a renowned Italian paparazzi, paid tribute to the late diva : «She was fashion, everyone imitated her. A person like that will never be reborn. It is not only a diva of the cinema who has left, but a real global star. Gina Lollobrigida was something idescribable, everyone was losing their minds for her. Damn beautiful and a feminity that has marked history». Including the bikini story, I might add !

Here are some of the eternal looks of Gina Lollobrigida, in a montage on Giorgia's song «Quando Una Stella Muore» (When a Star Dies)...

50 YEARS AGO, IN 1972, FASHION DESIGNER PAULA VAN WAGONER CREATED THE ICONIC UNIFORM OF THE DALLAS COWBOYS CHEERLEADERS.

2022-06-01T16:53:00.000-04:00

In 1960, Tex Schramm, the general manager of the Dallas Cowboys, was looking for ways to attract more spectators to the local games of this new National Football League (NFL) franchise. The crowds attending the games are small and, what does not help, the team loses all its matches. Dallas football fans are much more interested in cheering on football clubs from nearby colleges and universities.

Schramm, a Californian - born in 1920, died in 2003 - is a journalism graduate from the University of Texas who began his career as a sportswriter before becoming director of advertising for the Los Angeles Rams in 1947. He quickly rose through the ranks to become general manager of the team. Incidentally, he then hired a certain Pete Rozelle as the new advertising director of the Rams.

Rozelle later became the commissioner of the NFL for nearly 30 years (1960 to 1989) and he made giant strides in the circuit, until it was among the best professional sports leagues in the world.

After his time with the Rams, Schramm (above) landed an executive position at CBS Sports in 1957. His professional experience, both in football and on TV, will help him greatly to meet the challenge of the management of the new Dallas Cowboys. He is first and foremost an excellent salesman, thanks to his former job as an advertising director with the L.A. Rams. And through his training as a journalist, and his time at CBS, he knows the power of the media.

He will use all this baggage to become a marketing genius, an outstanding innovator, and a remarkable visionary who will contribute greatly to the improvement of the NFL, and make the Cowboys immensely popular, earning them the title of "America's team".

This huge success will pass, among other strokes of genius, by the creation of a new group of cheerleaders who will make a sensation and who will "stick" to the brand image of the Cowboys.

Already, in 1960-61, since his losing club did not offer a good show on the field, - performances capables of attracting big crowds -, Schramm thought of the creation of a squad of Pom Pom Girls that would offer at least one good show to the audience, along the sidelines. He hired Dee Brock, a high school teacher and part-time model, to found this quad of cheerleaders.

The « CowBelles and their Beaux » in 1966.

At this time, the Cowboys boss already has the idea of making football not only the most popular sport but a great entertainment through a few innovations and using the power of the media.

He suggests that Dee Brock recruit pretty models to fill the role of cheerleaders. When he was working for CBS, Schramm noted that television programs where you see pretty girls attract a lot of viewers. Brock asked him how much he will pay for the models he wants her to recruit. Schramm replie : « zero ».

Dee Brock is adamant that a model will never agree to cheerleading for free. In addition, these young women, - and their makeup ! - would not last for three hours on the football field, where the scorching temperature can often reach more than 90° F.

So, Schramm and Brock will have to fall back on students from nearby high schools to compose their squad of Pom Pom Girls. Later, boys will join the group - called " CowBelles & their Beaux " - and Dee Brock (wearing a black shirt on the above 1968 picture) will have to really insist that Scramm accept black members into the squad.

Brock was very keen that her group of young cheerleaders reflect the diversity of the city of Dallas' population. But she struggled to get her will accepted because, at the time, segregation still existed in Texas and the USA.

Four about ten years, on the field, the "CowBelles and their Beaux" will practice traditional routines, that is to say : make small acrobatics and tricks as it is done in the cheerleading clubs of the schools ; shouting slogans through megaphones ; and waving their pompoms to entice spectators to cheer on their football team.

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in 1971

The girls on the squad wear long pleated skirts - that got shorter with time - and modest white shirts. But at the end of the 60s, the american society is changing. It is liberalizing. New ideas, new fashions (the mini-skirt !), cultural changes, freer mores, take place. So, Dee Brock, in agreement with Tex Scramm, also believes that the time has come to renew their group of cheerleaders.

In 1969, the boys were eliminated from the squad, who was simply renamed the "Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders" (DCC). And in the early 70s they changed the costume of the Pom Pom Girls. They now wear a shorter skirt and a blue blouse in the colors of the football club. But Schramm and Dee Brock are not satisfied. The latter wants older cheerleaders, that is to say between 18 and 25 years old, and she also wants their routines to be more dance-oriented.

To fulfill their new mission, the cheerleaders will need rigorous physical training and they will have to learn to dance. This task was entrusted to the renowned choreographer Texie Waterman (photo), whim whom Dee Brock would have to share her salary. Tex Schramm had a reputation for holding the purse strings very tight !

To be able to perform on the field with this new way of doing things, the cheerleaders also need a new uniform that allow them more freedom of movement. Schramm adds that this new uniform will have to be "sexier". Regarding this part of the reform of his new group of Pom Pom Girls, the boss of the Cowboys talks to Lester Melnick, a friend of his and golf partner, who owns a big department store in Dallas.

Later, Melnick tells one of his friends, who is the boss of a local clothing factory called Lorch, about Schramm's uniform project. Fashion designer Paula Van Wagoner works at this factory. Her boss asks her if she would like to design a new uniform for the Cheerleaders of the Dallas Cowboys. Although she specializes mainly in children's clothing, Paula is used to filling these kinds of « extra » orders. She sees no problems in being able to meet this demand.

She goes to meet Tex Schramm and Dee Brock at the Cowboys' offices and she just asks them what kind of uniform they want. Schramm responds : « Number one, these are going to be dancing girls so they have to be able to move. Number two, it's got to be a western theme to go with a Cowboy's theme. Number three, it's got to be sexy, but then it's got to be in good taste. »

Inspired by the fashion of the moment, and the elements she knows of the cowboy culture of the American West, Paula Van Wagoner does not take much time to draw two sketches of uniforms (above) that she will present to Schramm and Dee Brock, only two days after their initial meeting. In the early 70s, hot pants and go-go boots were fashionable, so Van Wagoner integrated them into her uniform proposals for the Cowboys cheerleaders.

For the western aspect, she thinks of a blue shirt attached in front by a box knot, with over, a bolero jacket with short fringes, trimmed with blue stars, like the white belt that holds the shorts. The other design is less suitable to the sexy look Schramm asked for, since the blouse covers the entire upper body and the shorts are hidden behind long fringes. Schramm, obviously, opts for the sexier of the two proposals. But he wants to see what it looks like on a real person.

Paula Van Wagoner does not hesitate to put on the chosen version of the new uniform to accede to the request of the boss of the Cowboys. She was therefore the first to wear this famous uniform, which, she is far from suspecting at that time, will become an icon of the American popular culture...

In 1972, for her, this uniform order was simply part of her job at Lorch, as she explained later, in 2018, after 46 years of oblivion, when the very prestigious Smithsonian National Museum of American History, in Washington D.C., finally recognized her work and paid her a beautiful tribute.

At that distant time, she said about her creation of the iconic uniform, during this ceremony in her honor at the famous Museum of international reputation : « It wasn't any big deal, it was just another assignment. I thought it would probably be that year and then they'd come up with another design the next year. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would last this long ! »

When Paula Van Wagoner first saw her creation carried by the Cowboys' new cheerleaders, it was during the inaugural game of the 1972-73 season for the champion Dallas team, which had just won its first Super Bowl, earlier that year. A huge crowd of more than 80,000 spectators gathered at the new Texas Stadium to cheer on its champions.

Suddenly, while this excited audience eagerly awaits the entry of its formidable players on the field, in order to celebrate them, it is rather the new cheerleaders of the Cowboys who are ahead of them first on the grassy surface. The spectators remain speechless at the unexpected spectacle of these beautifully dressed young women, who run waving their pompoms. They have never seen anything like it. These girls are dazzling in their splendid costumes.

Paula Van Wagoner is happy. She can't even believe that these beauties wear this uniform that she created humbly. The success of this outfit, so beautiful and so original, is instantaneous, and soon, all the cheerleader troops want to have it or copy it. So much so, that Tex Schramm and the Cowboys hurry to ensure its exclusivity by making it a registered and protected trademark.

The football team will enjoy twenty years of success on the field, and, with a thunderous marketing team, it will make a gigantic promotion of the club through a clever use of the media and by putting on the market a multitude of derivative products.

1972 DDC Squad Leader Carrie O'Brien-Sibley in a uniform resembling the "other" Van Wagoner's design

The pretty cheerleaders of "America's team" will become the "America's Sweethearts". And all american little girls will dream of becoming a cheerleader of the Dallas Cowboys. Like Inga Van Wagoner, a niece of Paula Van Wagoner, who, in 1995, will realize her children dream by deserving her place on the famous squad.

In honoring Paula Van Wagoner, on February 26, 2018, the Smithsonian Museum recalled that cheerleading is an American invention (at Princeton, in 1877), and that in the 1930s and 1940s, thanks to physical education teacher Gussie Nell Davis, cheerleading was one of the first and only physical activities the girls could pratice.

By highlighting the great Van Wagoner's uniform design, the National Museum of American History has provoked research into this phenomeon of the 1972 DCC. This research, particularly that carried out by the news media, has helped to bring out of oblivion other women who have contributed to this historical recognition of the work of Mrs. Van Wagoner.

Leveta Crager, with DCC choreographer Judy Trammell, left

Because, in addition to Tex Schramm, who received most of all the credit for having pushed to the maximum the fame of the cheerleaders of the Cowboys of 1972, we should not forget the important role played by Dee Brock ; by choreographer Texie Waterman ; by Suzanne Mitchell (Brock's successor at the head of the DCC troupe from 1976 through 1989) ; and by the seamstress Leveta Crager, who for 24 years, made the famous custom uniform for each cheerleader.

The work of Mrs. Crager, - who died in 2003 -, was not easy. Her granddaughter Shawna Smith remembers that there was a strict protocol for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders uniforms. You had to buy a certain bra with a clasp at the rib cage. The shirt had to be tied around that clasp in a box knot, or things could get a bit loose. But the look was designed to be seamless.

About the shorts, they were actually two pairs of them sewn together. One acted as lining, to hug in a woman's curves without riding up. « You never saw a hemline in those shorts », Shawna said. « They were skimpy. But you never saw anything you weren't supposed to see. How she did it, I have no idea. »

And Leveta Crager, a five foot three feisty irish woman, - who was the head of operations at the same clothing factory (Lester Melnick's Lorch) where Paula Van Wagoner was working -, kept her eye on the cheerleaders when she attended Cowboys games. « She eyeballed the girls just to make sure everyone looked good and the rookies knew how to tie their shirts », added her granddaughter.

On February 26, 2018, before leaving the ceremony and the people, including her family, who honored her at the Smithsonian, Paula Van Wagoner wanted to tell one last story. A really strange one :

« About 1970 my best friend and I gave each a trip to a fortune teller for our birthdays. Her name was Jessie and everyone talked about how wonderful she was. The only thing she knew about us was our first name and maybe our birth date. We went in and she talked about all these different things. I wrote everything down that I could remember she said. And then I stuck it in a box in my closet. About four years later, I was cleaning out my closet and I found that slip of paper. And what she said in 1970 was : "You will design a uniform that will be known all over the world". I have never forgotten that. »

Amazing !!!

The mission of the Smithsonian, at least one of them, is to use his resources across disciplines to explore what it means to be an American. If one could paint, on a huge mural, the history of the United States of America, among all the historical facts, and all the important figures who forged the American identity, there would probably be, on this large fresco, the small image of a cheerleader of the Dallas Cowboys, dressed in the wonderful costume designed by Paula Van Wagoner.

Some sources attribute this iconic uniform to Dallas fashion designer Jody Van Amburgh. Others give credit to Tex Schramm or Dee Brock. But Smithsonian historians are formal : they have in hand the original sketches of Paula Van Wagoner. There is no doubt, according to their impeccable expertise, that these drawings date from 1972 ; that they were made by Mrs. Van Wagoner ; and that one of these authentic sketches does represent the iconic uniform worn by the Cowboys' cheerleaders that same year.

The Cowboys organization has also given the Smithsonian several artifacts related to the extraordinary epic of its cheerleaders of 1972. Now, and forever, it is inscribed in the history and culture of the American people...

1960 : A FUNNY LITTLE SONG TO POPULARIZE THE BIKINI.

2021-12-24T16:27:00.000-05:00

No recent decade is more fascinating and prodigious than that of the sixties (1960-1970). The conservatism of the fifties (1950-1960) was followed by a period of extraordinary liberalism. New times marked by incredible vitality, tremendous inventiveness and audacity never seen before.

These years can be designated by the word «revolution» as the changes were numerous and radical compared to previous eras.

In 1960, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved «the pill», an oral contraceptive, which would be at the origin of the new age of sexual liberation, of «free love». This is also the prelude to the emancipation of women and the liberation of morals.

The sixties revolution also manifested itself in culture and the arts. This was the advent of «Pop Art» with, among others, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.

In music, rock & roll and psychedelic sound electrified the atmosphere with bands like : the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, the Doors, and Jimi Hendrix (picture above).

In the sixties, the progress is enormous on the scientific and technological levels (computers, first heart transplant, conquest of space, etc).

We are also witnessing a generational change. Young people are very numerous and they shake up the established order (students revolt in Paris, May '68). This translate into multiple demonstrations and demands : against the war (Vietnam), for civil rights, those of women, homosexuals and minorities.

In 1964, singer Bob Dylan summed up these upheavals well in his song «The Times They Are a-Changin» (video below, at the White House in early January 2011).

In politics it is also a complete renewal. The conservatives cede power to the liberals (John F. Kennedy in the USA, Lester B. Pearson in Canada). In Asia and Africa, it is decolonization.

Let us make no mistake. Many people say the sixties were the «golden years». This was not a golden age. In 1961, this is the construction of the shameful Berlin Wall. In 1962, the world is moving to a hair's breadth of atomic war, with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Then will follow the Kennedy brothers (John & Bobby) and Martin Luther King assassinations, the Vietnam war...

Despite the Peace & Love movement of the hippies, the world remains violent and dangerous in the sixties.

In these years, clothing fashion is also undergoing major transformations. For women, more and more liberated, and who do not want to look like their mother, it is the total shock with the fashion of tights, pantsuit, miniskirt and acceptance of bikini on the beaches. The use of synthetic materials is spreading for clothing.

It is a radical break with the fashion of the fifties. Such an important revolution that has a major impact that is still felt today. Periodically, in the decades that followed, the vintage fashion of the sixties reappeared or was readapted.

For fashion, it was a prosperous time with the domination of great couturiers such as : Saint-Laurent, Courrèges, Mary Quant, Paco Rabanne, Pierre Cardin... They can count on fabulous models or lovely stars to wear their creations : Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Ursula Andress, Raquel Welch, Marilyn Monroe, Jane Birkin, Catherine Deneuve, Twiggy (photo above), etc.

The silhouette of women is redesigned. The desire for thinness is exacerbated. Weight Watchers launched its diets in 1963. Two years earlier, Wonderbra had created its first push-up bra.

All accessories also go into «revolutionary» mode : whether glasses (futuristic style), jewelry (very showy and oversized), shoes (mid-calf boots), handbags (mini and flashy) and, of course, the famous miniskirt. From the mid-calf skirt of the fifties, we boldly switched to the mid-thigh miniskirt. Quite a leap into space !

On the bikini side, in the sixties we finally move to popular acceptance. Because in the fifties, women, in general, do not yet dare to wear it in public. Firstly, because in many countries it is prohibited under penalty of fines. And also, because it was considered indecent, according to the morality of the time, still strongly influenced by religion.

It's funny to note that in 1960, it was a funny little song that helped popularize the bikini, causing a marked increase in sales of this tiny bathing suit. Indeed, Brian Hyland is a great success with his song «Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini» (video below). Another proof that art can greatly influence culture and society..

CHEERLEADERS IN THE 1960s : HERE COME THE SISTERS !

2021-06-20T15:27:00.000-04:00

In 1960, cheerleading took another giant step. The prestigious National Football League opens its doors for the first time to professional cheerleaders. It is the Baltimore Colts who have the honor and the happiness to make this gesture which is both a recognition of the enviable status already achieved by cheerleading but which will also serve as a springboard for the evolution of this future sport.

The sixties were the battle of civil rights for black people in the United States. These times of uproar and confrontation will especially disrupt the lives of students on university campuses. In the American society, these are progressive places par excellence to feed the demands of blacks, who are more and more numerous in these institutions of higher education.

In the south of the country, where they are still in greater numbers, blacks often protest against the fact that they are not sufficiently well represented in cheerleader teams. At certain hotspots in the United States, this will result in demonstrations, boycotts of classes and even riots.

The integration of the "blacks" in cheerleading will be done little by little but it will experience some difficulties due to the differences in styles. Because of their culture and genetic background, blacks are more adept at a rhythmic acrobatic style. Whites are more oriented towards figures or choreographies that focus more on the beauty and grace of gestures than on high-flying prowess. The marriage of the two styles will be very beneficial to cheerleading and it will later lead it to its peak.

In 1968, when this marriage began to bear fruit, another innovation helped to make the Pom Pom Girls show even more attractive: it was the vinyl pom pom created by Fred Gasthoff. Lawrence Herkimer, however, retains his rights (patent) to this sparkling object that so enhances and embellishes the "work" and the physique of the charming slap leaders.

In the photograph at the top of the article, we see a typical "home coming", a traditional welcoming ceremony made by the cheerleaders of the Baltimore Colts. This happened in 1959 when the Colts players returned after a game played abroad. In the photo montage below, you will be able to see in pictures the subjects I have just addressed. Also on a music of NFL movies, Times of Glory..

HISTORY OF THE BIKINI : BRIGITTE BARDOT AND THE PIN UP GIRLS OF THE 1950s

2020-12-08T16:55:00.026-05:00

Brigitte Bardot

In 1946, two Frenchmen, engineer Louis Réard, and fashion designer Jacques Heim, were in a strange competition in Paris.

The challenge : make the smallest two-piece bathing suit for women...

But, given the mores of the time, an obstacle stands in this race with minimal dress : the navel ! In the 1940s, showing it was still considered obscene or forbidden.

In fact, many historians consider that Heim already won this race to the tiniest swimsuit in 1932, by creating his prototype called "The Atom" (pictured above).It was a two-piece somewhat similar to the model that will take the name "bikini" after World War II.

What inspired Louis Réard for his own version of the minimalist swimsuit was a phenomenon he had observed on the French beaches of that time. He had noticed that, in order to get a better tan, some women rolled the edges of their two-pice bathing suit, surreptitiously discovering their "scandalous" navel !

In his engineering head, Réard (pictured above) understood that this need for women to shorten their own bathing suits by rolling the edges, should lead to an adjustment in the making of the garment.

After all, like many scientific inventions, this is how the bikini was born. First, the observation of a problem, a need, a desire, or a questionable fact. Then, the imagination gets to work to find a solution. This solution then takes shape on the drawing board. And it is carried out with material means and a skin-fine that proceeds by trial and error.

Thus, in 1946, with more or less accuracy, Réard developed the bikini we know today : a top covering most of the breasts; a stocking, with a triangle at the front to hide the inner part, and at the back enough fabrics to cover more or less half of the buttocks.

Once his invention was made, Louis Réard planned to sell it, as he was also a businessman operating his mother's lingerie shop near the Folies Bergères in Paris. In order to attrack customers or buyers of his new product, the engineer had to show case it, market it and advertise it.

To do this, Réard was looking for a mannequin -an alive one- to make demonstrations in public. But his bikini was so daring for the manners of the time, that no one wanted to wear it.

Running out of volunteers, Réard takes great measures. To present his creation to the world, he hires a nude dancer from the Casino de Paris, Micheline Bernardini (pictured above).

On July 5, 1946, she caused a sensation by appearing, almost completely naked, at the Molitor Pool, in front of the public and photographers, in Réard's minimalist bathing suit ! An instant star, Bernardini has a multitude of admirers, especially among men. In the days following her audacious presentation, she received no less than 50 000 letters !

But Louis Réard is too far ahead of his time. His bikini is scandalous and he can't sell it. Worse, his competitor, Jacques Heim, was more successful in selling a more conservative two-piece bathing suit (like the one pictured above), revealing less of the female anatomy. However, the clientele remains quite marginal. It is limited to a small number of wealthy and sophisticated Higher-class Europeans.

Esther Williams

For the bikini to return to store shelves, it will take a bang. And it is a young woman, many considered the most beautiful in the world, who will give this momentum, so desired by Réard, to take off and boost the sales of his invention hitherto sullied by the ordinary people.

Indeed, at the Cannes Film Festival, in 1953, the blonde and very beautiful French actress Brigitte Bardot dazzled the world by posing in a very sexy bikini. Bardot launched a fashion that then spread to the adjacent beaches of Saint-Tropez, a town on the French Riviera that quickly became the bikini capital of the world.

Ava Gardner

Other movie and show business stars and pin-up girls will emulate Bardot in the 1950s. These resplendent and illustrious fans of the new bikini include : Esther Williams, Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, Anita Ekberg and Sophia Loren.

Marilyn Monroe

But, in several American states, or European countries (such as Italy, Spain and Portugal, the bikini is banned. Wearing it is illegal. Violators can be fined. The Pope also condemns the wearing of the bikini.

Sophia Loren

And if, as we approach the 1960s, some magazines or newspapers are showing people in bikinis, these pictures are retouched or censored so that readers can't look at this outrageous navel that no one should see !

Here are some photos of bikini models of the 1950s on a grestest hit of the year 1953 : «Look at that Girl», by Guy Mitchell !

CHEERLEADERS IN THE 1950s : OH HAPPY DAYS TOGETHER !

2016-08-13T17:38:00.052-04:00

FSU STUDENTS IN 1954.

After the worst tragedy in mankind history, that was the Second World War, people were eager to forget these horrible years of death, suffering and sacrifices. They were hungry for peace, love and kindness. A cure to heal humanity. They were still afraid of the possibility of an atomic war that could be even worst than World War II, but all they wanted was to be hopeful and happy at home. And that's what happened !

And love there was ! A lot of it ! With all these young couples founding big families of four to seven children, at least ! This "baby boom" was coupled with a great period of prosperity in America. In the most powerful country of the planet there was a feeling that the american dream could be fulfilled...

After such hard times of danger and troubles, people seemed to cherish life more than ever before. And they understood that it was important to take care of each others. Religious beliefs, sacred family values, a strong sense of unity in the community, and a joyous spirit, animated these young Americans of the 1950s.

Then, moms were still "home queens", they stayed in the family nest, and the happiness of their relatives were their number one priority. They were dedicated and devoted almost exclusively to their love ones. That was the key to their own happiness.

But, whit so many children in the family house, mothers often needed help to take care of everyone. So, the older children would look after the younger ones. Doing so would prepare themselves to become good parents a few years later.

Family ties were strong. Divorce was not an option. Maried couples managed to find solutions to their problems, for the well-being of the family. Maybee these were the happiest days in the history of America.

A good family life enjoyed by a new comfort provided by modern machines, TV sets, appliances, beautiful furnishings, big cars, etc.

That was the american way of life. At least for the white middle class families. It has been illustrated in television series like HAPPY DAYS (see cast, two pictures above) and FATHER KNOWS BEST (Thanksgiving, 1954, picture above).

The dynamics of this joyful life in the Fifties are almost incomprehensible today, in a society where individualism and materialism are so dominant. Now, divisions are so numerous and profound between races and social classes.

Maybee it was the same thing, back in the 1950s, but there were a lot less medias to show it. Actually, in some regions of the United States, households of one person are more common than ones with a family.

Back in the fifties, with all these joyous baby boomers attending school together, friendship was in the air ! There was a strong connection between the students and their "alma mater". They were very proud to belong to their college or university.

And to show their pride, it happened that a new activity became the rage on the sports fields and gyms of all the american schools : cheerleading ! With uniforms representing their school, these strong boys and beautiful girls were there to direct the cheers to support the "home sport team".

At the same time, doing so was great to promote friendship among all the students of the school; this important and crucial place where you were educated and prepared to become good patriots and good american citizens.

In the fifties, cheerleaders, well...the essentially cheered ! Their routines were simple choreographies with yells to incite the spectators to support their sport team. Stunting, jumps, dance, tumbling would be progressively integrated in these routines a little bit later.

And these more acrobatic moves would require some changes to the Pom Pom girls uniforms. Or is it the other way around ? Changes to the uniforms allowed the cheerleaders to do more acrobatic routines ! Who knows ?!

One thing is for sure : from the second part of the 1940s (picture above) to the end of the fifties (picture below), the length of the cheerleader's skirt was cut by more than a half ! From just above the ankles, it went under the knees, up above them, and finally to mid-thigh. A revolution !

Even if nothing is impossible today, it would be very surprising to see a teen student going to her classroom wearing a cheerleader outfit ! But it was not the case in the fifties. Except for a few details, cheerleaders uniforms, at least for the first half of the 1950s, were almost identical to any girl's every day clothes. Cheerleaders uniforms were still of wool material but slightly shorter. They were tucked in blouses, or botton up and collared shirts, and cardigans, tackle twill with the school's letters and a megaphone.

The first "professional cheerleaders" appeared at the end of the decade, around 1959, with the Baltimore Colts, of the American Football League. Some pictures show them with their pom poms, welcoming back the players after a game away form home. A typical "home coming ceremony" in these times. You don't see that nowadays.

Because, as I already said it, in the 1950s, people cared for each others. To see the players back after a safe plane trip, in an another city, was a good reason to celebrate. It was a proof of love...

INVENTION OF THE "NEW" BIKINI : NOT UNLIKE SOME GREAT DISCOVERIES OF THE PAST.

2015-07-02T23:51:00.000-04:00

In my first post, we saw that two-piece bikini-like garments were worn by women for athletic purposes in Ancient Greece, as far back as 1 400 BC. It seemed like a natural thing that, even in these times : design followed function. But it was not as simple as that. You know the adage : other times, other morals. What seems natural in some societies is often inadmissible or licentious in others, even in our world that we call the "global village". The way different peoples see things depends of who (political authorities, interest group, etc) has the power to rule the society.

In occidental countries, the Catholic Church had such a powerful influence up until the middle of the last century, that it could determine what was right and what was wrong. Kings, dictators, or even democratic leaders could not govern without the advices or the rules imposed by the religious authorities. In the fist two millenniums of our era, as a citizen or an inhabitant of a christian country, you were not allowed to do or say something that the priests and the Pope would condemn. They hold the truth and nobody could challenge them on almost any question even for matters, like those related to sciences, they did not have the competence to understand or judge. They would even threaten, imprison, torture or kill people who did'nt agree with them on some conflicting issues.

For examples, great discoverers like Copernicus and Galileo were forced by the Church to deny their brilliant theories about the earth, because these findings went against the dogmatic views or the superstitions of the christian religion. Galileo was found guilty of heresy even if he provided evidence for his heliocentric theory by using a telescope. Later, when Charles Darwin elaborated his theory of the evolution, it was impossible for the Catholic Church to accept that we "were all apes". It was in complete contradiction of the "official story" told in the Genesis (first book of the Old Testament).

Of course, we can not compare the invention of the "modern bikini" to the great discoveries made by Copernicus, Galileo or Darwin. But the creation of this new bathing suit in 1946 had a shocking impact too. And, for the religious authorities, it was a unacceptable scandal ! A monster of indecency ! In many countries, not long after his invention, the bikini was condemned and banned. His inventor, French engineer Louis Réard (1897-1984), knew that his new creation would be a "bomb" ! That's the reason why he named it after Bikini Atoll, in the Pacific, the site of an atomic bomb test on July 1, 1946. And, compared to the beachwears of the first 30 years of the century (picture above), the bikini was so small that it seems to "split the Atome", like Réard used to say. This innovation was to expose the navel. How shocking !

If Réard did "split the Atome", it was because one of his competitor, fashion designer Jacques Heim (1889-1967), had already created the "Atome" (picture above), which, he claimed, was, in 1932, the smallest bathing suit ever. Réard, who was running his mother's lingerie boutique near "Les Folies Bergères", in Paris, wanted to challenge this title. Like all the great inventors, he was a very good observer. He had noticed that women were rolling up their beachwear to get a better tan. By doing so, they were expressing a need. Réard found the solution. He sliced the top off the bottoms and advertised these new two-piece as "smaller than the smallest swimsuit".

But Réard's invention was so audacious and ahead of his time that he could not find a model to wear his first bikini. He ended up hiring Micheline Bernardini (picture above), a nude dancer from the "Casino de Paris". She was first seen, wearing the famous tiny two-piece, on July 5, at Piscine Molitor, a public pool in Paris. Her bikini was a string one, with a g-string back of 30 square inches (194 cm²) of cloth with newspaper type print.

And yes ! It was quite a hit (a bomb), especially among men. The beautiful Micheline Bernardini received 50 000 letters, and Réard's business soared ! We can see him (picture above, in 1946) adjusting his popular "polka dot strapless bikini" on another queen of beauty. But if the bikini was a success on the beaches of France, as early as in 1947, it would take time to be welcomed elsewhere... We will see that in the next posts...

NOWADAYS CHEERLEADERS : A LOT MORE SEXY THAN GEORGE W. BUSH !

2014-10-19T16:49:00.009-04:00

In 1964, long before he became the 43rd president of the United States (2001-2009), George W. Bush (photo below) was a cheerleader at Phillips Academy, a boarding school (then all-male) in Andover, Massachusetts. Ironically, we like to think that Bush was a cheerleader all his life. Once the owner of the Texas Rangers, a major league baseball team, he certainly cheered for his club. And even as a USA president, he must have been a kind of cheerleader in chief to lead his powerful country.

If, in the mid-sixties, the pom pom girls tradition was already well established, it was not the case when cheer leading began at the end of the 19th century, up until the second World War (1939-45). Women joined this kind of activities only in 1923, and no pompons were involved, since they were not invented then. Before that it was essentially an all-man discipline performed by students, first at Princeton, as early as 1877, and, after, at the University of Minnesota. The very first cheerleader was Johnny Campbell, who, in 1898 (November 2), directed a crowd in cheering «Rah, Rah, Rah ! Ski-u-mah, Hoo-Rah ! Hoo-Rah ! Varsity ! Varsity ! Minn-e-so-Tah !». The key word here is "directed", because it means that Campbell planned his initiative, unlike the boys before him, who were more "yell leaders" than cheerleaders, from the stands where they operated... Yes, in these times, those who stimulated crowds were not on the players field, like today's cheerleaders.

Fighting on the battle fields, or engaged in war duties, in the first half the 1940s, American men were replaced by women to cheer for sports teams. Today, 97% of all modern cheerleading participants overall are female, except at the collegiate level, where girls and boys are equally represented. After the war, cheerleading progressed a lot by incorporing gymnastics, tumbling and megaphones. Cheerleading became very popular. Local and national competitions were organized in many places. In 1965, Fred Gastoff invented the vinyl pompon.

Of course, through the decades, cheerleaders uniforms have dramatically changed to reflect the changes in American culture and fashion trends. This evolution also followed the development of cheerleading itself. From the 1920s to the end of the war, as long as the female cheerleaders did not move a lot to perform, they wore long wool skirts and collared shirts that were not a lot different from the bathing suits of their times.

Lafayette cheerleaders in 1922

Thanks to old films dating back to the First World War (1914-18), we know that French Men, among others, were still swimming in the nude, like they always did, along the coasts of their country. By far (very far), it was not the same for their ladies ! On the beaches, they were completely covered by heavy suits of wool and cotton. In these times, getting a tan was not fashionable. Back then, to be beautiful, a woman had to have a white skin. The wither, the better ! At the beginning of the 20th century, seeing even the slightest bit of a woman skin, or a body part like an ankle, would have sent men into a tizzy ! Women were so much afraid that their bathing dresses would float in the water that they had weights sewn into the lining ! How times have changed now that, in some parts of the world, we can see women wearing a monokini on public beaches !

It could be argued that we have come full circle when we consider bathing suits and cheerleaders outfits. In our first article, last month, we mentioned that active women in ancient Greece wore a kind of bikini when they were practicing sports. For them, it was simply natural to do so because athletics activities required to move freely, without being restricted or bothered by too much clothes. Breast bands and briefs allowed them to move more easily. The same thing applied gradually, through the years, for female cheerleaders, when their routines became more and more complex and required uniforms more adapted to their gymnastic or dance moves.

We say that we have come full circle, because we also know that in the Middle Ages, the kind of breasts bands and briefs wore by Greek women 1 400 BC, continued to be used as undergarments. Now, all these historic features are present in the modern cheerleaders wardrobes ! On the sports fields or on the playing surfaces, their uniforms has become very light, very short, very...minimal ! More than that, in the photo shootings for their team calendar, the pom pom girls appear in bikinis and even in lingerie (photos above and below) !

A Houston Rockets cheerleader being photographed for the team calendar in 2011

Of course, tissues have changed. From cotton and leather, in the ancient Roman-Greek era, we have passed to more refined or high tech fabrics like lace, spandex, polyester, etc. And yes, without a doubt, cheerleaders wearing these short outfits are a lot more sexy than George W. Bush, even when he was a young at Phillips Academy !

BIKINI GIRLS : NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN !

2014-08-25T12:22:00.008-04:00

Though the bikini shocked when it appeared on French women wearing it on the beaches of their country, this sexy peace of cloth was nothing new under the sun... 3 400 years ago, Greec women worn bikini-like garments for athletic purposes. In his writings, poet Ovid suggested that women of his time had a long strip of cloth wrapped around the breasts and tucked in the ends.

This breastband, called mastodeton or an apodesmos, and the partly high cut briefs and partly loincloth, which went with it, were not so different from the ones seen on today's women when they are sun-bathing. Well, Rihanna's beautiful bikini (photo) may be more sophisticated but, it's the same basis ! After the Ancient Greece era, these breastbands continued to be used as an undergarment in the Middle Ages. Many historians think that they may have been also used to flatten big breasts and to padd small breasts to look bigger. An old trick still used today !

The most amazing proof of the existence of bikinis, well before our time, was found in Sicily by Gino Vinicio Gentile, in 1950-60. In Villa Romana del Casale, he discovered artwork dating back to 286-305 AD, showing "Bikini Girls" weight-lifting, discus throwing, playing with a ball, running and dancing. Similar mosaics have been discovered in the north of Italy. There has been no evidence that these bikinis were used for swimming or sun-bathing. In Ancient Rome, sex workers were also wearing costumes similar to the "Bikini Girls".

It's funny how history can repeat itself or come back to its beginnings ! Maybe bikinis were the first step in clothing history after birthday suits ! When we see these pictures of the "Bikini Girls" of the Villa Romana del Casale, we realize how modern the ancients were ! Think of it ! These beautiful women wearing sexy bikinis were Kate Upton's ancestors ! Read my article about her on my web site STARS ON BEACH (starsonbeach.blogspot.com).