Looking for a new swimming costume ahead of your summer holiday? If you're gifted with some needle and thread and a bit of fabric, you should still have time to fashion yourself something, with a little bit of help from the new book Vintage Swimwear Patterns by Jill Salen.
Salen is the author behind the Vintage Lingerie book we featured a little while back. This new title follows very much the same format: a mixture of history and craft. Patterns are given for 25 different costumes, dating from 1880 and 1970. You'll probably need to know your way around a pattern to make the most of the book: full step-by-step instructions are only given for two of the costumes. Either way, it's a fascinating insight into the changing shapes and construction of these holiday essentials.
You can buy the book for £12.80 from Amazon.