The present generation may have taken swimwsuit to a different level, where it now has more to do with style than swimming. But there was a time, when swimwear meant swimming, and with modesty. Going down memory lane is Mavis Plume, a resident of Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, UK, who for the last 50 years, has collected swimsuits. Her collection ranges from Victorian bathing-gowns to bikinis.

A push from her son to find these watery delights a place to be seen resulted in them going to the Southend Central Museum. The swimwear are on exhibition here and cover 150 years in beachwear.

According to the curator of the museum Clare Hunt, finding such rare swimsuits is difficult as the sea-water damages the material in the long run. Some of Mavis’ fell prey to moths but on the whole, survived to light up the social scene.

“These weren’t designer swimsuits,” says Clare, “but they were the height of fashion for ordinary women.” How 84-year-old Mavis started collecting swimwear makes for a fascinating tale.

Years back, a vintage car rally led her photographer hubby Derrick asking her to pose by a car and a jokey comment of her being ‘an old bathing-belle swimsuit’ caught her fancy. Donations included her mother-in-law’s 20s costume and a 30s knitted costume from a neighbour.

“She told me that the first time she went into the water, it sagged down to her knees,” says Mavis. Writing to pools for their old swimwear and an advertisement in the Swimming Times magazine meant publicity for her. Soon, people came to her with swimwear. A note of interest is that the model for her collection is Mavis herself.

The oldest piece is a man’s costume from the 1850s, while the smallest, a bikini, is startingly tiny. “I wore one  once to swim the length of the pool,” remembers Mavis. “I couldn’t get out! It billowed up, full of water, and I had to wring myself out before I could get up the steps.”

Mavis is glad that the collection has found a home. The exhibition, aptly called Life’s a Beach, is held at the Southend Central Museum,Essex, from August 7- October 2. Swimming may not have changed much but styles related to it definitely have.