A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by girls and women that features one piece on top that covers the breasts, and a second piece on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but usually exposing the navel, and the back generally covering the intergluteal cleft and a little, some, or all of the buttocks. The size of the top and bottom can vary, from bikinis that offer full coverage of the breasts, pelvis, and buttocks, to more revealing designs with a thong or G-string bottom that covers only the mons pubis, but exposes the buttocks, and a top that covers only the areolae. Bikini bottoms covering about half the buttocks may be described as "Brazilian-cut", while those covering about three-quarters of the buttocks may be described as "cheeky" or "cheeky-cut". In May 1946, Parisian fashion designer Jacques Heim released a two-piece swimsuit design that he named the Atome ('Atom') and advertised as "the smallest swimsuit in the world". Like swimsuits of the era, it covered the wearer's belly button, and it failed to attract much attention. Clothing designer Louis Réard introduced his new, smaller design in July. He named the swimsuit after the Bikini Atoll, where the first public test of a nuclear bomb had taken place four days before. His skimpy design was risqué, exposing the wearer's navel and much of her buttocks. No runway model would wear it, so he hired a nude dancer from the Casino de Paris named Micheline Bernardini to model it at a review of swimsuit fashions.
A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, talent, character, and charitable involvement, through private interviews with judges and answers to public on-stage questions. The term beauty pageant refers originally to the Big Four international beauty pageants.
Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss International, and Miss Earth, it is one of the Big Four international beauty pageants.
Miss Earth is an annual international major beauty pageant based in the Philippines that advocates for environmental awareness, conservation and social responsibility. Along with Miss World, Miss Universe, and Miss International, it is one of the Big Four international beauty pageants.
Kerstin Margareta "Kiki" Håkansson is a Swedish model and beauty queen who was the first winner of the Miss World beauty pageant after being crowned Miss Sweden World in 1951.
Jennifer Hawkins is an Australian model, television presenter and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 2004, She previously been crowned Miss Universe Australia 2004. She was the host of Australia's Next Top Model, and was brand ambassador for Lovable Intimates, Mount Franklin Lightly Sparkling and Range Rover, and formerly the face of Australian department store Myer.
A swimsuit competition, more commonly now called a bikini contest, is a beauty contest which is judged and ranked while contestants wear a swimsuit, typically a bikini. One of the judging criteria is the physical attractiveness of the contestants. The Big Four international beauty pageants have included examples of such a competition.
Hawaiian Tropic is an American brand of suntan lotion that was founded by Ron Rice in 1969. Hawaiian Tropic became the largest private manufacturer of sun care products in the United States. The company was acquired by Playtex Products, Inc. in May 2007. With Hawaiian Tropic and Playtex's Banana Boat brand, Playtex became the largest manufacturer of sun care products in the Western Hemisphere. Shortly after purchasing Hawaiian Tropic, Playtex Products was purchased by Energizer Holdings Inc. in a deal valued at $1.9 billion.
Danielle Lloyd is an English model and television personality. A former Miss England (2004) and Miss Great Britain (2006), Lloyd first rose to prominence when she was stripped of her Miss Great Britain title after posing nude in the December 2006 edition of Playboy magazine. Her Miss Great Britain title was reinstated in 2010.
The 14th Nuestra Belleza México pageant, was held at the Auditorio "Profr. Manuel Bonilla Valle" of Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico on October 6, 2007. Thirty-three contestants of the Mexican Republic competed for the national title, which was won by Elisa Nájera from Guanajuato, who later competed in Miss Universe 2008 in Vietnam where she was the 4th Runner-up. Nájera was crowned by outgoing Nuestra Belleza México titleholder Rosa María Ojeda. She is the first and only Guanajuatense to win this title.
The modern bikini first appeared in 1946, and since then it has become a part of popular culture. It is one of the most widely worn women's swimsuits, used for swimming and in a variety of other contexts. Today, bikinis appear in competitions, films, magazines, music, literature, and video games. Despite the availability of more revealing glamour wear, bikini modeling remains popular and can still create controversy. Portrayals of the bikini in popular culture led, to a large extent, to its acceptance by Western society at large. In 1960, Brian Hyland's pop song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini" inspired a bikini-buying spree. The white bikini worn by Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder in the 1962 James Bond film Dr. No has been cited as one of the most famous bikinis of all time. By 1963, the movie Beach Party, starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, led a wave of films that made the bikini a pop-culture symbol. Playboy first featured a bikini on its cover in 1962. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue debuted two years later. This increasing popularity was reinforced by its appearance in such contemporary films as How to Stuff a Wild Bikini featuring Annette Funicello and One Million Years B.C. (1966) featuring Raquel Welch. Raquel Welch's fur bikini in One Million Years B.C. became a famous moment in cinema history. Hollywood stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Gina Lollobrigida and Jane Russell further helped the growing popularity of bikinis. Pin up posters of Monroe and Mansfield, as well as Hayworth, Bardot and Raquel Welch distributed around the world contributed significantly to the popularity of the bikini.
Gizem Memiç (Turkish:[ˈɡizemˈmemitʃ]; is a Turkish model and beauty pageant titleholder who won the title of Miss Turkey 2010 on 1 April 2010. She graduated from Interior Architecture & Environmental Design at Bilkent University.
Miss World 2013, the 63rd edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 28 September 2013 at Bali International Convention Center, South Kuta, Bali, Indonesia. It was the first time in Southeast Asia and it also was the first time in the pageant's history that the event was held in a Muslim majority country. Contestants from 127 countries and territories competed in this year's Miss World pageant, marking the biggest turnout for any beauty pageant globally as of 2023. Yu Wenxia of China crowned her successor Megan Young of the Philippines at the end of the event, marking the only time to date that the Philippines has won the Miss World title. This victory also made the Philippines the third country to win all of the Big Four international beauty pageants.
Nicole Cassandra Schmitz is a Filipino beauty titleholder who represented the Philippines in the Miss International 2012 pageant in Okinawa, Japan on 21 October 2012, where she placed in the Top 15. She is also the third representative of the Philippines to the Miss International pageant of German descent after Miss International 2010 - Top 15 Semi-Finalist, Krista Kleiner and the late Melody Gershbach, Miss International 2009 Top 15 Semi-Finalist.
Yu Wenxia is a Chinese actress, television host, singer, model and beauty queen who won Miss World 2012 in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia, the second Chinese national to do so after Zhang Zilin in 2007.
Nathalie Marina Hendrika Maria Den Dekker is a Dutch lawyer and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe Netherlands 2012 and represented her country at the Miss Universe 2012 pageant as well as other international pageants.
Selenge Erdene-Ochir is a Mongolian fashion model and a former winner of Miss Mongolia-World. She was the first Mongolian ever to compete and work for fashion channel "FTV". She won "First Runner Up" and "Ambassador of Mongolia" award at the "Miss Fashion TV" models contest.
Hillarie Danielle Ang Parungao-Donato is a Filipino TV presenter, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss World Philippines 2015. She represented the Philippines at the Miss World 2015 pageant and finished as a Top 10 semifinalist.
Anu Namshir, is a Mongolian model, graphic designer and beauty pageant titleholder who represented Mongolia at the Miss International 2013, Miss Manzhouli 2014, World Bikini Model 2015, Asian Star Model 2015 Supermodel International 2015, Miss World 2015, Miss Tourism Queen International 2016 pageant. She won the Miss Mongolia 2013 title and was later crowned as World Bikini Model International 2014 and Miss Manzhouli 2014 (winner) in China, Asian Star Model 2015 Supermodel International 2015 (winner) in Korea and Miss World Mongolia 2015. And then she represented Mongolia in the Miss World 2015. On September 26, 2016, she was crowned Miss Tourism Queen International 2016 and awarded Miss Charity. And then December 1, 2016, she has participated first in Goyol 2017 which was organized by Mongolian Designers Association annually was awarded "Photo Model". She worked at Mongolia's Next Top Model show 14th number representing Z24 online ticket reservation through Z24 face.
Eileen Mary O'Donnell, known professionally as Eileen O'Donnell, is an Irish model and international beauty pageant titleholder. O'Donnell started her career in 2011 and has since modelled in the categories of fashion, skincare and swimwear. She has gone on to collaborate with numerous notable brands including Pretty Little Thing, GymKing, MVMT Watches, The Couture Club, Ziaja Skincare, Benefit Cosmetics, amongst others.
