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It was named after a Pacific atoll where the Americans were testing nuclear bombs - and it eventually blew the clothes off women on beaches everywhere.

The humble bikini turns 60 this week,  a milestone even more significant given the shockwaves created by the first skimpy version.

In 1946, haughty Parisian models turned their noses up at French car engineer Louis Reard,  who finally persuaded an exotic dancer to showcase his provocative new creation.

The big faux pas? Navel gazing. The French said 'non' to the exposure of belly buttons, while the governments of Spain, Portugal and Italy all declared: 'Not on our beaches.'

Hollywood producers banned the belly button from movies. The Vatican decried the bikini as immoral.

Reard, though, seemed to enjoy the controversy. From a back room in his mother's lingerie boutique, he had been racing rival designer Jacques Heim to create the first revolutionary two-piece bathing suit.

On a Cannes beach Heim produced his 'Atome' - cut from just 71cm of fabric and dubbed the 'world's smallest bathing suit'.

Not to be outdone, Reard came up with an even skimpier outfit, dropping the bottom half below the navel. His message, drawn on a cloudless sky above the French Riviera, was clear: 'The bikini - smaller than the smallest bathing suit in the world.'

Despite the ensuing controversy, Reard's name stuck and within two decades, the bikini was a must-have in women's wardrobes.

A new tome - The Bikini Book - captures the photographic evolution of the flimsy two-piece.

Most observers credit the beginning of its acceptance on the appearance of a gingham-clad Brigitte Bardot in the 1956 film And God Created Woman.

Then came the sexual liberation of the '60s, and by the time Ursula Andress  emerged from the ocean as Honey Ryder in Dr No, mainstream acceptance had been achieved. The sight of Raquel Welch cavorting in a fur bikini with grunting cavemen in One Million Years BC was far removed from the spate of beach-themed movies starring squeaky-clean bikini-clad Annette Funicello,  but they both helped.

Pop music has also played its part, with no song so infuriatingly memorable as the 1960 Bryan Hyland  hit Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, about a girl too embarrassed to leave the water because of her minuscule swimwear.

It was 1964 when Sports Illustrated produced its first swimwear issue, featuring a cover model wearing a white bikini, and sports magazines have been cashing in on the successful sales tactic ever since.

Constantly changing fashions dictate the bikini styles they feature and the remarkable array of materials - from lycra to leopard skin - used to make them.

Even with such a seemingly skimpy outfit, body coverage has varied dramatically.

A 1970s Brazilian craze for tiny triangle-shaped tops and even tinier G-strings sparked a 'less is best' trend, and so-called topless bikinis became popular. Today, thongs remain widely worn on Rio's beaches.

Elsewhere, modesty has made a comeback in styles like the tankini, which offer the coverage of a one-piece suit in a two-piece bikini.

Health is also an important factor for women increasingly concerned about the dangers of skin cancer from sun exposure.

Although traditional swimsuits remain popular, tens of billions of dollars are spent around the world each year on two-pieces. And Kelly Killoren Bensimon,  author of The Bikini Book, believes they are here to stay.

'It took several years for the bikini to catch on,' she says. 'But today, it's considered ageless and timeless.'



As it turns 60, the bikini's allure shows no sign of falling off