Nicolas Evgeniou

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Within my research, I came to understand the way in which the bikini spawned in Europe, with much greater acceptance far earlier than in the United States. Much to reason for this is due to a newfound feeling on European beaches, parallel to the introduction of the concept of a vacation. People felt weightless, and that there was a sense of magic when they were at sea. This atmosphere provided for an allowance for such revealing garments— bearing less, and feeling more. Knowing this, I wanted to capture this essence of “magic” and “sexiness” used to describe the feeling at the beach, only this time, in the form of a beach cover-up. I wanted to make sure that my final work created an experience, beyond just a garment, not far from those outlined in my research. Also stringing my research to the beach cover-up is this strong lack of body-covering, as explored by the bikini itself during the time of its arrival— something I achieved through constructing this garment using macrame, creating little windows to human skin. It was important to me to have handknotted the entire piece, both in macrame and in embellishment, as there would be a stronger connection with touch and creating through just the human hand. Adorning oneself in this garment allows for full body movement, freeing the body in both the context of physicality, and of concealment.