Photos: See how women dress to the beach in the 1900s and how they dress now in 2017

An intriguing new picture set reveals what acceptable beach outfits looked like in the period between 1900 and 1922. In 1919, 20 special deputies called "Sheriffettes" were sworn in to monitor the swimwear of the bathers. If a woman was found to be revealing too much bare skin, she could be forced to pay a $10 fine, although many of these modesty rules were lifted by the mid-1920s.

A 1921 Hawaiian law was enacted that no one over 14 years of age could appear in a swimsuit unless "covered suitably by an outergarment reaching at least to the knees." Women began to wear towels around their waists or wrap raincoats around themselves.
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Women could be fined for revealing too much flesh.

In this image, Washington policeman Bill Norton is seen measuring the distance between a woman's knee and bathing suit at the Tidal Basin bathing beach.

His boss, Col Sherrill, who was Superintendent of Public Buildings and Grounds, had issued an order stating that suits not be over six inches above the knee.

A policewoman checking for violations of the bathing suit-length laws in 1921.
In Chicago, Illinois, women were being arrested for defying a Chicago edict banning "abbreviated bathing suits" on beaches.

A group of young women are pictured picnicking on the beach in 1905, at a time when beachwear was made with heavy wool and featured high necks, long sleeves, skirts and pants:

Three silent film actresses, Lillian Langston, Edith Roberts, and Myrtle Reeves, are pictured in 1918 in their bathing suits in an image believed to have been taken in LA.

In Nigeria, ladies are not updated in beach wear...still wearing 1921 swimsuit cover style...so shy of their bodies. Meanwhile in other African country, See below. Where u enjoy good beach view.

A beauty contest in 1920 shows a group of women wearing swimming costumes and long socks and hats, in an era when beach police could issue fines for revealing too much skin.

Two bathers being escorted off the beach by a police woman for wearing too short in Chicago, 1922.

Beach girls, 1918-1920.

Buchanan from the West Palm Beach police force, measuring the bathing suit of Betty Fringle on Palm Beach, to ensure that it conforms with regulations introduced by the beach censors. 1925.

The rules then and now. Sign posted by police department stating regulations for beachgoers.
1940s Vs 2017.

This group of girlfriends running out of the cold October sea in 1925.

1901 Beach women vs 2017.

Friends then and now:

Sunbathing 1800s:

Strapless bathing suits 1938.

Officer checking bathing outfit, 1920s.

The bikini started in 1960s:

Beach girls then and now.