Fur at the Beach, yes Fur!

1940 Miami Beach Alfred Eisenstaedt

I love this shot, I'm just not sure why. It's one of those images that just captivates me. Fur on the beach, how gauche! And we're not talking baby seals here, this is an actual coat worn over a swimsuit. It's mysterious and I can only see her back so I'm not exactly sure of the purpose of the coat or even if there is a purpose beyond perhaps being cold. But why fur at the beach?

In the early days swimwear was made of wool, even that is a little hard for me to get my mind around. But wool and fur?

This photo is from 1916 and features Alice Maison in fur fox tails at the beach. Alice was an early pin-up girl, before they were called pin-up girls. Swimsuits were not revealing enough to be worn by pin-up girls. So it was fur at the beach for cheesecake shots for publicity purposes.

Here's another shot of Alice Maison from 1918. Again, with a fur muff and hat. I adore the style of that suit she has on too.

This is a shot of Marian Carr in 1948. She's wearing a rabbit fur two piece swimsuit. I just can't imagine that that would hold up very well. Movie publicity men we're trying to come up with new angles for promotion and since pretty girls are plenty, fur swimwear was a viable option.

Beauty at the beach I understand but fur at the beach? It doesn't work for me, it's just too odd of a juxtaposition.