A #1 Billboard single during the summer of 1960, this little ditty describes a shy wallflower who changes into her bikini for the first time, and then doesn’t want to venture out of the locker room. Even when she makes it out onto the beach, she covers up with a blanket. Once she finally hits the waves, she stays in the ocean until she turns blue. This early adopter of the bikini trend may have had to face the public terror of revealing so much, but she blazed the way for countless other women to shed their maillots and try out a two-piece. The song itself has been credited with popularizing the style. In today’s age of overexposure, a mere bikini doesn’t inspire much fear, but the sense of apprehension that comes with fashion risk-taking is timeless.
