THE FIRST BIKINI GIRL

(This was written a few years ago but reading John Feddeler's "absolute women" (Erotic section) and the existing comments encouraged me to share this here.)

When Monsieur Louis Reard wanted to go
Put the two-piece cossie he designed on show,
No ‘decent’ model would volunteer
To wear – ‘Me be seen in it?  No fear!’
So it fell to nightclub dancer, Micheline Bernardini,
The honour of modelling the first costume called ‘bikini’.

Named after the atoll in the south Pacific,
Where an A-bomb was tested, to be specific.
Like the bomb test it was an explosive sensation,
Became a must-have for chic girls in the French nation.
The impact of her photos on many a male
Drew her 50,000 letters in fan mail.