Coast2005

[talking about Victorian swimwear]

Neil Oliver:
There was a strict dress code. And quite a double standard for men and women.

Kate Rew:
The Victorian lady had to be very properly dressed when she went into the water. And these are the kinds of things that they wore - you needed a good pair of pantaloons, below the knee, obviously, to preserve her modesty; and then a kind of dress or smock over the top. And these were sometimes weighted down with lead pellets round the hem to stop them floating up.

Neil Oliver:
Lead is what you want in a swimming costume in the open sea, isn't it? Half a pound of lead shot.

Kate Rew:
Be like swimming in a sort of Hessian sack, I think, by the time it's wet.

Neil Oliver:
And what about me? What do *I* get?

Kate Rew:
You, delightfully, get to swim in the buff.

Neil Oliver:
[facetiously] Oh come on! I wanted a duffel coat, wellington boots and a hat!