What is a Maillot?
A maillot is a one-piece swimsuit, typically cut high in the leg. Maillots run the gamut from modest suits designed for older women to maillot cutouts, swimsuits with daring cutouts or piece work designed to highlight a shapely body. The term is also used to refer to the stretchy knit fabric used to make a swimsuit, and sometimes is used to discuss leggings, leotards, and other sports apparel made from that fabric. In French, the world maillot means shirt, while a maillot de bain is a bathing or swim suit. In the 1920s, when form hugging swim suits for women became mmore acceptable, fashion designers started calling them maillots, and the term stuck. Today, the term continues to be used in the fashion industry, and some companies will also distinguish their bathing suits as one-piece maillots or two-piece bikinis.
