Women's and men's beach fashion circa 1900 at Pismo Beach.©The Tribune
This appears to be he height of beach fashion at Pismo Beach circa early 1900s.
The flat beach leads me to guess Pismo Beach, a destination for tourists after the railroad went through in the early 20th century.
The man is wearing a handsome two piece swim suit while the woman has on a stylish beach bonnet, navy style dress, black stockings and shoes. She looks less likely to go in the water and more prepared for a walk on the beach.
You can see fashion evolve at the beach in this photo from the 1920s, 1954, and this one from Avila Beach in 1964.
Me, I’m not going in without a wetsuit.
Several of the images in the Leonard collection are from the South County. Santa Manuela school and Bridge Street in Arroyo Grande are two easily identified subjects.
The image comes from a collection of large format negatives in the Tribune library. They were enclosed in a 1950s era Telegram-Tribune window envelope, labeled “Mrs. Leonard.” The images however are decades older.
One image is from 1908 and others are from 1914-15.
Please post a comment if you know more.
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The men’s suit adds 10 pounds on camera.
That’s why he has those slimming horizontal stripes.
Very stylish. Their bathing outfits remind me of the ones that Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp wear in “Sweeney Todd.”