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Pope Pius XII declared the bikini sinful, and several countries — among them Belgium, Italy, Portugal, and Spain – enforced nationwide bans on the swimsuit.
In a well-known 1952 incident, Australian model Ann Ferguson was asked to leave the beach at Surfers Paradise because her Paula Stafford bikini was considered too revealing.
Truth about the famous photo
One photo has come to symbolize the entire debate over whether bikinis belonged on public beaches — or not. And it comes from Italy.
The black-and-white image, which has gone viral in recent years, shows a man in a white uniform standing beside a young woman in a bikini on a beach. Social media users often claim the moment was captured in Rimini, Italy, in 1957. The most shared version of the story says the man is a police officer writing the woman a ticket for nothing more than wearing a bikini.
A 2023 Reddit post featuring the image racked up over 31,000 upvotes and 1,400 comments. Its caption read: “A police officer issues a ticket to a woman for wearing a bikini, 1957.”
But was it real?
The photo itself is authentic — there’s no sign of digital tampering — but the backstory remains a mystery. There’s no solid proof the woman was ticketed for her swimwear. Some suspect it may have been a staged scene with models or actors, while others believe the officer could’ve been citing her for a completely different reason.
Still, the photo hit a nerve.
In an email, Gianluca Braschi, director of the State Archives of Rimini, confirmed to Snopes that Italy did have swimwear laws in place at the time, even if the story behind the photo remains unclear.
As Braschi explained, a 1932 law forbade “bathing in public view in a state of complete nudity and with indecent swimwear.” That law technically remained on the books until 2000, though enforcement was inconsistent.
So, while we may never know the full story behind that viral moment, it reflects a very real tension from the era, one where bikinis didn’t just turn heads… they could also get you in trouble.
The Hollywood influence
It wasn’t until the 1960s that the bikini really became popular. Cultural shifts opened the door for more daring swimwear styles.