Evolution of the women's gymnastics leotard through the decades
The eyes of the world are currently on the gymnasts at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The sport has been open to women in the Olympics since 1928 in Athens.
Along with all the gravity-defying flips and incredible artistry, gymnastics is also a sport where fashion has flourished.
The leotard, first invented by French acrobat Jules Léotard in the 19th century, has been a staple uniform in women's gymnastics over the years.
But between fabric changes and design modifications, the leotard has had some major uplifts across the decades.
Read on to see the evolution of the iconic leotard in women's gymnastics to become the stylish, sparkling look it is today.
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1940s
Just two decades after women's gymnastics made it to the Olympics in 1928, the leotard was already making major strides.
The '40s design was understated and all about the box cut shorts rather than the bikini style we're used to seeing today.
In this pic, members of the USA gymnastics team wear a long sleeved leotard with ballet flats – a footwear choice which appeared to be all the rage in women's gymnastics in the early days.
1950s
The leotards of the '50s were noticeably much more plain than the ones we're used to seeing.
Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina wore this simple, sleeveless leotard for the 1956 Olympic Games.
1960s
Not much changed going into the '60s in terms of aesthetic.
The leotards, whether they be short or long sleeved, seemed to have a focus on practicality rather than aesthetic.
In this photo gymnast Monica Rutherford, competes in a classic leotard in 1962.
1970s
In a decade where fitness trends began to influence fashion, gymnasts wore pretty plain and simple leotards with the classic round neckline.
Ludmilla Tourischeva of Russia rocked a simple red leotard for her country while performing at the World Cup of Artistic Gymnastics in London in 1975.
1970s
Nadia Comaneci of Romania's white leotard at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games – where she scored her perfect 10 – is one for the history books.
We started to see gymnasts represent their national colours on their leotards, as seen through the Romanian stripes down the side of Comaneci's leotard.
1980s
Leotard prints not only got bolder in the 80s but started experimenting with new fabrics – lycra and spandex.
The performance benefits of these in the sport is more flexibility and movement in the fabric as well as a more form fitting look compared to alternatives like cotton and polyester.
Mary Lou Retton had one of the most iconic leotards of the decade at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 when she quite literally wore the US flag on her body.
By the '80s the design of the leotard had also appeared to go from box shorts to a more V shaped bikini style.
1980s
The leotards started to use more colour in the 80s, as seen in Wu Jiani of China's tricolour uniform for the Los Angeles Olympic Games.
In terms of the overall gymnastics aesthetic, hair was also an important part of the complete look with the bowl cut and the fringe with a ponytail being the standout trends.
1990s
The 1990s continued with the theme of bold prints and block colours.
Shannon Miller of Team USA wore this predominately white leotard with a pop of red and blue for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta.
1990s
By the early '90s we were also seeing cutouts incorporated into leotard designs.
Kim Zmeskal of the United States had a plain white leotard with a round back cutout design for the World Gymnastics Championships in 1991.
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