Navel Gazing: How Revealed Bellybuttons of the 1960s Signaled the End of Movie Clichés Involving Negligees, Men's Hats, and Freshwater Swim Scenes

by Kim R. Holston

Who was the first major American star to show her navel on screen? When did negligees fall from grace? What was the crucial year in the history of Hollywood hats? Why did fresh water swim scenes evaporate? They all took place in the 1960s, a decade of tumult on screen and off. Was art reflecting life or life imitating art? Using 127 illustrations, facts and figures, Navel Gazing explains the disappearance of time-honored film conventions and suggests that the atom bomb-inspired bikini started it all.