This is the most famous bikini in history, worn by Ursula Andress in the 1962 Bond film Dr No. As Honey Ryder, Andress emerges from the sea wearing the white two-piece swimsuit, the bikini bottom secured with a wide white British army belt with brass fittings. A scabbard is fastened to the belt on the left. She will soon flash a large knife at a drooling Bond, played by Sean Connery.

This bikini was created by Andress, then an unknown actress of Swiss-German origin, and costume designer Tessa Welborn.

The top was originally made from an underwire bra, which was covered in cotton and redesigned.

After the film’s release, bikini sales boomed. The bikini was still young, having been first officially worn on the ramp in Paris in 1946, and it still raised an eyebrow. On the other hand, the year was 1962 and the sexual revolution was in 
the offing. Maybe Ryder’s bikini gave it just the right push?

After the birth of Venus, Ryder’s is probably the most famous incident of rising from the sea. Andress’s bikini has been paid many tributes, this way and that. Halle Berry’s was a straight one: Berry the Bond girl emerges from the sea, too, watched by Bond, Pierce Brosnan  in Die Another Day, in an orange bikini, but the bottom secured with a wide white buckled belt replete with the scabbard. Later Daniel Craig took over as Bond and in the gender role correction that followed, was himself featured rising from the sea in a pair of blue trunks.

The best, but perhaps not the prettiest, tribute was paid by Mike Myers as Austin Powers. In The Spy Who Shagged Me, Myers as Powers, the International Man of Mystery, wore it himself.