A Pictorial History of Polka Dot Clothing

By Paula Darnell, About.com Guide

Iconic sex symbol Marilyn Monroe posed in a polka dot bikini in 1951, five years after the bikini was introduced. Quite modest compared to today's bikinis, this polka dot, two-piece swimsuit doesn't even bare the navel.

Marilyn Monroe's relatively conservative swimsuit preceded the popular song "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" by nine years, and we know it's less revealing than the celebrated bikini of the song, which made it to #1 on the billboard charts in 1960, because the girl who was wearing the "itsy bitsy" bikini was "afraid to come out of the water."