Humanities › History & Culture The Thong Share Flipboard Email Print Peter Dazeley/ The Image Bank/ Getty Images History & Culture Inventions Famous Inventions Famous Inventors Patents & Trademarks Invention Timelines Computers & The Internet American History African American History African History Ancient History and Culture Asian History European History Genealogy Latin American History Medieval & Renaissance History Military History The 20th Century Women's History View More By Mary Bellis Mary Bellis Inventions Expert Mary Bellis covered inventions and inventors for ThoughtCo for 18 years. She is known for her independent films and documentaries, including one about Alexander Graham Bell. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on March 06, 2017 Many fashion historians believe that the thong first appeared in the 1939 World's Fair. New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia ordered the city's nude dancers to cover themselves and the thong was invented to just barely do the job. Fashion designer, Rudi Gernreich has been credited with introducing the first thong bikini in 1974. Another reference states that thongs, originally called tangas, first hit the beaches of Brazil in 1977. Continue > History of Clothing Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Bellis, Mary. "The Thong." ThoughtCo, Aug. 26, 2020, thoughtco.com/the-thong-1992543. Bellis, Mary. (2020, August 26). The Thong. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-thong-1992543 Bellis, Mary. "The Thong." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-thong-1992543 (accessed June 2, 2023). copy citation