A yearly publication that contains some of the most beautiful women dressed in their swimsuits. Each edition is normally taken in an exotic location, and the articles in the magazine are normally related to this place. The 1st edition came out on January 30th, 1964 with the seemingly innocent title of "A Skin Diver's Guide to the Caribbean" This now collector's item had Bebette March in her 2 piece white swimsuit. This issue originally only cost 25 cents, compared to the few dollars today.
Throughout the rest of the 60's as the publication grew in popularity, it continued to use lesser known models. The 70's introduce Cheryl Tiegs, who in with 14 years with the Magazine was featured on the cover 3 times. In 1976 the 1st multiple-model cover was featured with the 2 twins: Yvotte and Yvonne Slyvander posing together. The 80's brought the word supermodel to the table and with it Sports Illustrated(SI), managed to get such main stream names as Elle Macpherson and Christie Brinkley to make multiple appearances. The 90's marked 2 notable moments, the 1st being in 1994 which marked the 1st 3-person cover, and in 1996 when Tyra Banks was the 1st black cover model for SI. The new millennium brought in a new Latin flavour to the publication along with its 1st topless cover in 2000. In addition in the year 2000 brought a 3D effect to a few photos of that issue.
Covers: (Model(s), What she wears, Title)
1964: Bebette March; 2 piece white swimsuit; "A Skin Diver's Guide to the Caribbean"
1965: Sue Peterson; 1 piece black and red swimsuit; "Sport and Sun"
1966: Sunny Bippus; 2 piece primarily red swimsuit; "Bahamas the islands are in "
1967: Marilyn Tindall; 2 piece red swimsuit; "New swimsuits in New Arizona"
1968: Turia Mau; 2 piece black swimsuit; "The South Pacific new vacation frontier"
1969: Jamee Becker; 2 piece blue, red and yellow swimsuit; "Richniks in Puerto Rico"
1970: Cheryl Tiegs; black sweater and brown bottom; "Hawaiian Hideaway"
1971: Tannia Rubiano; 2 piece reddish-orange shall and top; "Paradise Regained"
1972: Shiela Roscoe; 1 piece purple, pink and red swimsuit; "City life on water"
1973: Dayle Haddon; 2 piece blue swimsuit; "Don't just sit there"
1974: Ann Simonton; 2 piece light blue swimsuit; "What's new under the sun"
1975: Cheryl Tiegs; 2 piece green and yellow swimsuit; "Cancun: Mexico's splashy new resort"
1976: Yvotte and Yvonne Slyvander; both rainbow coloured 1 piece and a 2 piece swimsuits; "Twice as nice in Baja"
1977: Lena Kansbod; red, white and blue 1 piece swimsuit; "Zowie, it's Maui!"
1978: Maria Joao; red 1 piece swimsuit; "The beauties of Brazil"
1979: Christie Brinkley; primarily black 1 piece swimsuit; "Getting away from it all"
1980: Christie Brinkley; white 2 piece swimsuit; "Islands in the Sun"
1981: Christie Brinkley; pink and blue 2 piece swimsuit; "Flights of fancy in Florida"
1982: Carol Alt; red 1 piece swimsuit; "Dreams of distant shores"
1983: Cheryl Tiegs; white 1 piece swimsuit; "Falling for Jamaica"
1984: Paulina Porizkova; pink 1 piece swimsuit; "Here comes the sun"
1985: Paulina Porizkova; aqua blue 2 piece swimsuit; "Shaping up Down Under"
1986: Elle Macpherson; light blue 1 piece swimsuit; "Paradise found"
1987: Elle Macpherson; dark green 1 piece swimsuit; "Splish splash!"
1988: Elle Macpherson; black 1 piece swimsuit; "Thailand fling"
1989: Kathy Ireland; yellow 2 piece swimsuit; "25th anniversary Swimsuit Issue"
1990: Judit Masco; light yellow sleeveless top and bottom; "Beauty and the beach"
1991: Ashley Montana; white 1 piece swimsuit and sun hat; "Shipshape and seaworthy"
1992: Kathy Ireland; white 2 piece swimsuit; "She reigns in Spain"
1993: Vendela; silver 1 piece swimsuit; "Swimsuits '93"
1994: Kathy Ireland, Elle Macpherson and Rachel Hunter; all, black 2 piece swimsuits; "The dream team"
1995: Daniela Pestova; brown and light blue t-shirt and blue bottom; "Glistens in Bermuda"
1996: Valeria Mazza and Tyra Banks; both, leopard pattern 2 piece swimsuits; "South African adventure"
1997: Tyra Banks; red and pink polka dots 2 piece swimsuit; "Nothing but Bikinis"
1998: Heidi Klum; white and black 1 piece swimsuit; "Crossing the line"
1999: Rebecca Romijn-Stamos; silver metal chain 2 piece swimsuit; "The not so Virgin Islands"
2000: Daniela Pestova; silver bottom and bead necklace; "Lets get Pacific"
2001: Elsa Benitez; orange 2 piece swimsuit; "Goddesses of the Mediterranean"
2002: Yamila Diaz-Rahi; red 2 piece swimsuit, bead necklace and belt; "Red Hot in Latin America"
2002 Special Edition: Rebecca Romijn-Stamos; light blue 2 piece swimsuit; "Ultimate Swimsuit"
2003: Petra Nemcova; red semi see through 2 piece swimsuit; "Too much fun"
Thanks to a special someone for filling in a few blanks. So that I could keep this labour of love as perfect as I can.