21 Glamorous and Playful Jantzen Ads Illustrated by Pete Hawley

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John Summers • Contributor
Aug 25, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

I just came across these vintage Jantzen ads illustrated by Pete Hawley and now I am absolutely obsessed. The style, the colors, the way the characters practically pop off the page - it feels like they're about to wink at you or dive straight into the pool. Honestly, I need Pixar to make a whole movie in this exact style, because it's just that good.

These weren't just swimsuit ads. They were little slices of mid-century fantasy - impossibly glamorous couples lounging at the beach, cheeky poolside flirts, perfect tans, and fashion that promised you could step into a postcard-perfect world. Hawley's art took something as simple as a swimsuit and turned it into a story about summer, romance, and joy.

What blows my mind is the technical execution. Every line has so much life, every detail is sharp, and every smile feels like it belongs in an animated classic. These ads aren't just selling clothes, they're selling an entire mood. Looking at them today feels like peeking into an alternate retro universe where everything is sunny and cinematic.

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  • 01
    everything you ever wanted! go-together colors in shorts and tee shirts play this color-happy Jantzen match game for the best looks of your life...match shirts to stripes on shorts, and vice versa ...match your date... make your own matches...possibilities are unlimited in this year's wonderful Jantzen sunclothes. These shorts are the finest Sanforized cotton gabardine... for girls 3.95, for men 5.95... finest combed cotton shirts 2.50...many other styles, other colors...even matchers for boys..
    via Vintage Everyday
  • 02
    everything you ever wanted! NYLON...and the hottest news in print! it's "Sea Flame" this fabulous, torchy, exclusive Jantzen print to make exciting matches on the beach...hand-screened on Jantzen marvelous "Nylastic", fast-drying nylon plus figure-molding laton...girls' suits with magic softly-lined bras and divine evening dress tops that can be worn strapless, of course, 15.95 man's trunks, speed-cut for real swimming 6.95... along with a crowd of the most thrilling new Jantzens...at most store
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  • 03
    everything you ever wanted! NYLON... and what it takes! what man wouldn't go wild... beautiful things like this rising from the sea all summer long...all caused by the phenomenal Jantzen sleeking technique, magic bras, finest fast-drying, figure-molding nylons! This girl's suit in nylon and laton fits with expression, has dreamy decolletage and a long zipper to plunge it, 15.95. A man has a right to go wild about these perfect Jantzen swim-or-sun boxers in finest Traford 100% nylon 5.95...along
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  • 04
    Po Handy everything you ever wanted! NYLON...and the Jantzen magic touch! this is what you want to stand a man on his head... this terrific new Jantzen, assuredly strapless because of the most perfect boned bra in America, the Jantzen "Stay-bra", moldable as you want it, softly-lined and wonderful-to-wear. Have it in finest fast-drying, figure-molding nylon and laton taffeta in dream colors like this 15.95. Also to stand a man on his head... these marvelous Jantzen "Nylastic" racers 5.95 ...many
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  • 05
    for swimming... for slimming... DEEP EN there's nothing like a Jantzen! it's fabulous the way a Jantzen performs on the body...the wonderful way it moulds and smooths...the wonderful way it makes you look and feel. There's nothing like it in the world...nothing even remotely touches this dream for girls, the most perfect swim suit ever made...finest nylon taffeta, one-piece or two-piece 16.95...nothing like these precision-tailored deluxe all-nylon boxers 4.95 ...nothing like the fabulous new Ja
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  • 06
    The Harley for sunning... and stunning... ...there's nothing like a Jantzen! nothing like these wonderful new Jantzen matchmakers... no other sunclothes fit as well, feel as fine, look as smart, do as much for you. Jantzen sunclothes are planned to be the best...tailoring is perfect to hold perfect lines...fabrics are designed for action...colors are dyed to live in the sun. These shorts are finest Sanforized cotton gabardine... for girls, new close-cut, 3.95...for men, Jantzen-exclusive zip-fly
    via Vintage Everyday
  • 07
    for romancin'... and entrancin' ...there's nothing like a Jantzen! for that matter there's nothing like a Jantzen for swimming and slimming...nothing like the way a Jantzen fits, feels and looks...nothing like the wonderful figure-making job a Jantzen does... nothing like the marvelous Jantzen swim suit fabrics... in particular, Jantzen Nylastic, the magic-moulding fast-drying special Jantzen blend of nylon and laton, the finest swim suit fabric ever made. Girl's suit, detailed for romance, with
    via Vintage Everyday
  • 08
    allure as Paris prescribes it...with a dash of Directoire.... two fabulous new Jantzen swim suits in two fabulous new fabrics present only in the Jantzen 1951 collection. Lelt, "frostylon", shimmering nylon and Lastex-powered acetate brocade...three romantic colors and white 17.95... right, more stardust, south-bound.... extravagant nylon power net, loveliest lace pattern traced in delicate black on white 25.00. Bra technique is divine...at fine stores. Jantzen swim suits
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  • 09
    -it's you! it's true...it's what Jantzen figure-shoping genius will do...it's what fabulous Jantzen laton-powered brocade, strategic shirring, frankly alluring lines will do for a girl...it's what a great new fashion idea, Lastex-powered faille and Jantzen streamlining will do for a man. "Delilah", girl's suit 17.95... "daredevil" trunks 4.95...from a series of the most exciting swim suits in all the world. Jantzen swim suits poty Hawkey
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  • 10
    Jantzen does this newest and most exciting swim suit silhouette.... shirt-tails out over fitted trunks... white wide-wale pique touched with navy or vice versa, red with navy 10.95... at fine stores. Jantren, Fortland 14, Oregon
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  • 11
    famous Jontzen racer, Lastex faille 4.95 now playing everywhere dangerous... dynamic... Jantzen "curvallure" nothing like Jantzen "curvallure" has happened to you before. It's the magic you've been wanting to make you look wonderful, feel wonderful in a swim suit... an exclusive new Jantzen technique for creating lovely curves and planes in all the right places. This suit is Lastex-powered faille loaded with "curvallure" from the top of its heart-shaped neckline to the cuffs of its pant-legs 16.
    via Vintage Everyday
  • 12
    JANTZEN, PORTLAND 14, OREGON if you paid a million, $$$ you couldn't be happier with a swim suit this is everything you want, everything you need in a swim suit. We call it "postage stamp" because that's about the size and weight of it in the hand. On the body it's the swim suit powerhouse of all time. Fabric is Jantzen fast-drying all-nylon Crinkelastic, shirred with elastic up and down, front and back, deviously and deliberately to give you a wonderful figure (that's the specialty of the house
    via Vintage Everyday
  • 13
    Jantar, Perlend 14. Oregon Manureti the news is "Madagascar" cloth, wonderful new Everglaze cotton with fascinating straw texture that lasts forever...it washes, dries quickly, resists wrinkles, was made in heaven for these heavenly Jantzen swim-or-sunners... one-piece 14.95 ...two-pieco 12.95 Jantzen nothing does as much for a girl as Jantzen
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  • 14
    janten Portland Oregon Jantzen the news is the short-skirted swim suit, in three parts, each wonderful, each nicely influential figuratively speaking. Skirt and waist-length bra are taffeta with laton, white striped with brown or navy. Lastex faille trunks match stripes 25.00. nothing does as much for a girl as a Jantzen
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  • 15
    glimmer for glamour... with Jantzen "shape-insurance" if you ever had a yearning to be a glittering success, your hour has come and Jantzen will underwrite it...with the most beautiful make-believe diamonds permanently fixed on the world's most beautiful swim suits...and more important, with Jantzen "shape-insurance" "Shape-insurance" is a miracle bra interlining technical name is "Pellon and only Jantzen has it that moulds and holds a lovely bustline forever...shape. insurance" gives you a nice
    via Vintage Everyday
  • 16
    any girl can be beautiful and new ...thanks to Jantzen "shape-insurance" "shape-insurance" is a marvelous new Jantzen figuremaking technique... the big sensation in swim suit design. It assures you continuous performance in the department of slimming, smoothing, curving and planing...moulds you a lovely bustline and holds it forever and ever via a sensational new bra interlining (technical name is "Pellon... and only Jantzen has it). Left, "moonglow" taffeta 14.95...center, "check date" "Lastex-
    via Vintage Everyday
  • 17
    blue is for boys... when irresistible blue (any new Jantzen blue) meets an irresistible force (marvelous Jantzen "shape-insurance") anything wonderful can happen and of course it does. Jantzen "shape-insurance" does for you what your Jantzen girdle and bra do for you when you're dressed... gives you a lovely forever-uplifted bustline, a lovely forever-slim waistline, lovely forever curves. Left, "sandpiper Jantzen-exclusive elasticized cotton gabardine, heavenly paradise blue 16.95... center, "c
    via Vintage Everyday
  • 18
    more fun than money! PUSA Jantzen ise Portland B Oregon come on, you sunners... this is better than money in the bank... this will get you every drop of fun out of every drop of sun... Jantzen British-tailored pants. Jantzen Italian-inspired toppers... to wear any- Jantzen where in the world with pride... perfectly tailored according to the British code, perfect-fitting according to the Jantzen code. Pants are in finest-quality Riegel cotton gabardine, a Jantzen specialty, in marvelous colors. S
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  • 19
    torso-oh! thanks to Jantzen "shapemakery" "torso-oh" is any girl's torso under the influence of Jantzen "shapemakery", wonderful new figuremaking technique that transforms any girl into a bathing beauty complete with the new higher bustline, the new long-body look, the always glamorous slim waist and exciting curves. "Shapemakery" is an exclusive Jantzen feature, combines the best swim suit bras with the best torso control, on the job all the time. "On the dot" left and "fine line" right have ma
    via Vintage Everyday
  • 20
    "it" as in italy ...thanks to Jantzen "shapemakery" this is glamour, Italian style, sono attraenti (divine)... the new all-girl natural beauty look, the alfresco look, the look of Gina and Silvana and Anna. The romantic print design and colors stem from the gardens of Italy ...the "shapemakery" is pure Jantzen to give you the new higher bustline, the new longer body... the decor is Jantzen "Crinkelpuff" shirring. a marvelous new technique that flatters and figuremakes ...the fabric is Bates Disc
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  • 21
    Jantzen swim caps In heavenly Jantzen swim suit colors 1.50 Jantzen inc Portland 8 Oregon bathing beauties grow on trees... thanks to Jantzen "shapemakery" every year a million or more. girls get into Jantzen swim suits and emerge as bathing beauties.... no beauty contests to enter, no waiting for judges to decide. That's the magic of Jantzen "shapemakery," the power of the finest figuremaking technique... the finest swim suit bras, the finest torso control. "Dangerous curves." right, introduces
    via Vintage Everyday

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