Kaylee Cantler, 15, of Waynesboro, Pa., applies blush during a natural makeup exercise at a modeling camp at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in McLean, Va., on Monday, August 17th, 2015. (Photo by Brittany Greeson/The Washington Post)

Adriana Barahona, known as "Madame Barocle", wearing clothing of the Victorian era, walks along a central avenue in San Jose, Costa Rica June 4, 2015. Barahona says she has been passionate about clothing from the era of Britain's Queen Victoria (1837-1901), and has been making and wearing them since the age of 15. REUTERS/Juan Carlos Ulate

Race goers are pictured during the Investec Ladies Day at Epsom Downs Racecourse on June 2, 2017 in Epsom, England. (Photo by News Group Newspapers Ltd)

Lady Gaga performs at Staples Center on August 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, who is pregnant, welcomes the spouses of heads of state at at Le Ciro's Resaturant on the second day of the G8 Summit on May 27, 2011 in Deauville, France. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Travellers stop to take a second glance at a model of a giant lady with her head stuck in a photo booth being exhibited in Victoria train station on September 21, 2007 in London, England. (Photo by Cate Gillon/Getty Images)

Britain Horse Racing, Royal Ascot, Ascot Racecourse on June 16, 2016. Ladies Day Racegoers wear hats. (Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)

While the lido was described as bringing “modernism to the masses” on the British coast it was just the latest example of a trend that had been developing since Victorian times – transforming seaside towns into resorts for leisure and entertainment. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the fashion was for local authorities to build great piers stretching from the promenade out into the sea. The Eastbourne Pier, pictured here in May 1931, was erected between 1866 and 1870 to an ingenious design by Eugenius Birch, which saw the structure sitting on special cups allowing the supporting struts to “move” in bad weather. Arranged on the pier's 1,000-foot length were kiosks, a theatre, a ballroom and a camera obscura. 1931. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”)