‘Sports Illustrated Swimsuit: 50 Years of Beautiful’ is a celebration of sexiness


50 years ago Sports Illustrated came up with the genius idea of publishing photographs of sexy models in swimsuits. Tomorrow, that idea gets memorialized in one amazing book.

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit: 50 Years of Beautiful reveals the inside story of the swimsuit issue illuminated with hundreds photographs featuring all the models and every single cover. It also contains never-before-seen outtakes and of course, their latest genius idea: bodypainting.

The key ingredient here is the fact that every single model who has every been in the issue is in the book. Cheryl Tiegs, Kathy Ireland, Elle Macpherson, Christie Brinkley, Paulina Porizkova, Heidi Klum, Kate Upton, and over 200 more.

Looks like I know what I am asking for this Christmas.

Here’s some trivia about the SI Swimsuit Issue one can expect to find in the book…

— The first issue, released in 1964, entailed a cover featuring Babette March and a five-page layout

— The best selling issue was the 25th Anniversary Issue with Kathy Ireland on the cover in 1989

— Tyra Banks was the first black woman on the cover

— Beyonce was the first non-model to appear on the cover in 2007

— Since 2008, the cover girls have been announced on The Late Show with David Letterman

And here’s a look behind the scenes of the 2013 edition…

Related: 50 greatest ‘Sports Illustrated’ swimsuit models (on video)