The first sex kitten of the Sixties wasn't a kitten at all. From her
dyed-to-match three-inch pumps to the tips of her satin ears, she was all
Bunny. When the first Playboy Club opened its doors on a windy Chicago night in
1960, the image of the Playboy Bunny became the first symbol of the pending
sexual revolution. Over the past 40 years she has inspired artists, fashion
designers, writers and filmmakers. And she couldn't have done it without her
famous outfit. Here's how the girl in the Bunny suit became an icon of pop
culture. The original Playboy Club in Chicago was patterned after the city's
exclusive Gaslight Club, an elegant key club for Second City powerbrokers and
VIPs. When Playboy Magazine ran an article about Gaslight in 1959, reader
response was overwhelming. Playboy Promotions Director Victor Lownes pitched an
idea to the notorious Hue Heffner proposing to bring the magazine’ s bachelor
pad image to life in playboys own Ubran Hangout. Hef loved the concept, but a
key element was still missing.
The "Gaslight Girls" served their male
patrons in Gay Nineties-style corsets and fishnet tights, and the Playboy Club
needed a sexy costume of its own. Hef's first thought was to have scantily-clad
"Playmates" in nighties serving drinks, but a better idea soon came. Ilsa
Taurins, a girlfriend of Heff’s looked at the magazine's logo and suggested the
idea of seeing the girls as “rabbits”, which was rejected. Taurins was
determined and tinkered with a costume design with her mother. A few days later
she entered the half-finished Chicago Club in a satin bodice, fluffy tail and
headband with ears, and a new sex symbol was born, the beginning of the
infamous Playboy Bunny suite. But the true art of the suit was in the details.
"A lot of thought went into this costume," says Pat Lacey, Director
of Playmate and Bunny Promotions for Playboy and a 13-year veteran of the LA
Club. "There are so many things that people don't realize that were really
thought out so that Bunny could perform her job very easily and at the same
time remain glamorous and graceful." Every girl was required to wear a
pair of nude nylons under her black ones so that Bunnies of all races had the
same skin tone. There was still class and elegance that Heff wanted to portray. In the late Sixties the Playboy Clubs broke away from the 12-color standard and
started designing suits in everything from leopard prints to psychedelic Pucci
swirls.
A favorite was one nicknamed the "Wonder Bread" costume
because it was covered in multicolored polka dots. There were even holiday
Bunnies for December, who wore red velvet trimmed in white fur. In an attempt
to update the suit, a lace and satin "Bunny Cabaret" costume was
developed in 1980 and worn until the last Playboy Club closed its doors in
1991.
Today,
the Playboy Bunny suite is still a hit within Costumes. Almost every Halloween
you will find at least one girl rocking the bunny ears and the silk corset. We
found this history to be interesting because for our generation, we are already
inclined to see a bunny costume to Playboy. Who knew such a simple concept had
so much production. Gotta love fashion. HAPPY HALLOWEEN
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