A Salute to the Iconic Playboy Bunny
Easter was here and while many people were busy filling baskets with pastel colored eggs and chocolate rabbits we thought it appropriate to spend this holiday celebrating our favorite bunny, the Playboy Bunny. So let’s hop into the enticing world of buxom bunnies.
In 1978 Dolly Parton became the first country singer to pose for Playboy
Famous for their sexual prowess and energetic mating habits, Hugh Hefner decided the rabbit was the perfect symbol for his newly launched Playboy magazine in 1953. A tuxedo was added to give the mascot an air of sophistication and one of the most recognizable brand logos was born.
The Playboy Bunny as we know her today did not emerge until 1960 with the opening of the very first Playboy Club in Chicago. The female staff were originally meant to wear frilly nighties but Hef’s business partners were concerned that all that extra material would make it difficult for the girls to serve drinks and light cigarettes.
The first prototype was a basic bathing suit over a corset with some bunny ears and a tail. Not sexy enough, Hugh had the bikini line cut into a dramatic V shape that exposed the girl’s hip bones and elongated their legs. Eventually a man’s tuxedo collar, bow tie and cuffs were added to match the Playboy logo.
The uniform was a flattering design that harkened back to the 1950’s when women had hourglass figures and bullet bras.
“The costumes took girls with even average figures and made them look like they had amazing figures…not all Bunnies were bombshells. The suit made the Bunny, not the other way around.”
In 1969 the original yarn bunny tail had to be replaced by one made of fire-retardant fur because the drunk patrons kept trying to light them on fire.
At the Chicago club some of the Bunnies were known to make up to $1,000 a week in cash tips in 1961. Today that would be over $9,000 a week!
“The feminists used to say to us, ‘You’re selling out. You’re being exploited.’ But we never felt that. We felt that we were the first women we knew that bought their own [apartments] as single women. To me, it was emancipation. It was empowering.”
Although some Bunnies went on to become Playmates and pose for the magazine most of the girls worked at the clubs to put themselves through college or get started in their dream jobs. Model Lauren Hutton and singer Debbie Harry are both former Bunnies. Aretha Franklin started singing at the Playboy Club in Chicago when she was 18.
Lauren Hutton
The lead singer of Blondie, Debbie Harry
Aretha Franklin as a Playboy Bunny
“You could reinvent yourself completely. You went from the schoolgirl to this glam person, and you could be anything. You could put on a French accent and call yourself FiFi. It was a way of discovering yourself and playing around…and exploring your sexuality.
”
The Playboy Club empire spanned the globe with locations all over the US, London, Japan and even Manilla. The last of the clubs closed in 1986 but the Playboy Bunny continues to live on at live events and on magazine covers.
Kate Moss
The new Bunny Suit
For over sixty years the Playboy Bunny has been one the most iconic sex symbols in the world, shaping the fantasies of generations of fans. We think that deserves a standing ovation!
