It’s hard to imagine a time when a full-length slip was considered daring or a sheer bathrobe scandalous. However, that particular period was not that long ago – in the classic era of Hollywood. Despite censorship and morality rulings, there was always a special relationship between the silver screen vixens and their undergarments. In addition to classic films, the golden age of cinema also introduced viewers to the beautiful silhouettes of modern lingerie.
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CLARA BOW
Clara Bow played a department store sales clerk at a lingerie counter in 1927’s ‘It’. Life eventually imitated art as Bow became the iconic flapper girl, partying and getting into trouble with seemingly every man in California. She became infamous for her so-called “savage” behavior, according to The Hairpin.
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In an article about Bow’s life, Scandals of Classic Hollywood: Clara Bow, It Girl, writer Anne Helen Petersen recalls that the reports of Clara’s escapades were so horrific, she’d burnt out and retired by 1932. However, her timeless beauty lives on – along with the gauzy lingerie she made so famous.
JEAN HARLOW
Jean Harlow took audiences’ breath away and helped them forget all about the tough times of the Depression. Viewers had mixed reactions to her sexy boudoir attire in the 1933 classic ‘Dinner at Eight’. The long silk nightgown with feathered sleeves created a seductive look that made headlines. Her lingerie almost stole the show, but Harlow’s comedic timing gave her an innocence that caused the public to fall in love with her.
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In the LA Times, writer Susan King calls Harlow the first blond bombshell. In an article titled Jean Harlow: Beauty and Brains in Equal Measure, King even goes so far as to say that without Jean Harlow paving the way, there would be no Marilyn Monroe or Jayne Mansfield.
BETTIE PAGE
In the 1950s two bodytypes were worshiped – the slender, sleek lines of the waif gamine figure such as Audrey Hepburn, and the hourglass contours of Grace Kelly. However, the ’50s also gave birth to the ultimate pin-up girl: Bettie Page.
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Page didn’t star in the same type of films as Hepburn and Kelly, but she became equally as known for her figure and charm. Having started as one of the earliest Playboy Playmates, she made her mark as a model in glamour photography. Her signature look was corseted tops, garter belts attached to seamed fishnet stockings, and high heels. Her influence is obviously as strong today as ever, with stars such as Dita Von Teese taking inspiration from her look.
If you want to play vintage dress-up, the styles of these starlets are as sexy today as they ever were. Make a dramatic entrance to the bedroom wearing a Jean Harlow-inspired floor-length slip, prance around the house in a sheer, gauzy teddy to channel your inner Clara Bow – or find a way to do so during your day-to-day life. The experts at Adam and Eve suggest rocking “a corset underneath your everyday, business-casual wardrobe”. Obviously it’s what’s on the inside that counts… but a sexy piece of lingerie can bring out the Bettie Page in anyone.
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(Planet Sputnik guest post, written by Jennifer Moreno)
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