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Not all work uniforms are drab: just take it from the Playboy Bunny. The satin suit made iconic by waitresses at the Playboy Club not only symbolized shifting sexual attitudes in the ’60s — today, it serves as a testament to the brand’s long-standing relevance. In 2023, the Playboy Bunny still ranks as one of the most popular Halloween costumes in the United States.
Nearly a decade after Hugh Hefner launched his nudie magazine in 1953, the editor in chief and chief creative officer of Playboy Inc. dipped his toes into the entertainment space. Modeling his first venue after the exclusive Gaslight Club in Chicago, Hefner also took inspiration from the establishment’s troupe of scantily-clad waitstaff.
Ahead, WWD recounts the history of the Playboy Bunny… from head to tail.
The Birth of the Playboy Bunny
Hefner knew that he wanted his troupe of cocktail waitresses to be in uniform — but he wasn’t initially sold on the idea of the bunny. According to Playboy’s former promotions director, Victor Lownes, Hefner originally envisioned the club’s staffers wearing short nightgowns. It was Lownes’ girlfriend at the time, actress Ilze Taurins, that suggested modeling the costumes off of Playboy’s cuddly mascot.
“[Hefner] said he’s always thought of the rabbits as male,” Lownes said in Patty Farmer’s 2015 book, “Playboy Swings.” Taurins’ idea, however, successfully convinced Hefner that the bunny could have a feminine persona.
Hugh Hefner and several Playboy Bunnies in 1960.
Taurins’ mother, who worked as a seamstress, stitched together the original prototype...