The Return Of Nude Fashion

the look we introduced still wears well

Back in the Fifties, while Playboy was doing its best to uncover the beauty of women, clothing designers in the salons of Paris were fiendishly devising more ways to cover them up. In 1960. Christian Dior and other designers presented spring collections that included such unflattering examples as the "pear," "pineapple" and "milk bottle." We decided it was our obligation to parody the foolish shapes that women's fashions were taking. Adding a touch of transparency to contemporary lines, in July of that year we presented a whimsical collection of our own---The Nude Look (right). We intended it as a spoof. But a few years later, after Rudi Gernreich's introduction of the topless bathing suit, it became apparent that our tongue-in-cheek peek had inspired some fashion designers. In 1965 and 1966. Playboy revisited the nude look (center, below right and left), this time relying on actual fashions of the day. Now, some 40 years later, see-through styles have made a comeback (opposite), and models are once again showing off the nude look. While we don't demand credit as fashion innovators, we hope that as you savor the latest examples of this welcome trend, you'll bear in mind that we were prescient at the creation.