Playboy Bunny

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see bunny.
Playboy Bunny Marketa Janska at the Karma Foundation Inaugural Gala hosted at the Playboy Mansion, October 2005
Playboy Bunny Marketa Janska at the Karma Foundation Inaugural Gala hosted at the Playboy Mansion, October 2005

A Playboy Bunny is a waitress at the Playboy Club. The Playboy Clubs were originally open from 1960–1988. The Club re-opened in one location in The Palms Hotel in Las Vegas in 2006.[1] They wore a costume called a bunny suit inspired by the tuxedo-wearing Playboy rabbit mascot, consisting of a corset, bunny ears, a collar, cuffs, and a fluffy cottontail.

Contents

[edit] Patent

The Playboy Bunny outfit was the first service uniform registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (U.S. trademark registration number 0762884). The tight costume forced servers to bend at the knees, not the waist, when serving drinks; this maneuver became known as the "Bunny Dip". All drinks were served in the same glass, the long stemmed "Bolo Grande". A special round tray was developed with holes along the sides. The glass's stem would slip through and the bowl would sit flat on the tray. This allowed the Bunnies to carry drinks without spilling them and facilitated the dip.

The uniforms were custom made for each Bunny. There was usually a seamstress for each Club to maintain the fit. To avoid rumours, the Club Manager had only two responsibilities for the Bunnies, floor service and weigh in. Before every shift the Manager would weigh in each Bunny. Bunnies could not gain or lose more than one pound. Exceptions were made for water retention. Playboy Enterprises required all employees to turn in their costumes at the end of employment and Playboy has some costumes in storage. Occasionally costumes are offered for sale on the Playboy Auction site or eBay.[2] Some of the costumes on eBay may be counterfeit or damaged in some way. Genuine Bunny costumes in good condition have sold for over $10,000.[citation needed] The only two on public display are in the collections of The Smithsonian[3] and the Chicago History Museum.[4]

There is a bar near the University of Illinois campus, in downtown Urbana, IL, that has a picture of Hefner hanging on the wall with a letter that appears to be signed by him. The letter indicates that the bar, called "Bunny's," served as inspiration for the famous playboy bunny mascot[citation needed].

[edit] International icon

The Bunny suit is also very popular in Japan, where it has lost much of its association with Playboy. In fact, it has become associated with sexiness in general, where they are referred to as bunny girls (or bunnygirls) and have an association with the female human/animal hybrids common in anime and manga known as kemonomimi. Bunnies should not be confused with Playboy Playmates, women who appear in the centerfold pictorials of Playboy magazine, although a few bunnies went on to become Playmates (see below).

[edit] Return of the Bunnies

In 2006, The Palms Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas opened the first new Playboy club in over a quarter-century, located on the 52nd floor of the Fantasy Tower. Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli was chosen to reimagine the original Bunny Suit.

[edit] Famous Bunnies

 This section needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)

Many women who later became famous worked as Playboy Bunnies early in their careers including:

[edit] Bunnies who became Playmates

 This section needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)

[edit] References

  1. ^ RYAN NAKASHIMA (10-01-2006). New Playboy club opens in Vegas. Washington Post.
  2. ^ FAQ'S
  3. ^ HistoryWired: A few of our favorite things
  4. ^ [1][dead link]

[edit] External links