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Betsey Johnson: Silicone Valley of the Dolls
By Hilary Alexander
Photo by Joybell
29 Playboy playmates took the unusual step of putting clothes on, instead of taking them off,
as the stars of the Betsey Johnson show last night.
Johnson, a former Playboy style consultant in the '60s, based her collection on a pinup calendar,
loosely pegged to the seasons.
For example, Miss April wore a see-through pink plastic shortie mac - over a pink fur bikini.
Miss February celebrated Valentine's Day with a red bikini decorated with diamante hearts, and
Miss July was decked out in a microscopic salute to the Stars and Stripes.
"The collection is very 50s/80s, a mix of Marilyn Monroe and Donna Summer. It's very movie star.
I needed killer sex kittens, and these girls were just perfect," said Johnson.
"We had to have all the clothes specially made for the girls' proportions. I mean, some of these
girls are double D's."
That was plainly obvious to the celebrity-packed front row and the 400 plus photographers who
greeted each unveiling - intentionally or unintentionally - with a barrage of flash bulbs.
It was a unique occasion: Most men only ever get to see girls like this in the pages of "Playboy."
Most women, never.
The playmates were obviously having a ball, and there was a naïve charm to the way they paraded
down the catwalk.
There were huge cheers for the girls in cowboy and Indian style - one in a yellow-fringed leather
mini ha-ha and bra, the other in cheeky pink leather chaps over nothing but an embroidered thong.
There was also an element of poignancy, since Johnson herself recently survived a breast cancer
scare.
One of her breast implants, installed 10 years ago, deflated just before Christmas, and the
check-up revealed she had a tumor.
"I was so lucky. If that implant hadn't bust, I never would have known," the designer said.
Fortunately, they were able to remove it: "I had radiation, and now I'm absolutely fine."
But didn't the acres of voluptuous, bouncy boobs make her long for a return to cleavage?
"Nope," said a smiling Johnson in a tiny Playboy-logoed tank. "I'm happy to be back to the
original me."
Front row-ers included Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, in a red plaid velvet suit by Vivienne
Westwood; Cyndi Lauper, in red sequins and pinstripes; and Lauren Holly, in Katayone Adeli's
little black dress with subtle knee boots.
I made a bit of a boo backstage at Betsey Johnson.
When one of the playmates was stripping off to get into her first outfit, I noticed a photographer
edging in for a sly "bum shot."
"Hey!" I said, ready to chew out the snapper.
"We don't do things like that backstage anymore. It's not fair for the girls to photograph them
while they're changing."
The photographer didn't flinch. "I'm the Playboy photographer," he said. "This is what we do,
you know."
Betsey Johnson Fashion
Betsey Johnson Fashion
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