- Beautiful lingerie.
- The sexy, flowy dresses.
- So much polyester, so much polyester (laughs).
(funky music)
- You can't do a show that takes place in California
without talking about swimwear.
This particular costume is from this episode
where Bonnie has guests over to swim in the pool.
What was necessary here was not only that
Bonnie needed to be in some kind of swim costume,
but that it be appropriate for having guests over
who you don't know very well.
This was a woman who she was just starting to work with
in the store, so Bonnie was playing hostess.
- This is the rec room, this is Becca, my daughter
and Jessica. - Hi.
- Well, you have a beautiful home.
- Thank you.
I have a pitcher of margaritas in the kitchen,
if you want one.
- Oh, that sounds good.
(funky music)
- So what we have here is a coverup with appliques on it,
which are so typical of the mid 70s.
It looks pretty simple like this,
but then when you take the coverup off,
you see the bathing suit
and the bathing suit also had these appliques on it.
Clearly, the style, the shape, the fabrication
of this particular bathing suit
is not what we have right now.
Spandex and the introduction of stretch fabrics
was not as prevalent at that time,
so the fabrics are a bit stiffer,
they don't have as much stretch in them.
Both of these pieces are vintage.
I actually found them separately
and then put them together.
Obviously, bikinis were in fashion, too,
but I saw this bathing suit and I thought
okay, this is perfect for Bonnie.
It's cool, it's from the period
and it's fun and yet it's proper,
so she's not necessarily wandering around
in a little string bikini.
And I kinda love it.
- I think you should wear this one.
- I don't think I'm in the mood for a pool party.
I just had the worst day at work.
- Well, all the more reason to take a dip and relax.
- I kind of start with the character.
There are all sorts of combinations and permutations
of say, bathing suits, that happened in 1975,
but not all of them would be applicable
to the character of Bonnie or the character of Kathleen
or the character of Diana.
It takes, you know, research, to analyze how
these characters relate to that kind of clothing.
- Look at this suit we just got for Diana.
Isn't she gonna look great?
- Where is the rest of it?
- [Diana] God, mother.
- I hope you're not going out in public like that.
- Do they wear it at all?
If they wear it, what kind of thing would they wear?
How flamboyant are they?
How comfortable are they about their bodies.
- I cannot understand how you can walk around like that.
- Like what, it's a swimsuit, I'm going swimming.
- But why make a spectacle of yourself.
- There's a lot of elements in making those decisions.
- All I meant is that in my day,
a woman knew something about modesty.
- Let me tell you something about modesty.
If you're a woman nowadays, it gets you nowhere.
Okay, it's just like saying, "sit in the corner
"and be a good little girl."
The only way to get ahead in this world
is to make a little noise.
Modesty gets you a seat at the tea party,
but it isn't much goddamn good for anything else.
- Where are you going?
- I'm leaving.
- What about your mama?
- You wanted her to come, so you can take her home.
(funky music)
- [Announcer] American Woman.
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