Date and Issue: Volume 22, Volume 7, July 1977.

Pages: 3 pages.

Pictures: 5 color pictures.

Article: Lynda Carter modelling underwear.

Author: Suzy Kalter.

Country: USA.

				Lynda's not just wearing pantaloons -this is also a jumpsuit for everyday wear. By Sue Wong for Young Edwardian by Arpeja, the one-piece outfit is patterned after the underwear of yesteryear and can be laced with different colored ribbons should the wearer care to flash.
		"A $15 brassiere changed my life." noted the patient of a prominent Beverly Hills obstetrician gynecologist recently. "I hate to say that a few pieces of lace and a little bit of satin meant so much, but it's true.”
		The fancy underwear had been prescribed by the doctor with the fancy address, all in the line of duty. In short, he told her that plain underwear was hazardous to her health. "Underwear is a very intimate thing," says the doctor. "When a woman knows she is wearing a little bit of luxury she feels more special about herself. It's actually very fundamental."
		Whether fundamental or just fluff, fancy underwear has become the new battleground on which designers fight for a woman's pocketbook. Diane von Furstenberg, Donald Brooks and Geoffrey Beene are only a few of the big names on the front lines. But the pioneer of it all is Fernando Sanchez, who has been pushing black lace for almost five years.
		So striking was the Sanchez statement about underworld glamour that he started a new trend in ready-to-wear. Fancy underwear looks have turned into chic street clothes from St. Tropez to L.A. Sheer white batiste petticoats go dancing: teddies double as shorts: John Kloss nightgowns moonlight as evening wear.
		"Women are tired of blue jeans.'' sums up Bob Mackie a man who should know. "it's time to have pretty things again -and
the underwear look is one of the staples of glamour. Black lace is very flattering." Mackie has dressed his celebrity ladies in black lace or white cotton eyelet, oblivious to the fact that fashion mavens and thrift-shop trippers were hot on the same track. Last fall he designed a collection of bathing suits for Cole of California, which, tie says, was influenced only by a Rita Hayworth pin-up.

One suit-a bikini-was never put into the line because it looked so much like a brassiere and panties. But a camisole-topped black Lycra-and-lace maillot (see cover and following page) did get made, and to Mackie it represents the new American woman: One who is secure enough to look feminine. And surely the feminists can't complain. After all, as Lynda Carter so deftly demonstrates here and on the following pages, what besides a petticoat more clearly proclaims "I am Woman?''

1. Inspired by a Rita Hayworth pin-up, Bob Mackie created this lacy black maillot-which Lynda also models on this month's cover-for Cole of California.

2. The newest version of the four-piece suit: skirt, jacket, camisole-and panties, according to Dennis Goldsmith, who designed the suit for Ma Chemise. The steel-blue silk camisole top doubles as a blouse and tucks into its own matching shorts; a midi-length cashmere skirt and soft jacket (not shown) in navy complete the set.

3. The convertible slip is really a dress., a tunic, or, in a pinch-an undergarment. Made of pure silk by Dennis Goldsmith for Ma Chemise, the slip's camisole top can be worn with straps or as a halter. Great over silk pants, too.

4. Lynda offers a fitting welcome to Petticoat Junction in SW1's version of a Victorian petticoat and camisole -now called a skirt and a top. Both are edged in white eyelet and lace.

"...Warning: Plain underwear may be hazardous to your health ..."

© 1977 by The Los Angeles Magazine Company.

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