Bernie Dexter for Lucy B.
When Michelle Landry teamed up with the 1950s pinup-style model Bernie Dexter for a new line of vintage reproduction lingerie, they set out to be as true to the original vintage pieces as possible. The finished product of pointed bullet bras and high-waist panties was so convincing, it fooled even her partner, Dexter.
“When I got the stuff in the mail back to do [the photo shoot for] the catalog, I thought, ’Oh my god, she’s sending my bra back. No, this is new!’ I couldn’t believe it,” said Dexter.
Landry’s 8-year-old line, Lucy B., is built on vintage inspiration but with comfortable and modern fits and fabrics. “It’s about taking an image of the pinup girls from that era and translating it into modern,” Landry said. In Landry’s Lucy B. catalogs, she illustrated the 1950s-era inspiration with models in pinup-girl poses and Bettie Page bangs, one of which was Dexter.
Landry and Dexter soon found that they shared a love of vintage lingerie and vintage style—Landry’s scene was Lindy Hop, a form of swing dancing, and Dexter was a rockabilly girl—and joined forces to launch Bernie Dexter for Lucy B. for Spring 2008.
The line reproduces favorite items from Dexter’s personal vintage lingerie collection, such as a six-strap garter belt that sits at the natural waist and sheer nylon panties. Although Landry uses contemporary fabrics including stretch-satin and nylon/Lycra power-mesh fabric, she keeps the fit of Bernie Dexter for Lucy B.’s lingerie nearly identical to the original. Dexter ensures that the items live up to the authentic standards that collectors would appreciate.
“Certain things are a really big deal, like the double nylon gusset on the panty,” Landry said. “[Dexter] convinced me to do it because I thought she was crazy. I was like, ’Everybody wants cotton gussets in their panties, right?’ We sold a lot of them, so she was right. Some of the things I’m just trusting her because she knows that part of it better than I do.”
As a genuine rockabilly girl who drives a vintage car and wears vintage clothing, Dexter was confident that the line would be a hit. The line has shown broad appeal outside niche lifestyle as well, and stores such as American Rag in Los Angeles have bought the line.
“I knew [it would be successful] because I collected and know how much I’ve had to pay for some vintage pieces, fighting for them online,” Dexter said.
Buying the Bernie Dexter for Lucy B. line was a no-brainer buy for Michelle Athanasiades, owner of Dollhouse Bettie in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury district.
Athanasiades’ store launched in 2004 exclusively selling vintage lingerie. Today, 70 percent of her store is composed of new lingerie labels, including Lucy B. “Bernie being a pinup model and being part of that retro community was somebody who I knew of through a variety of different mediums,” Athanasiades said.
Regardless of Bernie’s celebrity appeal, Athanasiades said the lingerie’s quality stood on its own. “There are some pieces in that line that were really cute that you wouldn’t see elsewhere,” said Athanasiades, adding, “Everyone seems to be attracted in one way or the other to the retro feel, and we don’t carry just ’50s-inspired stuff. It’s really more about glamour than it is about a specific era.”
Wholesale price points range from $10 for nylon panties to $30 for bras and $42 for a waist cincher. For more information, call (213) 744-1302. —Rhea Cortado
