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Condor Club, San Francisco gt. 19 June 1964 CD6470 Costume Rudi Gernreich [?] red t-front topless maillot tanga. TLBA. Inguinal. [Trimmed.] Actions It is said Doda's costume is a Rudi Gernreich topless maillot, or what in later years will be called a t-front (1). It is most certainly a t-front as we have come to define it (2), and although it resembles the Gernreich it is not the identical silhouette to that worn at Chicago (TL6410) or demoed by Moffitt in Life (PM6410). Whether it predates Gernreich, what relationships Doda's and Gernreich's visions might enjoy have not been researched yet. So leaving aside resonance, features in common include the shared high waistline, the center straps ascending the sternum (3), and similar treatment of backage. The backage can be identical between the Doda and the Gernreich because both maillots can be worn straight or crisscrossed. The backage of Doda shows them crossed (4), whereas of Gernreich always straight. A more fundamental difference is found in the legline. The Gernreich legline is that of a panty line, an arc level and slightly up from the crotch. Doda's maillot races up her inguinal to the waistline, narrows the sides, and dives back down into the crack of the ass somewhere mid-butt. This is a big difference. The slide case (5). Commentary As we said, this scene is a rich origin point. The Cordor Club has staked a claim as the first topless bar in a triad that involves a dancer and a particular swimsuit migration. The facts may float around but this is a good story. The Condor Club also claims to be the site of the world's first bottomless entertainment, on September 3, 1969, also starring Ms. Carol Doda. Carol Doda plays a special role because during this period she retains a gynecologist to inject silicone into her size-34 breasts, eventually adding 10 inches to what would become known as Doda's "twin 44s" and "the new Twin Peaks of San Francisco." Playboy in 1965 reports her as a 39-23-36, which is identical to that listed with this slide set. The cup size is uncertain, but certainly down the alphabet. The Hanson documentation of Doda before her enlargement depicts a maillot not quite a sleek as this one (CD6460); both leglines arch inside inguinal and bare butt, but this one raises the waistline to match the Gernreich silhouette, and then rises above the base of the ribs before releasing much narrower straps. Gernreich does play a role in all this if only because of his mass-media resonance. And Doda wears a similar maillot to this one, but with a narrower t-front, the following year (CD6540). Source The package and four souvenir slides of Carol Doda at the Condor Club in San Francisco are from a set of souvenir slides, with photography credited to Ray De Aragon, "Carol Doda At the Condor, San Francisco, California, 4 for $2.00, Miss Doda (39-23-36), Pioneer of the Topless Swim Dance, Golden West Distr. Co., ca 1964. Image source is Umpqua, flickr.com, downloaded 2009; by permission of creative commons license may be reproduced for non-commercial use. 5 pictures. |
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