Jayne Mansfield's leopard spot bikini was regular wardrobe for actress and blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield in her publicity stunts. [1] [2] Because of the costume she came to be known as "the girl in the leopard bikini" at times. [3] During the late 1950s, she and her husband Mickey Hargitay posed for photos with her in the leopard spot bikini. [4] The couple wore matching leopard spots to announce their closeness, [5] and the costume won them a prize at a Hollywood costume party. [6] Mansfield often walked down the Hollywood Boulevard in the leopard bikini signing autographs, [7] once went shopping in the leopard bikini, [8] and attended parties in it. [9] [10]
When Mansfield and her husband Miklós Hargitay toured for stage shows, newspapers wrote that Mansfield convinced the rural population that she owned more bikinis than anyone. [11] She showed a fair amount of her 40-inch (1,000 mm) bust, as well as her midriff and legs, in the leopard-spot bikini she wore for her stage shows. [12] Kathryn Wexler of The Miami Herald wrote, "In the beginning as we know it, there was Jayne Mansfield. Here she preens in leopard-print or striped bikinis, sucking in air to showcase her well noted physical assets." [13] Her leopard-skin bikini remains one of the earlier specimens of the fashion. [14] As late as in 1982, she appeared in a full page color photograph in the leopard spot bikini in Tony Crawley's Screen Dreams: The Hollywood Pin-up. [15] American Photo magazine printed photographer Bruno Bernard's photo of Mansfield in the costume in 2003. [16]