Bunny Stana

My photo in Monday's post generated a lot of comments and e-mails. Although I have been showing off that photo like forever, it seems that some readers were unfamiliar with Bunny Stana and wanted to know more.

Your wish is my command, so here is a rerun of an old post that tells everything you wanted to know about my Playboy bunny costume.

Dear Stana,

I like your site and check it often. On your flickr picture gallery, there are many pics of you, but I wanted to ask about one where you are dressed in what looks like a black waitress outfit from a Playboy Club. You look absolutely fabulous. It must feel wonderful. I was wondering about it though; where you got it; if it is from a Playboy club?

Regards,

Fred

Hi Fred,

Thank you for the kind words!

Like every boy, I wanted to be a Playboy bunny when I grew up. Didn't happen, but the next best thing was to be a Playboy bunny on Halloween.

Halloween 2004 was my target for joining the girls in Hef's bunny hutch, so I began searching the Internet for bunny costumes.

Occasionally, authentic Playboy bunny costumes turn up on eBay, but they are prohibitively expensive, not to mention that they are never available in Size 16 Tall.

There were a few bunny costumes available on the Halloween costume web sites. All resembled the real Playboy costume in one way or another, but none were authentic enough for me and again, size was an issue.

I am a do-it-yourself kind of girl. In the past, I assembled many Halloween costumes from scratch, so I decided that if I wanted to achieve authenticity, I would have to build my own Playboy bunny costume.

With summer winding down, there were clearance sales galore on swimwear and I found the perfect item for my costume at the Newport-News web site: a black sequins maillot-style swimsuit. I don't recall the size or the price, but when it arrived, it was a perfect fit and I was well on my way building the costume.

I already had shoes that matched: a pair of black patent high heel pumps.

The bunny ears, tail, tuxedo cuffs and collar with bow tie were relatively easy and inexpensive to acquire. Various Halloween costumers sold kits that paired the ears with the tail and the cuffs with the collar. They were so inexpensive that I bought two kits each just in case I had a costume malfunction.

The hardest items to find were the fishnets and rosette name badge.

I owned fishnets, but none that had a fishnet pattern all the way up to the waistband, which is what I needed to cover my legs from toe to hip. One more time, size was an issue, but I finally managed to find a pair online that fit my very long gams.

After visiting a number of craft and party stores, I found a rosette name badge at a local party store. All I had to do was add my own name to the badge, which I did using a font on my computer that approximated the original bunny rosette name badge font.

I had a collection of foundation garments to experiment with in order to achieve a bunny-like figure while keeping the foundation garments out of sight. After considerable experimentation, I went with a corset-style waist cincher to achieve the narrowest waistline and a legless panty girdle to flatten my tummy.

I went bra-less since the swimsuit had a built-in bra. I inserted my largest homemade birdseed falsies in the cups of the swimsuit and used surgical tape to bring my "girls" together to add some cleavage.

Voila! I was a now a Playboy bunny and my costume was a hit at my support group's Halloween party that year.

I am very proud of that costume and I hope I will have the opportunity to wear it again someday real soon now.

Best Wishes,

Stana

Wearing New York & Company (Source: New York & Company)

Jan Cina femulates Madonna on Polish television's version of Your Face Sounds Familiar.

Fifth

My Build a Better Bunny Costume was the 5th favorite costume in the Halloween Costume Challenge at Independent Fashion Bloggers (IFB). Thirty people in all participated in the challenge; I believe that 29 were genetic women.

Build a Better Bunny Costume

I was different from the other boys in my neighborhood; I wanted to be a Playboy bunny when I grew up. Didn't happen, but I could be a Playboy bunny on Halloween.

Occasionally, authentic Playboy bunny costumes show up for sale, but they are very expensive and never available in size 18 Tall.

The "Playboy bunny" costumes sold at the Halloween stores (online and on the street) sort of resemble real Playboy costume, but none are authentic enough for me and again, size is an issue.

I am a do-it-yourself kind of girl. so I decided that if I wanted authenticity, I would have to build my own Playboy bunny costume.

Here are the parts I acquired to assemble the Playboy bunny costume I am wearing in the accompanying photo.

Black maillot swimsuit --- I lucked out and found a black sequins maillot-style swimsuit on clearance at  Newport News. Sequins is not a necessity, but nice if you can find it.

Black patent high heel pumps --- I already had a pair; you probably do, too. If not, here is a pair from Zappo's that fits the bill.

Fishnet pantyhose --- I am tall and I could not find fishnet pantyhose in my size in the local stores, but I found these online from Hue that are available in sizes that will fit everyone.

Corset or waist-cincher --- I used a corset-style waist cincher (like this model from Frederick's of Hollywood) to achieve a wasp-like figure.

Bunny ears, tail, collar, bow tie and cuffs --- Halloween stores stock the ears, cuffs, collar, bow tie and tail needed to complete the costume. This ears, cuffs, collar, bow tie set from Amazon is authentic, as is this tail.

Rosette name badge --- I found a rosette badge at a party store. To add my own name to the badge, I printed my name in white text on a black circle, then glued it to the badge.

By the way, I am submitting this post to the Halloween costume challenge at IFB.

No Bonnet, Just Ears

Happy Easter!

Dear Stana: Where’d You Get the Bunny Costume?

Dear Stana,

I like your site and check it often. On your site's picture gallery, there are many pics of you, but I wanted to ask about one toward the bottom where you are dressed in what looks like a black waitress outfit from a Playboy Club. You look absolutely fabulous. It must feel wonderful. I was wondering about it though; where you got it; if it is from a Playboy club?

Regards,

Fred

Hi Fred,

Thank you for the kind words!

Like every boy, I wanted to be a Playboy bunny when I grew up. Didn't happen, but the next best thing was to be a Playboy bunny on Halloween.

Halloween 2004 was my target for joining the girls in Hef's bunny hutch, so I began searching the Internet for bunny costumes.

Occasionally, authentic Playboy bunny costumes turn up on eBay, but they are prohibitively expensive, not to mention that they are never available in Size 16 Tall.

There were a few bunny costumes available on the Halloween costume web sites. All resembled the real Playboy costume in one way or another, but none were authentic enough for me and again, size was an issue.

I am a do-it-yourself kind of girl. In the past, I assembled many Halloween costumes from scratch, so I decided that if I wanted to achieve authenticity, I would have to build my own Playboy bunny costume.

With summer winding down, there were clearance sales galore on swimwear and I found the perfect item for my costume at the Newport-News web site: a black sequins maillot-style swimsuit. I don't recall the size or the price, but when it arrived, it was a perfect fit and I was well on my way building the costume.

I already had shoes that matched the bodice: a pair of black patent high heel pumps.

The bunny ears, tail, tuxedo cuffs and collar with bow tie were relatively easy and inexpensive to acquire. Various Halloween costumers sold kits that paired the ears with the tail and the cuffs with the collar. They were so inexpensive that I bought two kits each just in case I had a costume malfunction.

The hardest items to find were the fishnets and rosette name badge.

I owned fishnets, but none that had a fishnet pattern all the way up to the waistband, which is what I needed to cover my legs from toe to hip. One more time, size was an issue, but I finally managed to find a pair online that fit my very long gams.

After visiting a number of craft and party stores, I found a rosette name badge at a local party store. All I had to do was add my own name to the badge, which I did using a font on my computer that approximated the original bunny rosette name badge font.

I had a collection of foundation garments to experiment with in order to achieve a bunny-like figure while attempting to keep the foundation garments hidden. After considerable experimentation, I went with a corset-style waist cincher to achieve the narrowest waistline and a legless panty girdle to flatten my tummy.

I went bra-less since the swimsuit had a built-in bra. I inserted my largest homemade birdseed falsies in the cups of the swimsuit and used surgical tape to bring my "girls" together to add some cleavage.

Voila! I was a now a Playboy bunny and my costume was a hit at my support group's Halloween party that year.

I am very proud of that costume and I hope I will have the opportunity to wear it again someday real soon now.

Best Wishes,

Stana

Need advice concerning femulation or other crossdressing-related matters, then e-mail me and I will happily give you my opinion on the matter. My e-mail address is stana-stana at sbcglobal.net.

Halloween planning

For past Halloweens, I have dressed as Jacqueline Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, French maid, Playboy bunny, Catholic schoolgirl, bat girl, office girl, go-go girl, and cheerleader. (You can see most of my costumes here on flickr.)

Except for the French maid costume that I bought off the rack at K*Mart, I assembled all the other costumes myself. I was particularly proud of the Playboy bunny costume. Unlike the off-the-rack bunny costumes on sale every Halloween, I was going for the authenticity of the original Playboy bunny costume and in my humble opinion, I came pretty close to achieving it.

With two months to go, I am trying to decide what to wear this Halloween, that is, assuming I will need anything to wear this Halloween. Last year, I did not costume up because I had no place to go. My support group usually has a Halloween party, but last year, I could not attend because I was out of town attending Fantasia Fair.

It is too early to know what will be on tap to celebrate Halloween at the end of next month. My support group will likely do something and my workplace might do something, so although there are no plans in place yet, like a girly Boy Scout, I want to be prepared.

skip The House Bunny

I watched The House Bunny last night.

We saw the previews for the film last summer and thought it might be worth renting. It was not.

There was a trans scene in the film and I will recount it here because I am a completist (and not because I recommend the film).

The main character, a Playboy bunny ends up in a prison cell with a group of prostitutes. She tries to make nice with her cellmates and suggests to one that she should let her natural beauty show and not wear so much heavy makeup. The prostitute responds that she is a dude.

Jonathan Loughran plays the prostitute (see photo).

You may remember him from the film Death Proof, in which he plays the country gentleman, who owns a 1970 Dodge Challenger that is a clone of the one that appeared in the film Vanishing Point.

I highly recommend Death Proof and Vanishing Point, but not The House Bunny.

Halloween

Halloween is reputed to be the national holiday for crossdressers. And sometimes I do celebrate our holiday.

I was thinking about going to work today dressed as Sarah Palin, but I scratched that costume idea because I like to have a unique costume and the Alaskan Governor seems to be everyone's choice this year. So I thought about doing goth schoolgirl because I already have all the pieces for that costume (short black pleated miniskirt, ripped fishnets, high heel boots, etc.), but I lost my enthusiasm to get in costume because I have been feeling rundown all week from a cold or allergy attack that has been bothering me for about a week.

As it turned out, nobody showed up in costume at work today. I am torn; if I wore a costume, I would have been the only one to do so and would have felt a little out of place, however, I sure would have received a lot of attention (and I love attention).

I have dressed en femme for work in the past, but only when there was some kind of company-sponsored Halloween celebration. (You can read about one of those Halloween escapades here.) So far, I have not had the nerve to dress when there was no company-sponsored celebration. Maybe next year.

My support group had their Halloween party last Wednesday while I was attending Fantasia Fair, so I missed that opportunity.

So, looks like I won't be crossdressing for our big holiday this year. But I will leave you with a photo of my Halloween costume from 2004. It is my favorite costume, my best effort and I don't think I will ever be able to top it. But, wait until next year!