One of the great triumphs of old B movies is their innovative (cynics might say gratuitous) use of bikinis. These days, B movies resort to ordinary, uninspired nudity, but the bikinis of yore were much more fun. Some of the best bikinis were the furry pelt bikinis worn by cave girls, Amazons, and wild women, usually along with long, disheveled hair and long, suntanned legs. Since Raquel Welch’s One Million Years B.C. bikini requires more architecture than what comes standard on the average human woman, I turned to Bunny Yeager, the classic pinup photographer, for design inspiration. She designed many of the suits that her famous bikini girls wore. Her daring, sexy creations were quite racy for an era that championed bullet­-­bra and girdle proportions in swimwear—but still left plenty of room for ­imagination.

Both versions are knit with the same pattern, but the qualities of yarn and stitch give the two versions slightly different proportions. The pieces may look kind of huge until you actually try them on (modern swimwear and underwear are terribly skimpy, so they’ll distort your ­expectations).