Peggy Moffitt, Model for Famous Topless Bathing Suit Photo, Dies at 86

Peggy Moffitt, the actor and model who became a 1960s mod icon wearing designer Rudi Gernreich’s famous topless bathing suit design and other bold looks of the era, died Saturday in Beverly Hills. She was 86.

Her son, Christopher Claxton, told the New York Times she died of complications of dementia.

Moffitt’s husband, renowned photographer William Claxton, shot the photo that became a sensation for its daring design of a bathing suit held up only by slender straps, with no top portion. The 1964 photo, first published in Look and then a more explicit version in Women’s Wear Daily, was banned in some countries even though her arms were covering her breasts in some of the poses.

The actor and model was working at a trendy Beverly Hills boutique that sold pop art fashions when Gernreich asked her to pose, though she specified she would never wear the suit in public. In an era when bikinis were just becoming acceptable, his monokini was considered quite scandalous although she later said, “It was a political statement. It wasn’t meant to be worn in public.”

Born in Los Angeles, she aspired to act and took classes at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York, with Sydney Pollack as the acting teacher. Her first screen role was an uncredited appearance in “You’re Never Too Young.”

Paramount Pictures signed her to a contract and she appeared in the films “Senior Prom” and “Girls Town.”

Moffitt appeared in films including Michelangelo Antonioni’s “Blow-Up,” where she played a model in the 1966 classic about a fashion photographer.

Her other film roles included Franco Rossi’s 1962 L.A.-set cult film “Smog,” the French fashion satire “Who Are You, Polly Magoo?,” an episode of “Batman” in which she played Gernreich’s runway model and the short fashion film “Basic Black.”

Though Moffitt didn’t have the look of a conventional high fashion model, her bold hair and makeup were perfect accompaniments to the brightly colored, modernist designs of the era.

She influenced fashions once again when she appeared on the cover of Time magazine wearing a severe geometric bob designed by Vidal Sassoon.

Moffitt married William Claxton, famous for his photographs of jazz musicians, in 1959; he died in 2008. She is survived by her son.