Bethenny Frankel’s latest Instagram offering from Miami is more than a sun-drenched vacation post—it is a masterclass in the interplay between exposure and control, a dynamic that has defined lingerie and swimwear design for centuries. At 55, Frankel chose a JMP The Label one-piece in a brown-and-black tortoiseshell pattern, its lace-up bodice and plunging neckline recalling the structural corsetry of the 19th century, now reimagined as a tool of liberation rather than restraint. The brand itself, founded in 2018, nods to the modern ethos of swimwear as armor: bold, sculptural, and designed to command attention rather than hide.
But it was the blue slip dress that followed—cutouts at the sides, black cups visible beneath lace—that truly spoke to the museum’s collection. The slip dress, a direct descendant of the early 20th-century chemise, was popularized by designers like Madame Grès and later by Calvin Klein in the 1990s as a symbol of effortless sensuality. Frankel’s version, with its exposed structural cups, transforms a private undergarment into a public statement, echoing the 1920s shift when women first began wearing lingerie as outerwear.
Frankel’s recent revelation about the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit show in May 2025—where she chose a hot pink Toxic Sadie two-piece with a G-string bottom—further illustrates this evolution. The G-string, originally a 1970s Brazilian innovation for tanning, has become a global emblem of body confidence. Frankel’s recollection of the laughter from the fitting room, followed by her defiant “I guess I’m showing my ass,” captures the very spirit of lingerie history: the negotiation between modesty and audacity, between the private and the performed. In Miami, she continues that conversation, one lace-up and cutout at a time.
Originally reported by US Magazine