Antiques Roadshow guest is stunned at valuation of her original 1970s Playboy bunny outfit
A former Playboy Bunny of the Year star was shocked to discover that memorabilia from her modeling days was worth thousands of dollars.
Chicago’s Candace Jordan brought her daring Playboy outfit to Antiques Roadshow and was stunned when it was professionally appraised.
Jordan’s outfit consisted of her 1976 Playboy of the Year costume, her trophy for first runner-up from the International Bunny of the Year Pageant, and her 1976 Bunny of the Year Pageant program.
According to appraiser Laura Woolley, her entire merchandise was worth between $8,200 and $11,300 in 2014.
Today, her cheerful Playboy bunny collection is estimated at $18,500 to $25,700.
Candace Jordan took her Playboy memorabilia to an event in Chicago and described each item on Antiques Roadshow
Jordan’s outfit consisted of her 1976 Playboy of the Year costume and her first runner-up trophy from the International Bunny of the Year Pageant
A smiling Jordan, who was known as Candy during her Playboy Bunny days, carried the original dress, cufflinks, sash and bunny ears.
She also brought along a photo of herself wearing the outfit to a Jerry Lewis telethon.
Jordan told Antiques Roadshow that the outfits originated from the Playboy clubs, but that she managed to get her hands on the outfit and has kept it ever since.
“The costumes are all made to fit the individual girls, so it’s not like they can just be reused,” Jordan told the appraiser.
The outfit also includes the signature rabbit tail, which is still intact and in good condition.
Woolley was particularly fascinated by the fact that Jordan had every piece of her Bunny suit in her collection, which she called “pretty special.”
She added that the value of the lawsuit alone was estimated at the time to be between $2,000 and $3,000.
Appraiser Laura Woolley was most fascinated by the fact that Jordan had every piece of her Bunny suit in her collection, which she called “quite extraordinary.”
Jordan brought a photo of herself wearing the outfit to a Jerry Lewis telethon and has posted photos of herself in the outfit on Instagram
Jordan’s Bunny of the Year trophy was a first for Woolley. “I’ve never seen a trophy pop up before. I think most women who have won that, they thought it was such a prestigious award to win…,” she told the former bunny.
Although her trophy was estimated at the time to be worth between $2,000 and $3,000, Woolley could not ignore the pageant schedule.
“This is the Bunny of the Year Pageant program. There were all these celebrities in the audience for the international pageant because it was the first one ever televised,” Jordan said.
She pointed out a number of celebrities who appeared on her show, including Steve Martin, Ringo Starr and OJ Simpson.
“I didn’t even remember getting these signatures,” she told Woolley.
“But when I took it out of storage and looked at it, my husband said, ‘My God, do you know the names on this?’ So that was pretty exciting.”
Woolley told Jordan the program would have cost at least $200 to $300, “if not more.”
Woolley claimed she had never seen an International Playboy Bunny of the Year trophy until that event in Chicago
The former centerfold actress first became Bunny while attending St. Louis University.
Shortly after, she was asked to pose for Playboy and after her photos did not go unnoticed, she packed her bags and moved into the mansion.
Jordan had the time of her life as a Playboy Bunny and lived in the mansion with Hugh Hefner himself.
“I was the centerfold in 1979 and all the Playmates, the girls, were very diverse; they were all beautiful and it was like a sorority,” Jordan said.
“There were friends, there was no competition, no jealousy. Living in the mansion with Hef was surreal.”
She added that celebrities at the time “would go out of their way to get into the mansion” and that the Rolling Stones occasionally threw parties there.
“I think I really took it for granted. And now, in retrospect, I think I’m kicking myself and thinking, ‘Wow, those were some really heady days,'” Jordan told Woolley.
Jordan, who still works at Playboy, spoke highly of Hefner, calling him the “perfect gentleman.”
The former bunny and her husband occasionally spent time with Hefner at parties in LA until the Playboy founder passed away in 2017.
Jordan originally worked at the Playboy Club in St Louis while attending St Louis University. She moved to the Playboy Mansion shortly thereafter
Jordan is now a successful media personality and Playboy brand ambassador who isn’t afraid to reflect on her time as a bunny.
She posted a promotional throwback image of herself on Instagram last month in a Playboy Bunny outfit outside the Chicago club where she worked.
Following her appearance on Antiques Roadshow, Jordan claimed in an Instagram post that the Chicago History Museum was interested in her Playboy memorabilia.