I remember the bra commercial fairly well. Of course, she wasn't shown actually modeling the undergarment, but I do remember her talking about "full-figured" girls like herself, and presumably, the women out there in TVLand that the product was intended for. Probably Playtex, but I can't remember exactly....
I remember the commercial, too...it was on a mannequin and it was Playtex and somebody (Russel, I suppose) used a wandstick to gently outline the 'Cross Your Heart' bra. (Lifts and separates...
Betty Grable also did Playtex commercials. I think she even did them for girdles (before they were reinvented as 'Spanx').
As for the Howard Hughes design...story goes that he wanted something for her to wear in 'The Outlaw' that would prevent her from bouncing all over the place.
