Earle Bergey - Fantastic'art

Earle K. Bergey, 1901-1952, painted covers for a large number of science fiction magazines during the '40's. His illustrations featured women in space helmets and bikinis or skin-tight outfits which were later the inspiration for Princess Leia's slave-girl outfit in Return of the Jedi. These covers, often described as "Bim, Bem, Bum," usually featured a woman being menaced by a Bug Eyed Monster or robot who resembled a man in a rubber suit, with an astronaut or other heroic type coming to her assistance. The bikini-tops worn by the girls often resembled coppery metal, giving rise to the phrase, "the girl in the brass bra," often used in reference to this sort of art.