One place that stands out like a sore thumb on Hollywood Boulevard is Frederick's of Hollywood, that giant gray & pink building a few blocks east of the famous Chinese Theatre.

Frederick Mellinger now has smaller versions of his stores in most modern shopping malls, of course, but this outlandish Art Deco tower was the original flagship store, established in 1946. (For many years, the building was painted a garish purple, but fortunately, it was recently redone in its current, less-flamboyant color scheme.)

Here, can you find musical panties that play "Happy Birthday," to go with the push-up bras. But as you might have guessed, there's more to do inside this Frederick's than just buy provocative lingerie. Yes, believe it or not, tucked away in the back of Frederick's, up a short flight of marble steps, is "The Lingerie Museum," a unique display of historic examples of Frederick's sexy undies. But the real draw here is a section called "The Celebrity Lingerie Hall of Fame," which exhibits a collection of (what else?) underwear worn by Hollywood movie stars!

It is billed as "a tribute to the stars who glamorized lingerie."

They have Madonna's black and gold bustier           (with tassels, of course), which she wore           during her "Who's That Girl" tour   the lacy garter belt worn by Susan Sarandon in           the Kevin Costner film, "Bull Durham"   a fur-trimmed negligee and bra worn by           Cybill Shepherd in the TV series           "Moonlighting"   "Peg Bundy's" (Katey Sagal's) bra from           "Married...With Children"   black lace panties from Zsa Zsa Gabor   boxer shorts worn by Tom Hanks in the film          "Forrest Gump"   Lana Turner's slip from "The Merry Widow"   a girdle worn by Ethel Merman in "There's No           Business Like Show Business"   Judy Garland's nightgown from           "Presenting Lili Mars"   Ava Gardner's petticoat from "Show Boat"   two bras from Cher (one black, one white)   Ingrid Bergman's corset from the movie,          "Cactus Flower"   Jeanette MacDonald's petticoat worn in the          film "Maytime"   undies from the cast of "Beverly Hills 90210"           (Tori Spelling, Tiffani-Amber Thiesen,           Kathleen Robertson, Ian Ziering,           and Jason Priestley)   as well assorted "unmentionables" from           Mae West, Natalie Wood, Kim Basinger,          Jamie Lee Curtis, Pamela Anderson Lee,          Robert Redford, Lana Turner, Doris Day,          Belinda Carlisle (of "The Go-Go's"),          Naomi Judd, Cyd Charisse, Bette Davis,          Shirley MacLaine, KISS, Loni Anderson,          Isabel Sanford and many more... they even          have Phyllis Diller's training bra (marked          "This Side Up!")

In fact, there are even women's undies worn by male actors in drag, such as the dress Milton Berle wore on his TV show, and the bra Tony Curtis wore in his hilarious performance in the classic "Some Like It Hot."

Obviously, this museum is not for everyone, but it is amusing, in a bizarre sort of way... and certainly offbeat.

Admission to the museum is free. The main museum is located in the back of the Frederick's store; when you enter, just go to the left rear (southeast) corner of the store and look for the neon sign. They rotate the exhibits, so not all of the items will be on exhibit at any one time. It's a small space. But not as small as it might at first appear to be. Beneath the neon sign you'll find a glass display case containing about six items on mannequins. This is NOT the entire museum. If you'll look to your right, you'll see a small stairway leading up to the rest of the museum, consisting of a short hallway with more exhibits, leading to a small room filled with more glass displays cases.

Also, look for other celebrity displays scattered throughout the store.

(And we probably don't have to mention that Frederick's may not be the kind of place you'd want to take your kids. As you'd expect, there's a heavy emphasis on sex throughout the store.)

Hours: The lingerie museum is open seven days a week, during regular store hours.

Mon-Thur: 10 AM - 9 PM
Fri: 10 AM - 6 PM
Sat-Sun: 12 noon - 5 PM.

Getting there: The lingerie museum is located on the bottom floor of the large gray & pink Frederick's of Hollywood building (inside the store), on the south side of Hollywood Boulevard, at Whitley Avenue (in between Highland & Vine Streets), just a few blocks east of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. / From Hollywood and Vine, just go west on Hollywood Boulevard, and Frederick's will be on your left (south) side. You can't miss it.