Polyester

Polyester follows Francine Fishpaw, a Baltimore housewife whose suburban life is collapsing. Her husband Elmer runs a pornographic cinema and is unfaithful to her, while her mother criticizes her constantly and her children Dexter and Lu-Lu cause trouble of their own. When Francine learns of her husband's affair, the marriage falls apart and she sinks into depression and heavy drinking. Her friend Cuddles Kovinsky, who has unexpectedly come into money, offers some support, and a wealthy suitor named Todd Tomorrow enters her life.

John Waters wrote, directed and produced the film, which was released in 1981. It sits between Desperate Living (1977) and Hairspray (1988) in the run of features he directed. Divine plays Francine, with Tab Hunter as Todd Tomorrow, Edith Massey as Cuddles Kovinsky, David Samson as Elmer, Mary Garlington as Lu-Lu and Ken King as Dexter. The film was presented with scratch-and-sniff cards so audiences could smell along with selected scenes, an approach known as Odorama.

The production brought together New Line Cinema, Michael White Productions and Dreamland, with a credited cast of 71 and 47 crew members. It took about 1 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7 out of 10 from around 10,000 votes, and on TMDB 7 out of 10 from about 197 votes, indicating a modest but clearly favourable response from those who have seen it.