Polyester is a 1981 American satirical comedy film directed, produced, and written by John Waters, and starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Edith Massey, and Mink Stole.

The film is also a satire of suburban life in the early 1980s, involving topics such as divorce, abortion, adultery, alcoholism, racial stereotypes, foot fetishism, and the religious right.

Her husband Elmer is a polyester-clad lout who owns an adult movie theater, causing anti-pornography protesters to picket the Fishpaws' house.

Francine's Christian beliefs are offended by the behavior of her children—Lu-Lu, her spoiled, promiscuous daughter; and Dexter, her delinquent, glue-sniffing son who derives sexual pleasure from stomping on women's feet.

Francine then falls into alcoholism and depression, exacerbated by her children's behavior; Lu-Lu is impregnated by her degenerate boyfriend Bo-Bo Belsinger, and she announces she is getting an abortion.

Sometime later, Francine's life begins to look up, as a rehabilitated Dexter is released from jail; Lu-Lu suffers a miscarriage from her suicide attempt, and she is contrite about her past, becoming an artistic flower child who embraces macramé.

Dreamlander perennials Mink Stole, Mary Vivian Pearce, Cookie Mueller, Sharon Niesp, Marina Melin, Susan Lowe and Jean Hill have plot integral roles; however, they are much smaller compared to earlier films.

To highlight this, Waters designed Odorama, a "scratch-and-sniff" gimmick inspired by the work of William Castle and the 1960 film Scent of Mystery, which featured a device called Smell-O-Vision.

"[7] After being prompted to scratch and sniff a bouquet of roses, viewers are subjected to a series of mostly foul-smelling odors, and thus fall victim to the director's prank.

Paramount Pictures used the Odorama name and logo as part of the Rugrats Go Wild release in 2003, upsetting Waters when he learned that New Line Cinema had let the copyright lapse.

Odorama cards were recreated by Midnight Movies, Little Joe Magazine, and The Aroma Company to allow viewers to interact with Polyester as intended for a screening at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June 2011.

Waters need not rely so heavily on the grotesque touches that make his other films such perennial favorites on the weekend Midnight Movie circuit.

The critics' consensus states, "As proudly tacky as its titular fabric, Polyester finds writer-director John Waters moving ever so slightly into the mainstream without losing any of his subversive charm.