Poster girl from X to B

At the Los Angeles stop on the national book tour for her memoir, “Underneath It All,” Traci Lords received adoring fans with the beneficence of a royal. She wore her blond hair piled high and an elegant silk gown made just for her. They came bearing roses, orchids and jewelry. Women equaled men in the line that snaked the block outside Book Soup on Sunset Boulevard.

“She’s like an icon for a generation,” said ad executive Dede Parker, who brought her husband.

“It’s been really intense,” Lords said. “I’ve been getting an enormous amount of ‘you go, girl!’ ”

Her story, by now, is legendary -- the Penthouse centerfold at 15, scores of porn films by 18, the FBI confiscation of those films, and the transition to B movies. Today, Lords stars in reruns of the Sci Fi Channel’s “First Wave,” has another starring role in the upcoming Miramax/Dimension film “Chump Change,” and has recorded a cover of the Missing Persons hit “Walking in L.A.” complete with video.

At her after-party at the Key Club, friends and family gathered in the same dark lounge where KTLA staff members were celebrating their new after-hours show about L.A. nightlife called “Clubbin.’ ” Clips from the show portrayed a series of lingerie-clad women writhing on a dance floor. One guest noted: “This is going to be more risque than anything you’ll see from Traci Lords tonight.”

Indeed, it was. Lords spent most of the evening snuggled in a booth next to her husband, ironworker Jeffrey Lee, as her highly stylized music video, in which she appears in drag, played over and over again.

Despite this image makeover, at least one guest recalled Lords’ early years when he assumed the book signing had taken place at the Hustler store. But Lords didn’t miss a beat. “You must be thinking of my former life,” she said.