VASTA: sexy

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Guy Bourdin: Bloomingdale's Lingerie Catalog 1976

Guy Bourdin, considered one of the greatest and most innovative fashion photographers of the 20th century was in his own way, disconnected from his work, refusing proposals for exhibitions and the publications of books. Within this context, standing alone, is the 1976 lingerie catalog, Sighs and Whispers, which Bourdin photographed for the New York City department store, Bloomingdale's. The mythical, highly sought after 32 page catalog contains 36 color photographs in a style that at the time (50 years ago) was considered both provocative and groundbreaking.

Above, the front cover; below, a few catalog pages, plus the back cover.

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Cars + Women + Paris = Auto-Erotica 1920s

Car culture as defined today owes everything to what was originally created at the turn-of-the-century and then after WWII with the birth of the American hot rodding spirit. However when it came to straight out seductive poses of women and cars, the Parisian photographers of the 1920s created the genre.

Here are a selection of what has been referred to by one publisher as "Wheels & Curves". It is no less than "beauty & the machine" and most certainly "auto-erotica" in the finest sense of the double-entendre!

All the photographs in this post are standard size (3.5" x 5.5") real photo post cards (rppc). The sepia toned photographs are unattributed and may possibly be the work of the Albert Wyndham Studio or one of the larger Paris studios: PC Paris or A.Noyer. All the black & white toned photographs are either marked with the mysterious "question mark in a triangle logo" (established as another mark used by the Ostra/Biederer Studio) or unmarked. Either way they are all the work of the two brothers operating the Ostra/Biederer Studios.

The requirements needed to qualify for the genre: a charming woman posed on, near or under an automobile with her skirt raised, giving the viewer a glimpse of her lingerie: panties, garter belt, stockings and high heels required! The "automobile breakdown" gambit is a natural as we get a variety of views of the roadside mechanic at work, skirts conveniently raised.

I have been a car crazy, hot rod enthusiast since I was a kid and I have owned thousands of car culture magazines over the years, one of my first collections. In all the years of viewing models posed with hot rods and automobiles, nothing has came close to the marvelous, subtle eroticism presented in these 100 year old photographs.