Vasta Eros Series: PARIS 'Zine Launch: Guyette Volume Two

I will be in Paris October 23 to the 30th with our

Vasta Edtions 'Zines, including the latest Guyette

Volume 2: Dominants & Submissives

Email to make an appointment vasta@earthlink.net

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Vasta Eros Series 'Zine #8 Guyette Volume 2

Here to purchase

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J.David Illustrations: Prostitution & High Heels Paris 1950s

J.David: Prostitution & High Heels Paris 1950s

While preparing a previous post of digest sized, French girlie magazines I found these four wonderful magazines with cover illustrations by J.David. So I had to do this quick post. I don't know anything about him and could not find anything on the web about him. 

Over the years I have seen only these four magazines with artwork credited to J.David. They include color covers + full-page black and white illustrations and smaller humorous illustrations with a one-line "gag". There is also a monochrome illustration used for a fiction piece at the end. David's line and effortless style of caricature are reminiscent of the work of American artist, Al Capp, the creator of Lil Abner. Medium format magazines published in Paris circa 1953/1954. His focus on busty babes, boots and the world of prostitution.

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 Printemps Sensuel. Numero Special

(left) Filles des Tonnerre. Supervamps ~ Numero Special. (right) Supervamps. 

Numero Tres Special.

 Paris-Parade. Numero Special

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Frederick's of Hollywood: Point It! Firm It! Cinch It!

 

Culled from a large collection of original Frederick's catalogs, circa mid-1950s to the early 1960s, here is a selection of covers and catalog pages. Frederick's, famous for its line of seductive, Hollywood inspired lingerie, was started by Frederick Mellinger in 1946. Mellinger, inventor of the push-up bra, made his mark with the flagship Frederick's store on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California where it remained for 59 years. His mail order catalog business, primarily of fanciful lingerie, was very successful and a model for many other speciality, direct mail business to follow. 


On the verge of collapse in 2001 the company filed for bankruptcy. In 2006 it merged with sleepwear manufacturer, Movie Star and moved its headquarters to New York City. It is a publicly traded company with outlets throughout the United States as well as an on-line presence. 

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The earliest catalogs were published circa 1948 and are similar in format to the three reproduced above. By circa 1958/59 the format of the catalog was increased to approx. 8" x 10.5". Soon after the covers were printed in color and then two to four interior pages in color were added as well. For many years nearly all the catalogs were illustrated, with only the occasional use of photography. Stylistically that set a tone for the overall look of the catalogs, as well as giving the artist's the freedom to create the desired "support" in all the proper places.

Besides every possible variation on ladies seductive lingerie known to humanity, Frederick's also offered dresses, skirts, pants, swim suits, shoes, wigs, outerwear and more as well as items for "that special man in your life". Each "season" brought a few new additions to the "standard" Frederick's line of products. Eventually the catalogs became a reflection of the changes in style in fashion, reinterpreted as only Frederick's could. 

Frederick's, in a departure from most every other mail order company, not only printed serial information in each catalog but also the date. These early catalogs, and indeed all the Frederick's catalogs, have become "style books" each one with the exact date of publication, taking the guess work out of placing the period. By doing so, in retrospect, it made each catalog a very useful research tool for stylists, clothing and costume designers and other creative types including illustrators and photographers. Here's to 65 uplifting years of the Frederick's of Hollywood enterprise! 

 Catalog cover above and all the remaining illustrations in this

post are the large format catalogs, circa 1957 to

circa 1961. 

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Gene Bilbrew FETISH ART Irving KLAW Studio 1950s

Irving Klaw's New York City studio is arguably most well known for his early 1950s photographs of Bettie Page. As many collectors are aware there was much more going on at Klaw's 14th Street location then selling movie star, pin-up and bondage photographs (Klaw never made photos of nudes believing that would get him into trouble with the law!). He created Mutrix publications and the digest size magazine series as a vehicle for fetish, bondage and cross-dressing themed publications, illustrated with photographs as well as artwork by Eric Stanton and Gene Bilbrew. Along the way Klaw also published many bondage illustrations and stories as "serial", sets of 12, 24 or 48 plates recreating original illustrations on glossy photographic paper. 

Here is a selection of those "serial" illustrations. Even though signed by different artists (Brody, Van Rod), they are all by Gene Bilbrew, aka Eneg. 

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