And so the ‘random books’ accumulation is going very nicely as I’m constantly raiding my local Black Gull Books for treasures and this one is no exception. A Taschen reprint of ‘Exotique’ magazine, the magazine of ‘femmes, fiction and future fashion’…aka a fetish mag that popped up in the years 1955-1959. Ok, so people in the 50s’ were into kinky things as well but the book WELL and TRULY dispelled the myth that fetishistic wear, PVC, impossible shoes and dominatrix looks were born a lot later. The composition and the structure imposed by the garments in the photographs in Exotique could stand side by side perfectly with the editorials in 10, i-D, Dazed & Confused etc which have used a fetishist slant. It’s so bizarret hat I have to keep flicking back to the front just to check this was in fact published in 1958.
In particular the shoes, or rather the extremity of the shoes are particularly engrossing and seem to play a major focus in the outfits… (yes, the shoes are doing more for me than the boobage…)… cut-out ankle booties with mega platforms, spiky heels, complex add-ons… definitely a far cry from the neat silk pumps of the 1950s’…
The shoes look so much like the David Lynch/Christian Louboutin fetish heels. I didn’t know that fashion in fetish circles repeated itself like it does in high fashion!
Oh I do love vertiginous heels.
Not that I have a hope in hell of walking in them.
perfect ..
what a tease, i’ve been hunting for the perfect stripper heels and the top picture are totally what i am after!
I think 50s people were in kinky things more than ever indeed…so unexpected and intriguing!!!
so gorgeous… must hunt this down. I love those dizzyingly spindly heels, esp the top left illustration, with the hand caressing a shoe in the corner… aaah…
Natacha Morro shoes at house-of-harlot.com ought to make any stripper happy.
p.s. I love that book too!
im so checking this book out XD
I love the shoe illustrations!
This is so beautiful, some of these shots are showing hookers no ? Very nice and exotic fetish.