Dangerous Curves Who can deny the awe-inspiring effects of a corset induced wasp waist? Or the sensuality of fine silk lingerie, the elegance of bejeweled kid-skin gloves, the erotic power of perfectly fitted hip hugging leathers and the desire that these sensual materials incite? And finally…the finishing touch of a pair of dangerously high heels, designed to imbue the wearer with a sense of superiority and fragility all at the same time? I stumbled upon Sweet Gwendoline and the aesthetic of fetish (not to mention the joys of “different” kinds of loving) in 1982 while rummaging through what was certainly a secret stash of girlie magazines. I purchased the whole lot of worn and torn Wink and Bizarre at a yard sale for 1$. The lady who took my crinkled dollar bill seemed as relieved to free herself from her deceased husband's coveted collection as I was to become its new owner!… Read More
My Man of Style I’m wild about John Willie. So much so, that when I made Vanity Fair’s prestigious International Best-Dressed List, I apparently stumped readers for name-dropping John Willie’s women as my greatest fashion inspiration. On stage, JW is always there in spirit—but no greater than the ovation “Lipteese” number I do, riding, bronco-style, straddling a whopping, sparkling red lipstick. And, of course, the little devil is at my shoulder as I creative direct my hat collection for Hood London, or my signature lingerie and glove lines. Or when I get dressed, morning or night. Little was left to the imagination when it came to the curvaceous women that JW so meticulously penciled. Yet it was what was on the outside—a second skin of chiffon and leather, silk and satin—that drew me in. The man knew clothes. And stockings. And shoes. Especially shoes, a fetish he also expressed through another enterprise, a footwear… Read More