Customer Reviews

Exotique (Special Series)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very interesting collection. Flipping through the pages of the three hardbacks that make up EXOTIQUE I got a really good feel for a whole different side of 1950's women's fashion and lifestyle.

The three volumes are filled with great B&W photos, comics, illustrations, cartoons, and advertisements. Interesting dated articles and reviews make up the text.

If this sounds interesting, also see Taschen's BIZARRE collection by John Willie. Very much the same as EXOTIQUE, but with (I think) a kinkier slant on women's bondage fashions of the 1940's.

The three volumes are hardcover and have unusual covers.

This collection along with taschens release of bizarre is a fabulous treat indeed. The packaging is top notch, and whats contained inside is sheer brilliance. Heels , stockings, dominant damsels.. this is the first 36 issues of this fanzine put out from 1951 - 1959. The fiction is what youd expect for 50's underground sexuality. A subtle reminder of times when underwear mattered!!

While Taschen is to be commended for returning these rarities to print, the quality of their production leaves much to be desired. The photos, especially, are not reproduced well with the chosen printing process, and the paper stock seems thin. This is surprising, considering that the sort of person who would buy this collection most likely wouldn't mind paying for a superior production. And given the price of the originals, there is lots of room to manoeuver. Hopefully they'll reprint the variety of ancilliary Exotique productions, such as the photo books, and upgrade the physcial quality.

Benedikt Taschen is going boldly where no quality publisher has gone before. EXOTIQUE is a collection of the late Leonard Burtman's quirky, fetish journal of the 1950s. Burtman's imagery is a life spring of outrageous gams, tight-fitting boots, garters, stockings and take-command women. A must for the fetish collector. But not a trivial amount of cash to slap down on the table.

This is, quite simply, an absolutely essential item for anyone interested in sexualized fashion. "Exotique", as one of the leading magazines of the 1950's New York underground fetish fashion scene (closely associated with BDSM - and it's remarkable how little the contours of BDSM fashion have changed over the last half-century) presented in each issue a bumper crop of images and stories having to do with eroticized fashion accessories such as stockings, high-heeled shoes, boots, long gloves, and corsets. The item at hand presents a reprint of the first 36 issues of Exotique, running from 1951 to 1959. Bettie Page fans take note; this three-volume set has many pictures of Bettie.

Great 3 volume boxed set! The artwork on the slipcover and bookcovers are great! Takes you back to the early fetish and pin-up days with the likes of Bettie Page, Tana Louise and more! Great fictional fetish stories as well! Recommend!

I was unaware of what exactly was in the pages of these books. While I didn't live in the times that the magazine was originally printed, I am fascinated with the older eras of women's fashion. Since discovering Bettie page in my early teens, the 40's and 50's were a society of sexually expressive yet suppressed people. Much like women's fashion. It intended to accentuate a woman's sexuality but not as blatantly as new generations of women's fashion.

Perhaps the description of the book is vague or misleading. Not that it is a bad thing. But I have read the first book so far (there are three in all) and where I thought this was more of a magazine of women's fashion, pin ups and history (like The Bettie Pages) these are fictional stories. Some are more noir and pulp, while some are erotica. This is more why I wanted to write the review than anything. I don't think that the contents are explained well enough with amazon's description. I have enjoyed reading the book, but it's not what I thought it was, so I am not tearing through it like I was expecting to. But they are still quality fiction shorts and the black and white pin up photos are well worth the money. Some great shots sent in by readers and known models of the time. I would still recommend this book to anyone interested in that era and it's women.