#379 - Exotique LACE ME TIGHTER + Gene Bilbrew: HIS DREAMS CAME TRUE

LACE ME TIGHTER, an Exotique Publication,
A Burmel [Selbee] publication from 1957

and

HIS DREAMS CAME TRUE, illustrated by Gene Bilbrew.
R. & G. Publishing Co., c. 1958

LACE ME TIGHTER
From 1955 to 1959, Leonard Burtman published Exotique magazine, a digest sized periodical “dedicated to Fads, Fashions and Fancies,” which is another way of saying, “specializing in the interests of fetishists.” Some historians characterize Exotique as a quarterly, and, during its first years of publication, may have been published at that frequency. It is difficult to discern as most issues show no dates. By 1959, a new Exotique was appearing at adult book stores every other month. Then, Mr. Burtman discontinued the title and began publishing several full-size magazines.

In 1998, Benedict Taschen published a reprint of the first 36 issues. During the lifetime of Exotique, Mr. Burtman published many special editions and ancillary booklets that bore the Exotique masthead, including Correspondence Digest, Novelettes, Photo Fiction, illustrated stories, comics and others. These are not a part of the Taschen collection or any other anthology.

For those interested in this esoteric corner of publishing history, we offer an ebook version of LACE ME TIGHTER, published in 1957. It is story about a woman (modeled by Diane Kirby) who interviews two candidates and chooses one of them to be her maid. The story and photo illustrations show lots of dressing and undressing. The boss tightens her maid's corset; then, the maid tightens her mistress's corset. Lots of stockings, garter straps and high heels. Like most issues of Exotique, this one has 64 interior pages.

Most page spreads show text on the even-numbered page (left hand) and a photo that illustrates the text on the odd-numbered (right hand) page. The ebook layout reflects this paging arrangement with a two-page spread on every ebook page.

HIS DREAMS CAME TRUE, illustrated by Gene Bilbrew
Mr. Bilbrew was a prolific artist who accomplished an enormous body of work before his untimely end in 1974. This ebook is based on an obscure booklet from about 1958. A digest-sized, letter-press piece from "R. & G. Publishing Co.", His Dreams Came True contains a delightful short story by "Author - HUME BENTLEY" and 8 Bilbrew ink drawings. Two of those drawings are shown on this page but the color cover is not. Each page of the original has been placed on a separate ebook page. The ebook contains 50 pages, including an unrelated photograph on the back cover and a couple of Bilbrew drawings from another small book.

Carla catches her younger brother messing around with her wardrobe and insists that he dress as a woman. Eventually, Frank becomes Frannie and meets Carla's girlfriends as a female cousin. The story has the elements of many "transformation" progressions. If you like that kind of fiction, you will find this tale to be satisfying. The prose is exceptionally well-crafted with explicit fetish details, good grammar and an articulate vocabulary. (I will send a sample of the prose on request.) The ink drawings show feminine characters in corsets, stockings, pony tails and extremely high-heeled shoes.

Two digital replica ebooks, delivered by download link.