#249 - FAF16 Fads & Fancies 1950s

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SKU: #249



Fads & Fancies, Vol. 1, No. 6
THE SMART SPORTS AND FASHIONS MONTHLY
Utopian Press
London, UK
c. 1950

digital replica


and


optimized for ebook viewing








In the late 1940s and early 1950s, London-based Utopian Press published Fads & Fancies, a fetish magazine with abundant illustrations by an artist who called herself Janine. In theme and style, Fads & Fancies was a descendant of London Life, which was bombed out of existence in 1941.


Nearly all text takes the form of letters from readers. Each letter is numbered, facilitating reference in subsequent issues.


Most of the correspondents are men, discussing their preferences in hair or lingerie color, female proportions and Janine's art. Writers discuss knickers, step-ins, panties, nylons, high heels, corsets, anklets, jewelry, cosmetics, hobble skirts, lace, garters, and horses.


Episode 3 of The Adventures of Delia by Aubrey Lamonte, whose ink technique looks a lot like Janine's, appears on one page. Titled Taken For A Ride, narration introduces us to the story with these words: “Delia has been for a secret moonlight ride with Ken Archer, but she does not suspect that his real intention is to kidnap her!”


Hot Notes provides news and comment about recently released jazz records. The author refers to Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Sidney Becher and Jimmie Rodgers.


An editorial explains that Fads & Fancies began as a feature in Sporty Stories magazine. The title page numbers the first issue of Fads & Fancies magazine as the sixth offering in the Fads & Fancies series. The cover numbers it 1 — the first instance of Fads & Fancies as a separate publication.


The digital replica presents each monochrome page in the sequence of the original. No changes were made to layouts. Brightness and contrast were adjusted.


All new scans.


The optimized ebook present each picture on a separate page. Art appears on more than 40 pages. As possible, curvy legs in seamed hosiery are repeated, enlarged. The six panels of the Delia serial are at the end of the ebook.


Ordinary 1950s sexism colors letters with fetishization of women's bodies, undies, make-up, hosiery, dresses and footwear. Expressed and implied enchantment with feminine things discloses one male viewpoint about the role of women. In 1954, Mr. Burtman dedicated his American Exotique magazine “to FASHIONS, FADS AND FANCIES,” which also accomplishes oblique reference to fetish objects.


Janine's artistry illuminates many written descriptions with fluid renderings of voluptuous beauties in stockings, garters, bloomers, corsets, hats and high heels. Her busty matrons present themselves in ornate regalia, celebrating their own fleshy femininity adorned with lace, ruffles, bows and feathers. In some pictures, the sexy subject seems a captive of her own fashion flamboyance. She labels one high-class smoker “A Savoy Naughty, Haughty, Sporty Widow”.


An earnest post-war excursion into the realm of male fascination with women, Fads & Fancies delivers delicious divas in frilly fetish mode. While Janine's extravagant curvaceousness eclipses current slender ideals, the femininity of her characters endures with style and cheer.



also available —

Fads and Fancies, No. 4
Fads and Fancies, No. 5



[ This website has information about Janine / Reina M. Bull. ]



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