Fashion – Page 4 – Femdom Resource

Slacking

I’m in Las Vegas for a few days of R & R. In an unusual turn of events I’ve actually got no kinky fun lined up for this trip. Just hanging out with friends, eating out and relaxing. I’ll try and keep the blog updated but updates may be a bit erratic.

One thing I always enjoy in Vegas is dressing smartly. It’s not exactly Monte Carlo (despite the namesake casino) when it comes to fashion, so a suit really stands out, while still looking good.

This is a photograph shot by Tibi Clenci for Elle magazine in October 2010. The models are Silviu Tolu and Andreea Diaconu.

Magnificent Maleficent

The latest Disney fairytale, Maleficent, has been getting some pretty mixed reviews. Fortunately, while everyone might not like the movie, there has been consistent praise for Angelina Jolie’s take on the character of the evil Queen from Snow White. Watching great actors ham it up as bad guys is always a guilty pleasure. Think of Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber, Antony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter or Heath Ledger as the Joker. I’m sure Maleficent will not be troubling the Oscar committee, but watching Miss Jolie tear it up as an twisted sadistic fairy in a leather catsuit promises to be particularly rewarding.

The image below is older one, taken (judging by the background) at a Comic Con. She’s one celebrity who can really rock the leather look. Kinky sites always seem to feature the scene from Mr and Mrs Smith, but I always thought she looked better attending the premier to that same movie.

Clothes make the man

I’m not really a fetishist. I’ve never asked a domme to wear a particular outfit and, much as I appreciate the aesthetics of traditional latex and leather S&M outfits, I can also happily play without them.

Smart clothes on the other hand, that’s a whole different story. I love getting dressed up and going out with people who feel the same way. Seattle is a wonderful city in many respects, but fashion and dressing for dinner is not a big thing here. My suits have probably got more hours clocked in suitcases at 30,000 feet than they have being worn in Seattle. Seeing a well dressed couple moving together through a restaurant or bar always makes me happy. There’s something very right about that scene.

This particular image is Michael Fassbender in GQ. He looks great, and the position of her gloved hand really makes the shot.

Gangs of New York

One look at their footwear tells you these are not people who actually ride motorcycles. Yet I still like this shot. The old school British motorbikes are very stylish, as are the leather outfits. As an image it’s almost a double cliche. It was shot for Vogue by Peter Lindbergh in 1991, and obviously apes the biker iconography of the 50’s. Yet looking at it now, it is also a great example of the kind of supermodel photo shoots that were so common in the 80’s and 90’s.

The models featured are Naomi Campbell, Karen Mulder and Helena Christensen. The photographer was Peter Lindbergh. You can see more images from the shoot here.

Fashion victim

I’m back in freezing Seattle after my jaunt down the coast to California. From a food and friends perspective the trip was a storming success. If you’re in LA and looking for great restaurants I’d strongly recommend Scratch Bar, Ink and hinoki & the bird. They were the three standouts of all those I tried.

From a kinky perspective it wasn’t quite as successful. The original person I planned to see had a scheduling conflict and we never could quite align our calendars. Then my alternative choice turned out to be sick and unable to play. At that point, rather than ringing around for a last minute beating, I decided it simply wasn’t meant to be. Instead I went clothes shopping in Beverly Hills. That’s an entirely different level of masochism. The sales assistants might not dress in leather, but they can certainly inflict punishment. I got a figurative screwing that was more expensive than a literal one. Although at least I ended up taking more home than a sore bottom.

The topic of clothes and fashion does give me an excuse to feature some fashion based femdom. This is for voodoo hosiery and taken from their 2010 ad campaign.

Victoria’s history

I found this recent Slate article on the history of the Victoria’s Secret company interesting. I’d always assumed that fancy lingerie stores were a standard fixture in the boutique shopping areas of most cities. Apparently that only became true in America in the 1980’s when Victoria’s Secret went from a company founded with $80,000 in ’77 to a $1.9B empire by ’95. I was particularly amused by the fact that the founder originally created it because the department stores made him feel like a ‘deviant’ for shopping there and he wanted somewhere for men to be comfortable. I know quite a few dommes where that embarrassment and deviance factor would count as a bonus not a drawback.

Of course this story gives me an excuse to feature a suitably frilly image with a hint of femdom. This is Larisa Fraser shot for Bonprix lingerie.

Sun, sand, surf

Posting may be a bit erratic for the next few days. I’m taking a vacation in Hawaii. Some friends have rented a house on a beach, so I’m looking forward to relaxing with a tall drink and a book. That’s very much not my typical vacation, but that’s probably a good thing. A vacation is supposed to be a break from the usual after all.

I have absolutely no kinky fun planned at all. However, should a lady in a bathing suit require me to kneel down so she can avoid get her feet wet, then I dare say I could be persuaded.

This is Tatjana Patitz, and the photograph was taken by the fashion photographer Herb Ritts. I found it on StellaNova’s Realm.

Office bully

The first image from yesterday’s post put me in mind of this shot. I like the fact it works whoever you prefer to imagine to be the titular boss. She can either be a controlling subordinate or a bullying manager and it’s still hot.

I first stumbled across it on the Thoughts of a Dork tumblr. It’s originally from a fashion shoot for Harper’s Bazaar in Spain. It was shot by Benjamin Kanarek and features Yulia Kharlapanova.

The cutting edge of gender issues (beware of icebergs)

I was amused to read this gawker article on an ironic Fox News snafu. The original Fox article was all about the benefits of traditional marriage and traditional gender models. Unfortunately for them the picture they picked to illustrate it was of the first same-sex couple to get married at the Empire State Building. Sadly they eventually spotted their faux-pas and changed the picture.

Although the picture problem was funny, the article itself is also pretty amusing. My favorite section is …

Prior to the 1970s, people viewed gender roles as as equally valuable. Many would argue women had the better end of the deal! It’s hard to claim women were oppressed in a nation in which men were expected to stand up when a lady enters the room or to lay down their lives to spare women life. When the Titanic went down in 1912, its sinking took 1,450 lives. Only 103 were women. One-hundred three.

Now I’m a man. Far be it from me to dictate when life was best for 50% of the world’s population. But I have to say that as general measure of happiness and liberty, the “chances of dying in a cruise ship disaster” test doesn’t strike me as the most representative one. If I had to pick between early access to lifeboats and say the right to vote (8 years after the Titanic sank), equal pay (<50% in 1912, and still only around 75%) and protection from workplace discrimination (not introduced till the 60’s), then I’m taking my chances in the icy waters. Although if I have to also listen to that God awful Celine Dione song then it might be a trickier decision.

While it’s idiotic to use simple gender based social conventions as markers for oppression, that doesn’t mean the social niceties themselves aren’t worth preserving. I enjoy the opportunity to display some old fashioned manners. Sadly, while standing for a lady is common enough, someone asking me to adjust their garter is a touch rarer. While this shot has an older feel to it, but is actually from 1981. It’s by Helmut Newton for Vogue.

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.

I’m safely back in Seattle. Unfortunately I’m feeling pretty wiped out after spending a day in NYC and then around ten hours traveling (door to door time). So it’s time for a short simple post using something from my random grab bag of images that I’ve enjoyed.

I found this one on the devoted sub tumblr. I haven’t determined it’s original source, but I believe that’s the model Xenia Tchoumitcheva. It looks like it could be a candid behind the scenes shot captured while on a fashion shoot. If that’s the case, then the gentleman helping out the beautiful Ms Tchoumitcheva appears to have one of the world’s more interesting jobs.