Shiny Shiny Shiny Boots of Faux Leather: How Fetishwear Went Mainstream
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If you close your eyes and think “fetish” you might have visions of thigh high boots, garter belts, leather harnesses, collars, shiny latex, catsuits, tight corsets, fishnet tights, gloves, form fitting leather pants, and of course black leather. This “look” has been crafted by sex workers and queer fetishists over the course of decades and has become one of the most influential, polarizing, and enduring references in fashion history, one that continues to spark debate about feminism, appropriation, and vulgarity.
The classic fetish aesthetic is borne of two moments of cultural zeitgeist; the Victorian era and World War II. Women’s Victorian dress was both deeply steeped in eroticism and deeply afraid of it. Fashionable women’s dress called for high breasts, waists defined by corsets, hips exaggerated by padding and bustles all concealed beneath long high necked dresses and stockings. This required layered structural undergarments including corsets, stockings, and garters all of which have lasted to this day as iconic examples of feminine ‘sexiness’ - even though they are no longer part of the average woman’s daily undergarments. There was and is an alluring illicitness to showing what is under the outer trappings of women’s dress; revealing the complex hidden mechanics of a constructed ideal of femininity.
Much like the modernization that occurred during the Victorian era, the destabilizing nature of World War II allowed for greater sexual freedom. The World War II era is often considered ‘a national coming out’ moment that opened the doorway for queer communities and a queer underground to fully develop. During the war men who joined the armed forces, and women who joined groups such as the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), served in single-sex environments governed by strict protocol and power structures where they formed intense homo-social bonds away from the typical social pressures of family. For many women who joined the WAC, this was the first time that expressions of butchness were encouraged and this expanded many queer women's ideas of womanhood and gender. Recruitment propaganda for the WAC often reflected what would become part of a butch lesbian leather aesthetic, by displaying strong women in tight uniform shirts and pulled back hair, riding military issue motorcycles or wearing jumpsuits and boots while performing mechanical labor.
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After the war, thousands of gay veterans left the military feeling despondent and disconnected from the social world they returned to. Men in particular craved the male camaraderie and adrenaline they had become accustomed to during the war and some replicated this by creating or joining motorcycle clubs, in which they rode the surplus bikes that were readily available following the war and wore the gear they had taken home with them. It was from these military origins that items such as caps, straps and leather boots polished to a high shine became staple components of the queer leather look. This was also the basis for the ritualistic protocol for behavior within old guard clubs and communities.
Fetish wear had both practical purpose and the power to signal something about the identity of the wearer. Leather was a coded non-verbal language that alerted those in the know that the wearer was part of the scene. This knowledge in who it was safe to approach could be the difference between a successful sexual tryst and a violent beating or arrest. Leather wear, such as harnesses, were also tools used in the sexual act that gave users greater leverage for rough sex and could be used in quick bondage. In the same vein, street based sex workers could also use eye-catching clothing to communicate the nature of their work to potential clients without having to explicitly say so and thus increase their risks of arrest. Sex workers were the crosspoints at which gay men, heterosexual fetish enthusiasts, and queer women met, and where the masculinity of leather met the femininity of the Victorian fetish style. Sex workers invented the earliest fetish aesthetics and combined these two extremes of gendered expression into the fetish look we now know today.
An example of this aesthetic marriage came in the work of John Sutcliffe, the publisher of the infamous London based fetish magazine AtomAge. Sutcliffe was a designer, royal air force veteran, motorcyclist and leather fetishist who was well known in London’s sex work and fetish scene throughout the 1960’s. As the story goes, Stutcliffe was inspired to design form fitting leather riding suits for women after one of his female friends complained of the lack of available cycling gear that would fit her proportions. One of his largest clientele bases were dominatrixes, who also commissioned him for custom innovative leather work.
Sex workers, particularly dominatrixes, had their own fashion underworld that catered to their needs. Since the 1930’s magazine publications had advertised the sale of thigh high fetish boots, cone bras, metal undergarments, chastity devices, and rubberwear by fetishwear and lingerie designers like Yva Richards and Diana Slip. Fetish designers and artists collaborated with sex worker clients to craft garments specific to their desires and client requests and created drawings replicating the styles of the women in their circles. Because these items were not readily available, the pieces that these women purchased for their work and their pleasure were often expensive and would have been treated with great care. Dominatrixes passed on their leather, rubber, and toys in the same manner that queer leatherfolk passed on their most prized vests, boots, and jackets. This had the effect of both fostering community and helping to reinforce a lasting aesthetic. It also imbued these garments with history and pathos and often they were worn in tribute to those who had retired or passed away.
"You're not going to see these in Kmart right away,” he said. "But they might be. But in vinyl, rather than leather. And in magenta rather than black."
The most crucial moment where fetish became high fashion and left the realm of these small fashion communities was the doing of Vivienne Westwood and her partner Malcolm McLaren. Alongside her original deconstructed designs Westwood, also sold fetish attire and her clientele included sex workers, punks, and fashion enthusiasts. Some of Westwoods t-shirts even included prints directly taken from fetish magazine publications. It was within the walls of her infamous store SEX that the inextricable melding of the alternative music underground with fetish wear aesthetics took place. After all, where would goth and punk be without boots, collars, buckles, and chains? It also had the effect of making fetish ‘cool’, turning it into a symbol of ones connection to some forbidden underground, whether or not one was actually interested in the leather community or actually involved in sex work.
Throughout the conservative violence of the 1980’s, leather communities continued to influence the trends of leather pants and jackets now heavily associated with the decade. By the early 1990’s, fetishism was again a trendy source of inspiration for high-profile artists. 1992 proved a massive moment for fetish in the public eye when Madonna released her SEX book the same year that Gianni Versace premiered his Fall/Winter “Miss S&M Collection”. Some of the most iconic staples of the Versace brand: harnesses, gold hardware, straps, came down the runway during this show including the now iconic “bondage dress”.
Even in 1992, when fetishism had been a mainstay of high fashion for decades, there was still something edgy and almost dangerous about sending a look that so clearly recalled queerness and sex work down a mainstream runway. Versace said that in earlier years when he attempted to unapologetically reference fetishism in his designs he was told these designs “belonged only in a leather bar”. Even still, the collection continued to spark a heated post sex-wars debate about whether the designs were insulting or empowering to women. Scholar Walter Kendrick discussed the show and accurately predicted the relationship fashion would have to fetish thirty years down the line; "You're not going to see these in Kmart right away," he said. "But they might be. But in vinyl, rather than leather. And in magenta rather than black."
Words: Adia Cullors
