FetHistory: Paula Klaw — Makeshift Dominatrix!

Willkommen zurück Fet History fans!

Paula Klaw and Bettie Page - Richard Perez Seves

Last week, if you’ll recall, we took a look at some of Irving Klaw’s Masked Women, circa 1950, but there was one particular masked woman I left out.

In a 1980 interview with the late Gloria Leonard (editor/publisher of High Society magazine), Paula Klaw came clean:

GL: Did you ever pose?

PK: No, but I filled in here and there when a girl didn’t show. I’d put on a little mask.

GL: Did you ever feel as though you were living out a fantasy of your own?

PK: I guess so. Oh, sure, it was fun and I enjoyed it. I was glad when someone didn’t show up so I could do it.

One such occasion Paula may have remembered with fondness transpired 30 years earlier, circa 1950, with the BF-1 Series. See below:

Irving Klaw Bondage Series BF-1, Richard Pérez Seves

Irving Klaw Bondage Series BF-1 with Lois Meriden and Paula Klaw

So which model was Paula Klaw replacing? A masked woman we’ve seen before? Amy Lane? Shirley Levitt? Or Shirley Maitland?

We may never know. But, as history has proven, Paula was a trooper—a woman unafraid of stepping up to the plate. And, like her brother Irving, she did understand that this was just about fantasy and play.

Her “damsel” in this particular instance was Lois Meriden, who never looked more beautiful ... or sweetly feminine.

This next one is my favorite. With the soft play of angles and the model's lilting surrender.

And now as the villainous intentions heat up.

(Making use of that mirror.)

Predicament accomplished. All in a day's work.

Irving Klaw bondage model Lois Meriden, Richard Pérez Seves

I guess we can all thank Paula Klaw for donning the mask.

When destiny called, she answered!

Until next week!

—Richard Pérez Seves

=> Index ~ of FetHistory ~ From the Beginning:

http://fethistory.blogspot.com/p/1.html

>> Peek inside the Charles Guyette tribute <<

Charles Guyette: Godfather of American Fetish Art
** 2018 Expanded Second Edition **

>> HERE <<

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Peek inside with Dita Von Teese:

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Dita Von Teese, Instagram, Charles Guyette: Godfather of American Fetish Art

Reviews:

"If New York collector, writer and fetish historian Richard Pérez Seves had not decided to assemble what he knew about Charles Guyette (along with a substantial selection of images) into this paperback, this influential forerunner of the genre's better known exponents would have continued a lot longer as the great unsung hero of American fetish art."—Tony Mitchell, thefetishistas.com

"If you're at all a fan of fetish art ... then this book will be right up your alley." —kinkweekly.com

"I've often cited John Willie's gals as my biggest fashion inspiration but I'll have to start tipping my hat to Guyette as well."—Dita Von Teese