“Olga Baranova ranks with [lady wrestler Miss Zoska] Burska in charm. Daughter of a brawny Russian grappler who grunted for the Czar, she came to wrestling from the unlikely precincts of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her auburn hair, flashing gray eyes and willowy figure would have qualified her for show business, but Olga starved for a while in road shows, and as a dress and shoe model, until the big money of lady wrestling was dangled before her lovely eyes. Soon after, she was acclaimed as the new glamor girl of wrestling….”
—Edythe Farrell, “The Lady Wrestlers,” American Mercury, Dec. 1942.
Here she is as a model for Charles Guyette.
And, here, on the back of a hardcover book published by Leonard Burtman in 1960.
Edythe Farrell, who had a great eye for female beauty, had a particular fondness for this lady wrestler/model ... and her introduction came through Charles Guyette.
Who was Edythe Farrell? She was another outsider, a woman ahead of her time, who played a small but crucial role in the advancement of fetish art. After marrying early in life, she rebelled against being a housewife and struck out as a tabloid journalist. She met with early success. In 1938, at age 25, she became editor-in-chief of the National Police Gazette, and in the years following managed to quadruple that publication's circulation.
It was also during this time that she became acquainted with Charles Guyette, a unique costumer with bizarre taste and a fondness for lady wrestlers. Her relationship with Guyette is detailed in the illustrated tribute: Charles Guyette.
In 1944, after resigning from her post with the National Police Gazette, Farrell became a key editor for Robert Harrison, publisher of such popular pin-up magazines as Wink, Flirt, Eyeful, Beauty Parade....
As editor for Harrison she continued to rely on Guyette and featured Guyette's lady wrestler friend, Miss Baranova, often.
As editor for Harrison she continued to rely on Guyette and featured Guyette's lady wrestler friend, Miss Baranova, often.
Here (below) is Baranova again in a 1942 issue of the National Police Gazette, edited by Farrell. The photos are from Charles Guyette.
Recognizable in the photo on the right is Guyette's favorite vintage corset.
It would later appear on Bettie Page when Guyette became a costumer for Irving Klaw.
The same corset also appeared on Klaw model Rita Carlson, co-star of the lost Klaw short, "Mistress Betty Gets Spanked" (below), which was advertised in Klaw bulletin #102, circa 1955.
Aside from being a costumer (and Irving Klaw's predecessor), Guyette had also managed females wrestlers and boxers. In fact, beyond corsets, ultra-high heels shoes and boots, "fighting women" was his primary interest.
You can read more about the secret history of the birth of American fetish art and Charles Guyette in the new tribute, available now.
"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
** Make it yours today! **
(click link below)
>> US <<
>> UK <<
* * * * * *
=> Index ~ of FetHistory ~ From the Beginning:
___________
** Charles Guyette: Godfather of American Fetish Art
Charles Guyette was a sexual fantasist, who earned his living as a costumer.
He sold photos of his "costume studies" on the sly. He produced
custom-made high-heel boots and shoes, sold corsets, opera gloves, and
other eccentric accessories. He understood the transformative power of
clothing, particularly "bizarre" and theatrical fashion. He is also
referenced in the new film on Wonder Woman's creator, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, as the costumer for Wonder Woman's real life inspiration, Olive Byrne.
Peek inside the Charles Guyette tribute
with Dita Von Teese:
==>> HERE <<==
Reviews:
"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
** Make it yours today! **
(click link below)
>> US <<
>> UK <<
>> Deutschland <<
>> France <<
>> Italia <<
>> España <<
_________________________
Charles Guyette, the "G-string King," referenced in the film of Wonder Woman's creator, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, and costumer to Bettie Page, is rightly considered the godfather of American fetish art. His fetish art operation was the first of its kind in America, dealing in what was then generally regarded as “deviant” European-inspired material. In 1935, he was arrested and sent to federal prison. But what should’ve been the end was just the beginning. Although rarely credited by name in his lifetime, he influenced everyone who would follow him, particularly the publishers Robert Harrison, John Willie, Irving Klaw, and Leonard Burtman. The aim of this book was to evoke the spirit of Guyette—to collect surviving fragments of a decimated catalog largely by referencing vintage fetish publications from the 1930s through the 1980s and reconstruct a lost history. This portfolio of images is followed by biographical information seen nowhere else, and serves as a substantial introduction to the birth of American fetish art and the cultural impact of an unrecognized pioneer.
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
Publications referenced in composing this tribute include:
Bizarre Life v.4, n.6, 1980.
Black Lace v.1, n.1, undated (c. 1958).
Catalog C-2, 1957.
Fetishist n.1, undated (c. 1985).
London Life, March 22 1935.
Bizarre Classix v.4, 1980.
Exotique Correspondence Digest n.1, 1958.
Bizarre Classix v.3, 1978.
Bizarre Classix v.5, 1983.
London Life, April 8 1939.
Exotique n.13, undated (c. 1957).
Fantastique Photo Album n. 2, undated (c. 1960).
Exotique n.1, undated (c. 1955).
Exotique n.10, undated (c. 1956).
Bizarre n.9, 1952.
Bizarre n.6, 1951.
Exotique n.12, undated (c. 1957).
Exotique n.8, undated (c. 1956).
Exotique n.16, 1957.
Exotique Photo Album n.1, undated (c. 1957).
Painful Memories v.1, n.1, undated (c. 1981).
Gay Book magazine, Dec. 1937.
Gay Book magazine, May 1938.
Wink magazine, Jan. 1949.
Gay Book magazine, Aug. 1937.
Gay Book magazine, Sept. 1937.
Fetish Letters v.1, n.1, undated (c. 1985).
Exotique n.34, 1959.
Erotic Symbolism by Edw. Podolsky, 1960.
Bizarre Classix v.1, 1976.
Portrait of Evil F-6, undated (c. 1962).
Wink magazine, April 1947.
Bizarre Classix v.2, 1977.
Exotique Correspondence Digest n.1, 1958.
New Exotique Photo Album n.9, 1959.
Exotique Correspondence Digest n.1, 1958.
Flirt magazine, March 1948.
Bizarre Classix v.2, 1977.
Gay Book magazine, Feb. 1937.
Wink magazine, Dec. 1947.
Exotique n.4, undated (c. 1956).
Bizarre Life v.1, n.1, 1966.
Thanks for checking in. Hope you'll join me next time....
Cheers. —Richard Pérez Seves
+
NEW RELEASE!
> Available Now! <
Bondage Enthusiasts Bound in Leather [*Expanded Edition*]
Also Available Now (Worldwide)!
Sweeter Gwen, The Return of Gwendoline
by Eric Stanton
>> Learn More <<
* * * * * * *
NEW RELEASE!
> Available Now! <
Bondage Enthusiasts Bound in Leather [*Expanded Edition*]
=================================
Also Available Now (Worldwide)!
Sweeter Gwen, The Return of Gwendoline
by Eric Stanton
>> Learn More <<
* * * * * *
Thanks for checking in. Hope you'll join me next time....
Cheers. —Richard Pérez Seves
=> Index ~ of FetHistory ~ From the Beginning:
http://fethistory.blogspot.com/p/1.html_________________________
* * * * * * *
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