To my readers......

SITE UPDATE NOTICE

Thanks for visiting mitchmen, home of Mitchell's Gay Art

The Caps and Collars/ Flat Cap Gang story at Google Groups has been on a break since January,
I am working on it and hope to resume shortly. (see Group News for link)

Link to the Royale Studio Archive in the right sidebar


Message updated 6th Sept 2024

Saturday, 28 January 2012

Bush Bikini Boys

Bush - Mini Bikini

Skimpy Bikinis with bold designs were a feature of many of Harry Bush's stylish drawings in the 60's. The mini bikini above attributes the style to London fashion - this was the 'swinging sixties' - but I doubt that you'd see clothes like this (or men like this!) on any British beach in that era.


Bush - Tigers

Bush's pictures show them being worn by a handsome, young adonis who wants to show off his assets and torment and exploit older men, less gifted by nature, who happened to pass by.

             
Bush - Surfer and VW(left), Malibu or Bust (right)

 I always assumed there was a lot of artistic licence in the flamboyant designs especially the polka dots used to stunning effect on these passing motorists, surely no-one wore these!



However, I recently discovered. this interesting photo showing two guys wearing identical side-knotted polka dot bikinis. It's from the 50's according to the title, quite daring I would have thought for that time. Two on the same beach seems quite a coincidence, perhaps this was Life imitating Art, two Harry Bush fans paying tribute. Who knows?

See more in my A-Z article on Harry Bush

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry Mitch! Britain led and the US meekly followed the diktats of fashion!

Unknown said...

At my boy scout camp in the 50s one of the lifeguards always wore a bathing suit like these. There were no gay people then so obviously he couldn't have been gay. And all the other "straight" boys enjoyed looking at him.