Vintage Season 10 - In a bit of a mesh

The Champion Studios "Flannel G-string" was not their only clothing oddity. They also seem to have invented the mesh G-string. That is to say they adapted an underwear trend of the time - the string vest - dutifully modelled below by Tuck Powell.

 Tuck Powell (Champion) 

In the days when boys always had to wear vests/singlets as underwear, pulling it down and knotting it between the legs like this was my secret, guilty pleasure. I've no idea when the string variant was invented, but in it's 1950's heyday it was promoted as both healthy 'breathing' underwear and an indispensible warm winter layer. I'm not sure it ever acquired the fashion/fetish status suggested in this picture, but it does pop up occasionally clothing film stars of the era and on pulp fiction covers. In those days though, showing your undershirt was considered slovenly and not 'nice' (in the UK at any rate). Which makes it intriguing that Tuck is wearing it here with a Police belt and holster (I wonder if Tuck actually was a cop?). Gay men in the 60's witnessed a late flowering of old string vests approaching retirement and therefore used as building site, labourers garb.  

 Tuck Powell (Champion)

I'm having a bit of an infatuation with Tuck Powell at the moment and his gleaming pecs in this picture give me all the excuse I need! The curve of the string round his buttock is also quite delicious. Even his puppy charms, however, don't make this mesh G-string look attractive (well I can't very well call it a 'String G-String' can I?) You sense it must feel very uncomfortable too, the full underwear  equivalent always had a cotton panel in this area for comfort as well as modesty. Maybe that's the explanation of his exasperated look. (By the way Tuck, better not put that flannel down or someone will probably take it away and make it into a G-string).

 Rod Bauer (Champion)

The mesh string is modelled more successfully by Rod Bauer in another sporty Champion picture, he's using the same lacrosse stick as Rock Granger in part 8. Combining a singlet vest with any slip in this way is sexy, the partial cover-up and the contasting pattern/texture gives a sense of seeing something that was meant to remain out of sight. I'll concede that the titilating holes do add something in this case.

Notice that Rod's vest is pretty much the same colour as the flannel G-strings in the last post but it looks like it's made of ordinay cotton fabric (phew!). I think it shows his upper body off a treat, but then yellow is my favourite colour!

Gary Seegar 

This model's pictures are sometimes attributed to Mel Roberts, sometimes to Champion, but this looks like the same G-string as those worn above. Gary was one of their more grown-up looking models but the mesh garment doesn't really enhance his manhood in this picture. You can see it's neither one thing nor the other, neither covered nor exposed, like a primitive form of pixilation and if Gary looks confused you can't blame him! On the other hand, if you enjoy the mitchmen-esque concept of making models feel uncomfortable this is a great picture.

 

Rock Granger

Rock doesn't look any happier does he? Not ideal sleepwear I would imagine. It looks as if he's been disturbed by an unexpected visitor. There's a gay fantasy for you. Placing a hirsute, dare I say, manly model like him in this position of (suggested) vulnerabity gives the scenario a special flavour. The garment used here works better, it looks more skimpy with Rock's tackle filling it out well and coupled with the see-through look the look is slightly sleazy and alluring and - to an uninvited guest - exciting and irresistable.

Pictures of men in their beds have an intimate eroticism all their own but are quite unusual. These days I suspect it seems a bit too romantic, too much like 'Playgirl', but in the days of censorship any image like this must have positively reeked of sex and was therefore very risky.

Lonely Sailor by Champion

Unsurprisingly this image is much reproduced but I can't identify who it is (informants welcome!). The Navy cap adds an almost undefinable frisson of adventure. It has been mangled into a non-regulation shape which tells us the wearer has a mind of his own and serves on his own terms. His untrimmed body hair tells the same story. But the eyes are those of a puppy in need of love and protection. His mesh G-string (possibly the cause of his anguish!) is relatively inoffensive and undisturbing, being not especially prominent but the same can not be said of it's contents which can only be described as striking.

Darryl Powers (Champion)

 We saw Darryl topping the last post and here he's showing his 'action man' credentials in scuba gear with spear gun. Although I believe this to be a Champion picture his mesh G-string has a different design to the others we have seen, with a more substantial top hem, possibly to cope with the demands of swimming in water (such a drag!). Normally water swirling round thighs is very erotic but this shot just misses the mark for me. What about his cock? I hear you say. What indeed? Does it not bear a resemblance to our lonely sailor's one above? Is this Champion up to their tricks again implanting substitutes?

 

Skip Hammer (Champion)

I have to say that looking at this picture with a hyper-critical eye that cock don't particularly look as if it's made of flesh. Just as interesting to many of us is the daring, fluffy, two-tone toilet seat meticulously co-ordinated with the soap dish. Wow!

Ward Randall(?) by Champion

Unfortunately, once the subterfuge is unearthed, poses such as this lose a lot of their appeal. It's like finding out the model isn't gay. However, this picture does usefully illustrate the dangling pocket design we saw in the flannel strings previously.

There's a 2005 book available called 'Champion' (Goliath Press) with lots more images like this. 

I've added this post to my collection of 'men sharing clothes' as an extension of the previous post. It looks like these G-strings ended up in the shower at the end of the shoot, thereby taking all the fun out of making the next model wear it. (click on 'sharing' label below for more) 

More next time

Read this series from Part 1

Vintage Season 9 / Men Sharing Clothes No 22 - No flannel please!

Darryl Powers by Champion

 You will recognise the plunging shape of this G-string/Pouch with attached side-string from my last post. The material shows an astonishing amount of detail of this cute guy's uncut cock but it looks like it's made out of flannel or towelling. Easy to wash I suppose, but flannel is usually thick, coarse material, not ultra comforting down there for the boys! And that fluffy surface, it's not very sexy is it?

Perhaps I ought to qualify that, I am sure there will be people who find it incredibly sexy, nappy fanciers maybe, but your average man on the Clapham Omnibus by and large, I suspect, not. I suppose it's possible that all that white stuff behind Darryl is snow not sand and this is the studio's idea of winter drawers
........ (and that's my sole concession to the Christmas spirit!).

Tuck Powell by Champion

Here's Tuck Powell looking very sweet on the beach. I featured him also in my last post wearing a similar pouch, in fact it's entirely possible that it's the same garment. If so, the black and white photo somehow conceals that furry texture which is clearly the same here as in the picture of Darryl above.

Luckily yellow is my favourite colour.

Jim Johnston by Champion

I don't recognise this model at first but I certainly recognise his fluffy G-string. It may have also occurred to you by now that there is also a striking similarity between his pendulous cock and those of the two men who precede him in this post (and for that matter Rock Granger in my last post). I always thought most American men were circumcised but not these four. It's even more unusual to find 4 men with cocks of near identical sizes and how clever of Champion to capture them all in identical states of arousal, with just the penis tip showing forth.

Or is there something fishy going on here?

Unidentified model by Champion

Another flannelled jock, another droopy cock.

Actually this guy looks the best so far in this parade. He wears his G-string well although you will perceive a certain bagginess around the bulge.

Tore Lind by Champion

Well at least Tore Lind is wearing something different - or is he? The colour looks different but that drooping cock looks suspiciously similar to his companions above. Click to expand the picture and the G-string material also looks like it just might be some more flannel. I don't suppose Champion made new pouches for every model (aye, keep it as a souvenir, lad) so it wouldn't be surprising if they faded in repeated washes would it? (Oh aye lad never you mind, we always wash 'em between shoots, trust me). Of course the faded yellow effect could simply be a colour cast caused by the artificial lighting/flash.

Wally McCray by Champion

It's clear that all these models are wearing the same flannel (ugh!) G-string and it looks suspiciously as though Champion have not just contented themselves with augmenting the model's natural assets in the conventional way (with hidden rings and under-padding to push things forward, say). It looks like they have actually provided a penish, (sorry too much Christmas sherry!) Ahem, they have provided a penis-shaped insert to take the place the model's own contours.
Hardly flattering to these seemingly virile chaps. 

The implication is that not only are they sharing the same clothing, sorry flannel, but also sharing the same 'inserts'. We can speculate as to whether they have to insert their own tools inside the substitutes.... more cleanliness issues?

Actually Wally's pouch, above, is not obviously padded in the same way, but it does look somewhat unreal. If you scan all these images you can make a case for there being two different inserts

What is more interesting here is that Wally gives us a sight of his undercarriage and if you look closely down there (concentrate lads!) it is apparent that the material of the G-string does not continue underneath his groin. If there is any back string at all anchoring his pouch, it's well hidden from us, recessed inside his crack (concentrate!) So instead of the pouch supporting his balls as underwear would, there seems to be a pocket at the bottom, an extension, so to speak, into which his balls can dangle together with his droopy cock, fake or otherwise.

(see also Rock Granger in my previous post)

Unknown Model by Champion

 This is the consequence of that feature, a pouch that is 25% bigger than your brain would expect it to be. It just looks wrong, although this is a more extreme example than the other Champion images I have posted (both here and in the preceding post). The 'pocket' seems to have become a separate entity and you wonder if there is anything at all inside it that belongs to the model. You can see a similar tendency in some of the other pictures as well. I think this is another reason (alongside the flannel material) why I have always had an instinctive aversion to these garments, though I never spotted this cause before.

Having said that, I really have enjoyed putting these images together as a serial example of men wearing shared intimate clothing. I would be surprised if they had been washed between every shoot, but it's a nice control and direction scenario anyway. The use of an 'insert' only makes the embarrassment factor more acute - for the streetwise and naive models alike. Delicious.

The paradox is, why go to the trouble of trying to make cock and ball so artificially visible when the whole purpose of a G-string is to conceal them? And why make the G-strings out of coarse flannelling? Answers on a postcard please!

There's a 2005 book available called 'Champion' (Goliath Press) with lots more images like this.

More next time

Read this series from Part 1

There are more examples of vintage men sharing posing gear in Part 3 and Part 10 
 of this series or click on the 'sharing' label below for the whole group of articles

Vintage Season 8 - Clip Art

Dennis Cole by AMG

In the images we have been looking at so far, the models have been wearing a simple form of posing pouch (like the one worn by Dennis Cole above) where the string is threaded through a turned-over top hem. With this design the material bunches together naturally, particularly in a pose like this and although I'm a fan of G-strings generally, this result is not terribly attractive - although the garment does seem to acquire an intense, sort of 'dirty underwear' quality that will appeal to exotic tastes.

We have also seen in my earlier posts some of the other undesirable side-effects of this design.

Dick Stark by Champion

At Champion Studios it looks like someone dreamt up the idea of preventing the natural 'gathering' of the material at the hem, either by stiffening it in some way or by stitching the fabric at the corners directly onto the string. I fancy this garment, gallantly modelled by Dick Stark might well have been the prototype but even his considerable natural assets can't overcome that washing line effect (and don't you think he knows it!).

There are compensations here for the bulge fancier. If you're thinking that looks like a modern stretch fabric he's wearing, the explanation is probably water. It was frequently used to bring out those hidden charms at the expense of adding discomfort to embarrassment. The material has been stretched tight as well in this picture and you can tell from the shadow on the right that it is standing away from the groin area. This picture would have been censored or seized in the UK.

The two dark lines 'notching' the underside of Dick's sack are probably creases where the fabric comes together at the bottom so that a single back, 'crack' string can be attached. This was sometimes crafted to 'lift and separate' the model's balls (we saw an example in No 6 in this series worn by Marty Shimkus). The odd appearance of these lines may reflect wetting or some other jiggery-pokery that's gone on here. I do find it odd that while there's an authentic-looking shadow on Dick's right leg, there's nothing at all on his left one.

I'll try to include a more flattering image of Dick in a later article! 

Tuck Powell by Champion

Tuck Powell gets the honour of  modelling the improved design with attachments at each corner which prevent any bunching and hold the garment flat. You can see that the tight strings are contributing to this effect as well. It's a matter of taste whether you like this, I confess I generally prefer the 'bag of sweets' effect of the traditional design but the dipping top line here is nice. Tuck was a popular model for Champion studios, we'll see him again, but such boyish looks are out of fashion (out of bounds?) in modern erotic photography.   

Eddie Weller

This example shows the mechanism (if I can dignify it will that label) more clearly. Another youthful model but it's a nice picture, although I suppose the intent behind the chain is rather less than 'nice'!
Hence the thoughtful look.

Rock Granger by Champion

Sporty clean cut images like these were more usual than chains at Champion. 'Rock' Granger (we're in the era of film star Rock Hudson remember) provided a more mature look. How refreshing to see a model with body hair although you can see it's been heavily trimmed above the 'bikini line'. I fancy some of those creases in the G-string reflect laundering without ironing, but it also looks like the water spray's been out again. The plunging triangular shape of the garment accentuates his angled cock here. Towards the end of censorship, the code evolved to allow a certain amount of 'reveal' as long as there was no sexual arousal. A downward pointing cock was supposed to fulfil this requirement but in this case it clearly doesn't. If anything it heightens the sense of pent-up sexuality.

Wally Grimme by Scott

Champion weren't the only studio to deck their models out in this design. This image of the (also pleasantly hairy) Wally Grimme was taken by Scott of London. Scott made a speciality of exaggerated bulges (especially in gym shorts) but in this case it looks all natural. The impression of great size is helped by using a smaller pouch. Since this picture was never going to get into print without alteration he's also made a virtue of highlighting the model's unshaven pubic hair. Private, plain envelope sales were the mainstay of British photographers but this uncompromising approach may explain why Scott's pictures are quite hard to find these days.

Dennis White by Scott

 I'm attributing this picture to Scott as well. It looks like the same garment to me, but has been hoisted higher to  accommodate the model's generous endowment in a more upright position. For me these well-packed pouches work better in erotic terms than the Champion versions. Dennis White is also credited with appearances in some of the Royale Studios' fantasies (click on my GIU/Royale label below for posts on this studio).

Artie Zeller by Lon

 

 I promised more of Artie Zeller and here he is in a photo by Lon. He's also wearing a smaller pouch but the photographer has not tried to create unnatural bulkiness therein. In this photo the garment blends in with the model's colouring and contours creating a harmonious image. I'm not sure if it's a shiny material or has perhaps been doused in body oil. Artie had a great physique. I really like the smooth curves of his muscles, well defined and bulky, but not excessively 'cut' or veined. This type of plumped-up muscularity was a feature of the black and white era and on this model it helps to make the G-string seem less out of place (compare it with the AMG picture of  Dennis Cole at the top).

 

Artie Zeller by Lon

 

I like Artie's physique so much, I'm giving you another dose. If you look closely, you can clearly see through the pouch in this image but it is well disguised and I suppose it's conceivable that it got past the censors. Whether that is down to using a sheer fabric (like nylon) or oiling the cotton is impossible to say but I suppose an unnoticed seepage of oil might make a decent excuse if you got caught out! Either way it's a great picture, artfully posed to create an impression of youthful slenderness rather than muscular bulk.

More next time

Read this series from Part 1

Vintage Season 7 - The Baggies

Given the restrictions on sexual display that Beefcake Studios had to contend with I can't really grumble about posing pouches that don't show very much, but this slack effort offends against the universal dress code, it's just so untidy! Not at all flattering to the wearer, although these two handsome creatures would get away with almost anything. I don't know their identities (info from readers appreciated) but this looks like an AMG wrestling still. The movie-style pose of the 'loser' is very 50's and possibly a satirical jab at closet cases in that industry and an assertion that 'we are everywhere and you adore us without knowing'.

This chap seems to have the same problem. Maybe this was a period when there was a crack-down going on and models were told to lower the side strings to loosen the material. There's just the tiniest hint of projection here but visually it's the crispness of the fabric that catches the eye. Whilst I may chuckle at these loose pouches, I know the sensation for the wearer can be quite pleasant, particularly with freshly laundered material. Also anyone who's tried to make one with more cloth than needed between the legs will know that that can feel quite enjoyable too. 

I don't know quite what to make of those moccasins, perhaps they are a necessary accessory in grubby body-building arenas but why didn't he kick them off for the photo? Did someone decide they were sexy? Or is this some peverse mitchmen-esque mockery by the photographer?

I was pleased to find this image so that I could include a black model in my Festival. They are not exactly rare in vintage photos but not that common either and are usually limited to star bodybuilders like this man, rather than those with more ordinary physiques. The poses are correspondingly formal and for that reason tend to be less suitable for my erotic musings, but in this case the glimpse of fabric disappearing between his buns is adequate entertainment! There's an even more fundamental problem with many old, black and white photographs of dark-skinned models. That is their body details don't show up clearly enough, due to the ageing of the original image or because the photographer's equipment or technique was not up to the challenges of less reflective skin tones.

Mark Nixon - WPG

  This picture of Mark Nixon shows the visual equivalent of the 'loose material sensuality' I described under the preceding image. You can see and enjoy the fabric of his G-string curving under and between his legs. 

The image itself, however, is the complete antithesis of the last one featuring a white, boyish, cute and mildly muscular model in a very submissive pose. Kneeling with legs together, hands behind back and downcast eyes there's more than a hint of bondage and captivity here. The G-string's improvised nature, instead of seeming odd, actually feeds into that narrative. It's eroticism of a different order to the butch, commanding maturity of our body-builder above and it defies the censors by exploiting their ignorance of what makes up gayness.

See more in my post on Mark Nixon in bondage

I could have featured this one in my 'Size Matters' post but it also shows a different aspect of bagginess emanating from the width of the material. The blurry blob in the middle indicates that it still did not disguise the contents to everyone's satisfaction! Perhaps I'm funny but I would have thought the other model's pouch was far more challenging to the sexually averse. I can't work out if this is a WPG-style outside shot or an AMG faked set, that furry box looks very dubious (and I'm not referring to the models here!).

Giancarlo Zampetti by Barrington

To finish, a British photographer and a totally original, glossy, G-string design that probably felt great to wear. Less so to look at, although there comes a point where improvisation transitions through charming innocence to delicious manipulation. The picture illustrates the limited resources available to this photographer - or his impulsiveness and willingness to work with them perhaps (ships in the night and all that). He did do studio work as well.

There's a world of commentary about post-war 50's Britain here, not just in the furnishing and decorating detail, but in the suggested furtiveness of this homoerotic encounter with drawn curtains and anxious looking model. This was a time of very aggressive homophobic policing* in Britain and in some ways the looming shadow on the wall eloquently conjures up that sinister era.

(*reference movies - Dirk Bogarde in 'Victim' and 'The Imitation Game' about Alan Turin give some sense of how it was)

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Read this series from Part 1

Vintage Season 6 - Hand Made by .... who?

David George (by Bruce of LA)

This cute model has a pleasing balance of muscularity and litheness and his face has a touch of butch ruggedness set off by that raffish quiff. You can imagine that this young man takes quite a pride in his dress normally. But although his G-string does not look out of place in this arty image and is of a sensible size, you can see that it doesn't seem very well made, the side seam is ruched up as though the thread is too tight. Perhaps the cotton shrank when washing out the traces of a previous wearer?

Unidentified

It's hard to imagine a stylish man about town being happy at being asked to wear this garment! The sides appear to be sewn up with string or leather, Native American style (if that's not an insult to the craft skills of those people). I can only imagine that it's holding some sort of tough lining in place, possibly an inner device designed to produce the projecting effect, although that tip looks like the real thing. The creases underneath are probably due to some other tailoring that is accentuating his balls. I don't think his mother made this for him!

Marty Shimkus (by Kris)

Another example of tailoring designed to lift and separate, but more skillfully executed. Despite the movie star pose this is an unashamedly erotic image and an astonishing example of just how far the sometimes despised G-string allowed photographers to go, pubic hair and all. I'm quite sure I'm not the only man who finds this close-up amply rewarding. The snug fit is a joy. There's another view of Marty's tackle in my previous post. 

Gene Meyer (AMG)

 You have to feel for this model, he's got pumped-up muscles, well distributed body hair and a mean and moody look, but they've made him wear the strangest of G-strings, looking more like his granny's old-fashioned, soft furnishings than manly sexy clothing. You can almost see his annoyance. It makes me wonder if some mischievous, back-room boy deliberately put together this item with the intention of embarrassing the wearer(s).

Andy Kozak & Vern Charles (AMG)

Andy's covering in this picture seems to have similar properties, thick looking material with oddly bulky side seams. Perhaps this pouch was designed for a winter shoot in a cold room. Taken by the same studio as Gene (above), it might even be the same garment (what tales it might have told us!). In this position it produces the peculiar effect of seeming to be attached to the supporting string only at the corner tips, like washing hanging on a line or that awful curtaining pinned up by those disinclined to put up conventional rails.

Don Fuller

 Don Fuller was a stalwart of the G-string era and some of his images are excellent but this posing pouch won't have won many converts to the cause. Workmanship aside, what's odd here is that although there is a strong intimation of something heavy hanging down inside, the top line is absolutely horizontal instead of showing the dipping curve you would expect. The supporting string looks more like cord than the usual flexible elastic but even allowing for some extra stiffness on that account, it still seems to defy the laws of physics. You might also wonder what is that oddly flat shape sitting at the bottom and pulling it down? Has he stowed his credit cards there? It's possible it's just a clumsy cover up of the dreaded penis head of course.

 

Nestor - by Danny Fitzgerald (Les Demi Dieux)

This is one of my favourite G-string images. A well muscled chest, cute face and an unusual pose that looks like the naughty boy waiting outside the headmaster's study for his misdemeanours to be dealt with. The seated position does not make great demands on his G-string but it looks almost as if it is torn at the side and hanging down.

"Fighting again is it, Jones? Well see about that!"

 More next time

Read this series from Part 1

Vintage Season 5 - Size Matters

After the string of faked G-string/Posing Pouches in preceding posts, the images in this one seem to be slightly more authentic and closer to what nature intended but perhaps a little lacking in erotic purpose. After all the aim of this garment is draw attention to (near) nudity and to hint at eroticism at the very least, otherwise you might as well clad your model in conventional, uncontroversial swimming trunks or shorts. So why present a model in a piece of cloth so large that it looks like a babies nappy, as in this picture of Forrester Millard?
(see also Donnie Kay in No2 of this series)

 Forrester Millard

The model's pose in this photo seems beyond reproach so perhaps the excessive pouch size is mocking the censorship of genuine 'nude art' by exaggeration. On the other hand it might simply be a device to make less obvious the hint of 3-piece suite daringly showing through at the bottom of the (wetted?) pouch. Unfortunately this stratagem seems to diminish the model's credentials as well. It does look as though model modesty can be discounted as a factor in this particular case though.

Artie Zeller and Marvin Eder (Keeling)

Marvin Eder seems to be just as bemused himself in this picture by 'Lon' which might be entitled 'You can look but you can't touch'. Actually this is a daring pose in some ways, hinting none too subtly at domination, bondage and manly interest in the nether regions. Of course, the Grecian column brands it as just a historical re-enactment, so that's alright then.

These two models have deliciously plush upholstery that goes a long way to mitigate that unappealing garment that bizarrely forms the focus of the image. I have a much nicer image of Artie coming up in a later article.

 

Marty Shimkus by Kris

You can almost glimpse another rationale for the oversize pouch in this example, with it's suggestion of a full erection created by artful folds and shadows. You can see there's complex multiple light sources involved in making this happen but I suspect there's a bit of touching up as well, either way I doubt it would have got into widespread print 'uncorrected'.

Once more this image dallies with S&M with the appearance of a whip augmented with rather vicious-looking extensions. The model's penitent pose with downcast eyes feeds into the suggested punishment theme. He seems to await his fate, draped with the implement that will deliver it. His G-string has a slightly less improvised quality than the previous two with proper side-hems visible, but then, the implied sub-text of ancient slavery does not require stylish gear for authenticity.

Forrester Millard + ano

In this picture it all gets distinctly jokey. Forrester Millard again with another model I haven't identified (but who bears a bizarre resemblance to a well known current British Football manager). The two men link arms outrageously like a promenading couple, hands on hips. Forrester eyes his companion's diminutive cover garment with something like disapproval or disdain.

You can see here how the smaller garment exposes more of the abdomen which is potentially a zone of erotic stimulation. Consequently that area has been shaved of pubic hair and possibly painted over in the photo as well to hide any unsavoury undulations, since in the eyes of the censors that was just as objectionable as the actual organs down below. It's quite likely Millard's expression is sarcastically drawing attention to the un-natural clean up. So here's another explanation of the high line garment - to avoid all possibilty of falling foul of the law. However there are traces of Millard's own pubic hair as well, above the 'string line'.

Jerry Ross

These 'large' G-strings came in a range of shapes and sizes. This picture of Jerry Ross (with the old bamboo again - see first pic) illustrates the 'narrow and deep' variant which sucessfully covers hairy zones above the groin and permits long penis-like shapes to be hinted at (as with Marty Shimkus above). Of course it doesn't deal with lateral hair growth quite as well and you might detect suspicious effects in this area on close inspection. At this point it might occur to you that hunting the alterations can become quite an erotic hobby! The streamlined, plunging shape of Jerry's garment lengthens his legs and links up nicely with the shadows at the side of his body/six pack, they angle downwards in the same direction creating a harmonious flow of lines whose focal point is......... you guessed! My copy of this photo credits AMG but the outdoor location makes me wonder about that.

Giancarlo Zampetti 

Here we have the wide and shallow variant photographed by British photographer John Barrington. It looks altogether more comfortable and arguably presents a more impressive sense of being filled with earthly delights than most of the others in this group. The width helps to accentuate the model's body bulk rather than his litheness, the reverse of the image above. If you compare the last two pictures their disparate garments almost reverse the model's relative sizes and shaping.

Andy Kosac (foreground), Vernon Miller, Forrester Millard

A splendid example of little and large G-strings. In this picture the pubic hair region of the lead model has not only been 'cleansed' but enthusiatically embellished with fanciful shadows that don't correspond with male anatomy. Kozacs scanty G-string appears to have gone unscathed in this process and that honesty makes a decent case for the garment as an erotic accessory. However it's the big fellows at the back that surrepticiously provide the most explicit imagery with rounded ball pairs showing clearly through their more capacious coverings. This sneaky incongruity must have surely thrilled the target audience.

I wonder who contributed their prized persian carpet for this scene? It conjures up the image of a slave being readied for sale in the bazaar so it's disconcerting to realise that those are actually handcuffs going on his wrists not antique chains. Nevertheless, Kosacs is almost into bondage here and make a decent fist of struggling against it. Unfortunately his cute companions seem more like paid attendants, politely dressing their charge and finding the complexities of the handcuffs more of a problem than his feigned resistance.
.

 
(L to R) Juwa LaVonce, Howard Heidtmann and Don Hawksley

This picture by AMG (and it has to be them with bricks and bins in the background!) makes me wonder if models supplied their own G-strings. These ones certainly don't appear to have all come off the same production line. So we have Juwa modestly opting for the safety of size, Howard going for tight definition, just like his own body, while ragamuffin Don simply offers up a good handful neatly presented. Even G-string sceptics would surely be interested in taking their pick from this line-up. Notice how the actual colour of the string in all these pictures makes a surprising difference to it's prominence and through that the acceptability of it's appearance.

More next time

Read this series from Part 1

Vintage Season 4 - G-String Mysteries

 What do you make of this picture? It's obviously a magnificent torso image and that owes much to the skill of the photographer in preparing the oily model (I'll help with that!) and then audaciously cropping the image, removing half his head and outer limbs. It's awash with sensuality and for my money this G-string does not look at all out of place. The skimpy proportions and froth of pubic hair are unavoidably erotic when you're as close as this of course but it's shape is quite attractive too, with dipping curves seeming to echo the underside of the model's buttocks, like the overlapping scallops on a posh pelmet. 

But hang on, what's happening to the support string on the left? It is definitely real - you can see the indentation and shadowing of the hip flesh quite clearly. As it approaches the pouch, however, it seems to dive down and miss the point where you would expect it to join up and disappear inside the top hem. In contrast, the right-hand string appears to fully obey the normal laws of keeping up drawers. The more you look at the pouch, however, the more it seems to be hovering in the air, just in front of the model, but I can't decide if it's totally faked (despite the beguilingly realistic right hand string), or if it's actually attached to some other device behind, which we can't see.  

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Exhibit 'B' is another typical WPG image of two shapely men enjoying the sunshine. Their poses do not look natural, comfortable or stable and that tends to produce a corresponding, dissatisfied feeling in the viewer. However, if you allow your eye to rove over the torso areas you can see how the curves of their muscles and bodies seem to fit together and subtly complement each other. Thus the shoulder and pec of the model at the back fits into the curve of his companion's armpit, while the sweep of his tilted-back neck leads the eye down the plane of his chest to sweep across the concave shape of the nearer man's abdominal cavity and thence inside his G-string. This requires very clever crafting of the model's positions. It not only looks nice but visually suggests an intimacy between them and is thus erotic as well as arty. The overall composition is not entirely sucessful but you can see how judicious cropping might easily produce an image just as spectacular as the first example.

The G-strings in this picture are not clear, but they form different and slightly odd shapes, the one at the back strangely mounded while that at the front seems to taper off in mid air instead of continuing between the legs. It has a rigid shell-like appearance, a construction which would avoid inadvertant shaping of the garment to the objects inside. It lends some support to my conjectures about the shield-like appearance of the G-string in the first picture.

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This image also creates that shell like impression, with side strings again that don't go where you would expect. The curve of the top hem seems un-naturally rounded but that creates an unexpected peeking opportunity. It's another example of the Studio's low key eroticism and their refined artistry is illustrated here in the echoing double curves of pecs and knees (and the same shaped G-string between them). Also the elegantly flowing body lines like those of a diver. He's quite cute too!

Despite the Western theme, I don't think this is a WPG image and there's none of their artistry in this stilted pose (how I hate hands on hips!) or the lighting which does little for the muscularity on show. This shot relies more on the inherent appeal of the handsome model and on props to make it interesting but there's a very clear gulf in quality.

It's not a good copy but you get the distinct impression that this chap's pouch has been well and truly doctored. The black shadowing around the irregular shaped white patch makes it look 'applied' and the string is also unconvincing, not seeming to quite connect with the hem. Remember though that these disguises were intended to look just that, enough to be decent but unmistakably hiding something more tasty whose outline, surprisingly, can actually be discerned in the shadowing.
This feels like the tail starting to wag the dog!

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Read this series from Part 1

I'd welcome ID information on the models in this article

Vintage Season 3 - More Puzzles in G-strings

Billy Joe Carr

Billy Joe Carr posing nude with his favourite record.

His chunky torso belies his boyish-looking face but it shows lots of pleasing curves without the bony-looking, extra detailing which shows up in ultra-lean physiques like that of Jack Thomas in No 1 of this series. Only the slicked-back hair style with quiff dates the model, but the domestic setting around him shows some interesting early sixties taste and technology.

Even if you knew nothing about Harry Belafonte, it's fairly obvious from the picture itself that the

inclusion of one of his album sleeves, carefully angled towards us is a very deliberate choice. Given the time the photo was taken (early sixties) I would guess that this is referencing his support for civil rights rather than the gay rights he has also become directly associated with now.

The admiration being shown for him here by a naked white man is not without it's own subversive element. This image may also be reflecting the widespread, wishful thinking that Belafonte might himself be gay. The symbolic extraction of his image from the interior of the record player implying a coming-out scenario. Belafonte however is married and if you take this picture at face value, so too was Billy Carr who is shown wearing a wedding ring.

 Billy Joe in G-string? 

At first sight this looks like an authentic G-string. However comparison with the previous photo shows it can't be, both pictures are the same. On closer inspection the shadowing and angling of the just-visible creases and hems, while seemingly real, actually suggest that the garment and its contents are angled to our right whereas Billy Joe's body is facing the other way.  It looks like this G-string cup has been taken from another model and superimposed on the photograph of Billy Joe (an interesting variation on my 'sharing clothes' postings!). The side strings also perhaps look a bit straighter than you might expect as they curve round behind him. Real or not it's compact size is rather more attractive (or at least more erotically interesting) than that worn by Donnie Kay in my last post. 

Interestingly the model's wedding ring has been blurred out too in the second picture, perhaps this censorship is an early manifestation of the anti 'gay for pay' movement. Whoever imagined that these old porn pictures could have so much sociological significance?

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Read this series from Part 1