Customer Service

This 'sex' shop seems to offer exceptional service. A young man wandered in and asked about the bondage gear and got this demonstration. Comprehensive and definitely hands-on, judging by his glistening skin and slicked hair. He seems quite confused by the shiny bar passing between his legs. It isn't standard bondage practice, but looks good.

Yearning

Bel Ami's young men don't usually hold my attention for long, but this scene featuring Vadim Farrell and Jean Daniel Chagall is not only extraordinarily sexy, but genuinely beautiful. You can sense the power of sexual desire flowing through their bodies, each one yearning for the other.

Above, the strong, angular jawlines tentatively meet, stamping the scene with strong masculinity (albeit fledgeling). The impressive boners are not tacky at all but perfectly in context, contributing to the wholesome, romantic feel. You can see more images from this video here

Guys in Uniform 13 - Highlander

Guys in Uniform Studio - Frank

This cheeky chappy looks an unlikely porn star, but he featured in one of the 'Guys in Uniform' Magazines published in the 70's. As you can see he was called Frank - but so were a good many other of the models for this studio! (see below.) Unlike the Royale Studio, the model identities were shrouded in mystery. Supposedly they were real servicemen and Frank with his tattoos (it looks like he's got the Parachute Regiment badge on his arm) and neat haircut could easily be one, he's certainly not a professional model.

As usual, these pictures feature vintage British military clothing which naturally has to be removed in short order - except for belt and boots. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of Frank actually wearing the shorts properly, though I imagine they did exist (any help out there?) These self conscious, half dressed poses don't quite work although what Frank reveals is interesting enough.

In the next sequence Frank begins to put on a thick leather apron-like body suit which must have been the prized possession of the 'Guys in Uniform' Studio, it features in many of their pictures and would easily qualify as a more sleazy entry for my 'men sharing clothes' series. You can see it also in my Guys In Uniform post no 6 here, worn by another 'Frank'! It would have cost a great deal more than the Army surplus uniforms and skimpy athletic shorts which were GIU's usual fare so I suppose they wanted to make good use of it. In this picture Frank No 1 doesn't seem to be very excited by it but of course 'flaccid' was the only publishable cock-state at this time - and even that was risky.

The numerous straps and appendages on this suit will appeal to the bondage enthusiast although Frank seems to be having a bit of trouble with them. His tall lean frame looks good in these shots and the juxtaposition of military and fetish 'uniforms' is strangely atmoshperic. You will note that his boots look well polished, in true military style.

The fight goes on. A nice glimpse of Frank's backside. This is the best picture of the group. The strap diving between his buns makes you want to try the gear on yourself! Frank has donned an authentic Army beret for this part of the shoot and he wears it like a true pro. It's a hat that can easily make a man look foolish (dare I say silly?) but young servicemen can usually be relied upon to adjust their headgear so it looks rakish.

Frank takes a rest. I've included these less interesting, closing shots for completeness and to give a decent look at the body suit. He's been given the 'Highlander' label here but I can't identify Frank's cap badge as belonging to any of the Highland Regiments (or the Parachute Regiment for that matter). Perhaps some military buff can help me out here!

In this final image Frank is fully buttoned up but suddenly looks like a freckle faced youth, which is a bit incongruous. These pictures are all scanned from magazines so the quality it not as good as the originals would have been. This sequence would have probably led on to a 'group' fetish scenario but I've not been able to track it down so far.

More of Alex by Orlando Vivas

I think this 'olive green look' is achieved by a bit of colour tweaking but it makes the underpants look very clingy and sensual. The leather jacket contours to his body too creating a sleek look that accentuates those robust thighs.

Alex has a beautifully groovy body and sexy body hair. I love the detailing on the jock but I'm not so sure about the mega collar flap on his jacket.

Intriguingly this jock seems to have lost the strap detail and the lace up fly isn't toned in like before.

Alex revealed, no comment required.

Pictures are all courtesy of Orlando Vivas

Ministry of Silly Hats - 6 Elfin Gear

Alex by John Clum

(courtesy of Beautiful Magazine)

In the media world August is usually reckoned to be the silly season but Christmas is tops for silly hats. Alex here is one of Santa's elves and he looks very happy about it doesn't he? Whether it's the long working hours, the sticky rock down his pants that's to blame or the outfit he's had to put on I don't know. To be fair, John Clum, the photographer, describes this (group of pictures) as Christmas satire, which licences just about anything I suppose. Fortunately, mitchmen folk enjoy seeing a manly-looking man put in his place, especially one who clearly has a very sexy body. That clingy top is very flattering and, surprisingly, so is the star shaped collar, but the droopy hat - oh dear.

Alex by Eden Photography

You wouldn't imagine that the picture above, by Eden Photography, is the same model. 

So cute! I feel quite guilty for enjoying his discomfort now. (Not really).

Alex by Orlando Vivas

This image by Orlando Vivas evokes emotions of an entirely different nature, 

Alex's nicely sculpted body is showcased beautifully by the olive coloured clothing. 

It's a shade that I find very sexy on some models. I don't know whether it's down to the way it complements the skin colour or perhaps the military overtones.

 Cynics may think it's just the plunging cut of those splendidly-elasticated underpants and they could be right. Oddly enough this picture also reveals elfin-like qualities in his face which completely vanish in John Clum's Christmas picture. Never mind, if you check out John's listing you'll find plenty of interesting and sexy pictures of Alex and other models. 

My thanks to him and other photographers featured here.

For other posts in this series, click on 'hats' in the label list below

Bush and Quaintance entwined

I thought it would be interesting to show these pictures by Harry Bush and Quaintance alongside each other, both with Tarzan-ish themes, but more strikingly because they both employ 'vine restraints'.

Quaintance - 'Bacchant' (L), Harry Bush - 'Tarzan Finds Boy' (R)

Bush of course was a near contempory of Quaintance and certainly knew about his work so it's not impossible he took this inspiration from him. The pictures demonstrate how even a single arm restrained above the head is a powerful erotic device and I can't help observing again how elegant these tendrils look compared with the tentacles much beloved of Yaoi artists.

Bush regarded himself as a true artist and the classical posing and polished technique reflects this. Superficially, in this picture, Tarzan steps forward to rescue an ensnared Jungle Boy, but that looks rather like lust in his eyes and he seems to be drawing Jungle Boy's free hand towards his own crotch rather than setting him free. Given the voluptuous buns peeking out from underneath Jungle Boy's loincloth, this desire is entirely understandable. Tarzan's own loincloth has been 'censored' but the outline is sufficient for practised cock-spotters. Harry Bush's 'hidden eroticism' is a little more subtle than some we have seen in recent posts.

There's interesting messages also in the whole language of this picture, placing youthful innocence into a scene of sexual desire together with notions of ensnarement, the wild jungle where civilised norms don't apply and the untamed man emerging from the undergrowth - and yet, the whole scene is a fake - a film set with role-playing actors. Make of it what you will, but there's no denying the genuine artistry at work here.

A-Z of Fetish Artists - Harry Bush

Harry Bush - No Running

When I covered the letter 'B' in my A-Z in 2008, I mentioned Harry Bush but described him as 'not fetishy enough' for a full entry. At that time I was aware of the familiar 'No Running' spanking image above, but it seemed altogether too frivolous for serious fetish consideration.
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Harry Bush - Your Face My Ass

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Even this rather good, hog-tied man he did for Drummer magazine seemed seemed to be outweighed by the preponderance of surfer pin-ups like those featured in my recent 'bikini boys' post which appeared to show Bush as a man to whom the male figure was primarily an object of beauty and romantic desire.

However, since the publication of the 'Hard Boys' collection featuring previously unseen, harder works by Bush, however, I have changed my view and am here belatedly recognising Harry's fetish credentials.

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Harry Bush - Calendar 'Rubber Sheet' (left)
'Guys in Uniform' Studio 'Frank' (right)

This illustration for the 1985 Drummer Calendar gives a glimpse of his darker interests, despite the light hearted caption. The scary storm-trooper is one of several images based on photos done by our old friends 'Guys in Uniform Studio' (see GIU/Royale label for more on Guys in Uniform)
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Harry Bush - Cuffed

Bush's teenage lads sometimes explicitly push modern boundaries on age, and he also gives them baby-like, puffed-up, cherub cheeks (as in No Running) but he doesn't leave you in any doubt about their sexual maturity. This beautiful, chained-up, young man is presented without frivolity, he's not even disguised as a Roman slave and could hardly be bettered as a domination image. The crisply defined shadowing is typical of Bush's polished drawings and the style has some similarities with that of his contemporary Steve Masters.
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Harry Bush - Who Sent You?

'Cupid' scenes are a distinctive, recurring feature in Bush's work but surprisingly they are not portrayed as innocent, cherub-like surfers but cunning, highly sexual, young men sent to taunt and trick their long suffering elders (as in 'who sent you?' seen here).

 This is a development of the earlier 'bikini boys' temptation theme in which hunky, young surfers cause men passing by to explode with lust or to crash their cars off-screen. Later they transform into hustlers extracting money for small favours. By this time, however, Bush's attitude has changed completely and even the Cupid's angelic connections do not save them from being punished for their mischievousness, in this case being restrained and flogged. In this picture Bush's drawing style helpfully disguises the weals on Cupid's backside for the benefit of crusty censors. That whip also crops up unobtrusively in other Bush 'beefcake' images giving them quite a sinister slant.

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Harry Bush - Rawhide

The prescence of an older, realistically mature man in the Cupid picture is quite common in Bush's later images and points up the youth of his protagonist but there's no sense of cradle snatching in 'Rawhide', in fact Bush's young men have become surprisingly adult looking here. The bondage is disguised as playfulness but is quite clearly very tight and painful and unquestionably sexual - another teaser being punished. This image is inspired a famous porn video of the same name in which a cowboy is tied up and abused by some of his fellow ranch hands.

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Harry Bush - I told you there was cherry material here

Other pictures by Bush show the complementary side of cross generational lust, with older men cynically exploiting youths they have ensnared. In the captioned version of this picture, the man on the left is saying 'I told you there was cherry stuff here' - here being the YMCA. To most of us these themes are little more than fantasies of masculine power, but it seems that for Bush they were all too typical of real gay life and he hated it.
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This unhappiness might have been expected to trigger the production of more explicit punishment scenes, but if it did they haven't surfaced yet. Bush seemed to consistently shy away from explicitness in his pictures, even in the liberated 80's when he plainly became aware of dirty sex and his captions are occasionally quite coarse. But there is a clue in one image, hidden away at the back of 'Hard Boys' (not reproduced here). It's a portrait of two naked, young men who gaze defiantly out at us apparently caught in the middle of an extreme S&M session involving a knife and burning cigarette whose effects are plain to see. It's a fascinating, disturbing image, a million miles away from the surfer dreams, but one that clearly rubber stamps his fetish credentials.