The Abandoned Slave

see also 'The Elusive Slave'

Carter will not be alone in his predicament this Christmas.

 Sadly it's become increasingly common of late for irresponsible, private masters 

to abandon their slaves when they tire of them or can no longer afford to keep them, 

just as they might do a dog or other pet they no longer want. 

Carter knows that when he leaves the sauna he will have nowhere to go.

The authorities won't look after him because slaves don't exist in their eyes. 

Our law-makers never imagined that valuable livestock might simply be thrown away.

Carter has been cast into limbo.

Hundreds of abandoned slaves like Carter face sleeping on the streets this Christmas

dependent on charitable hand-outs of clothing and food. 

Some will be picked up as escapers by bounty hunters.

 If their legal owners don't want them back, 

they will be sent back to the auction rooms.

Carter was trained to be a private slave under the Slave Labour Optimisation Program (SLOP).

He knows no other life and he doesn't have a licence to perform field labour. 

Carter knows that only bad masters will buy a recycled, private slave.

 

'mitchmen at Christmas' provides secure, inescapable accommodation for men like Carter.

We have hundreds of volunteers willing to offer abandoned slaves like Carter a safe, warm bed for the night. If Carter is lucky he may find a kind, new master this way and be allowed to stay longer.

At the very least, he'll be given his breakfast and bus fare back to the 'mitchmen at Christmas' Recycling Centre. 

Will you help Carter this Chistmas?  

For just 69 pence a day you can sponsor an abandoned slave like him 

and ensure he is given a little bit of love and treated in the way he deserves each night. 

If you subscribe, you will receive a Cuddly Toy Carter and a photo of the man 

you are sponsoring plus regular video updates about what he has been up to.

Call now on 0800-696969 and make Carter's dreams come true this Christmas.

~

 With apologies to Rhod Gilbert for stealing his tag line for my caption
and to James Seely (pictured above by Kris of Chicago) 

for being disrespectful to his gorgeousness

A-Z of Fetish Artists - Cas

 

Cas - Hustler

The 1960's artist Cas was an omission from my original A-Z series on fetish artists which seems unwarranted in retrospect. This image, one of his better known, probably explains why I left him out. The hustler clad in skin-tight leather pants has a splendid muscular body but Cas has depicted him as a coquettish vamp right down to the way he is holding his symbolically smouldering match in a pose worthy of Marlene Dietrich. 

It's not a look that grabs me erotically but I suppose I should have appreciated that Cas is emulating Marlene's deliberate, bold assertion of female sexuality and strength that completely debunked the 'little woman' conventions and restraints of her era. Cas's hustler is likewise mocking the stereotyping of gay men by owning and flaunting it. He oozes (almost literally it seems) self assurance and confidence. If you cover his face, the depiction of his muscularity is probably the most erotic in all of Cas's work.

Cas - Aperitif

In this brilliant picture, Cas flips the coin, poking fun at gays who adopt a façade of rough, butch-ness but cannot hide their self-consciously cultivated, inner-selves. This biker is a visual treat for leather lovers. He is beautifully drawn, casually sprawling across an antique chair, in torn, dishevelled clothes with unkempt hair and stubbled cheeks projecting an image that promises rough and dirty sex. There's a cleverly disguised outline of something big in his pants. However, his delicate cigarette holder and tiny glass of aperitif, reveal him to be highly refined. The shoulder-ribbons suggest he's something of a dandy too. 

You can also take this to be an Eliza Doolittle scenario where a tough is being taught manners by a man of a 'higher station' in life. That was not an uncommon experience for gay men back then. By necessity, they met anonymously in public places - toilets, discreet gay bars or clubs - where they were equally likely to meet a plumber or a professor, a rich man or a poor man, a young man or a pensioner, a soldier or a ballet dancer.

Cas - Director's Cut?

Humour runs through much of this artist's work but it's not without it's harder edges. It was commonplace in this era for actors to strip off and be chained up in 'sword and sandals' films. In this jokey take on that, the hapless, aspiring actor suddenly imagines that his role is about to be played out for real. That wouldn't really be funny at all - but it is sexy predicament.

The label to the left of the captive's foot says 'Intolerance Scene 1724', as though part of a long list of additions to DW Griffith's epic 1916 film, on the subject. 

It's ironic that the sadism of Christian story-telling and imagery has for centuries provided a cloak of legitimacy for homoerotic art that explores the darkest forms of  desire.

Cas - Laundromat

The 'mitchmen' blog has visited the laundromat scenario a few times recently (see Art of Oztangles 5 , 'Laundry Day' image for links) but you might be surprised to learn that Cas beat Nick Kamen to it by about 20 years. It's another wry dig at the 'butch biker' image of course but he's done it by taking a common, semi-clad, beefcake magazine pose and dropping it into a real world setting where the erotic implications of the residual cap and boots are enhanced and can ferment in the pants of imaginative viewers. 

The oppressive restrictions of the day deterred him from suggestively showing another man in the image, although a cartoon woman or women registering some sort of comic response, like that in a 'saucy' seaside postcard by McGill would have probably have been perfectly OK.

Smoking cigarettes features in many of his pictures. In those days it was a near-universal practice, often characterised as masculine and expected of you if you wanted to fit in.

Cas - Roughhouse

This image shows the sort of scenario that might have been triggered by that innocent, laundry image. Ostensibly a dramatic wrestling scene it's pretty obvious on further inspection that this man is being enthusiastically helped out of his jeans by the other two. They are both essentially naked as far as we can see, leaving the strong suspicion that his underpants will ultimately go the same way but it's left to us to imagine why. The wooden boarding at the back and the cap and boots worn by one of the combatants look rather like sea-faring imagery and since posting I have stumbled across a copy of this drawing labelled equally clearly as being by Holzmann, part of a series called 'Merchant Navy'. I am still looking into whether they are aliases for the same person.

Cas - Bar Fight

Fight scenes were a legitimate way of showing men interacting in a highly physical manner with their inadvertently ripped clothes exposing sexy flesh. Cas here seems to rely more on the ambiguity caused by relatively featureless, skin-tight clothing. A scattering of playing cards provides a simple excuse for the argument if not the extensive semi-nudity (strip poker doesn't usually get this heated)!  

The scenario is a blank canvas for placing men in close proximity to one another in all sorts of undignified states which is exactly what Cas has done. The careful juxtaposition of bulging crotches, rounded backsides and phallic bottles do the rest. 

This image contains an (Heavenly) host of hidden eroticism. At this time of year I'm tempted to ask readers how many they can spot! The most notable for me is the champagne glass held aloft, as if to an optic in a bar, poised to catch the produce of the bulge directly above. The man holding it is distracted by a curvaceous ass emblazoned with the Cas logo in a way that accentuates it's shape, like a tattoo.

Cas could not have imagined that magazine staples would make an eyewatering S&M addition when the image was published. Or am I underestimating the cunning of  the artist - or the magazine editor? It is a very curiously precise, vertical alignment after all. 

Etienne - Bar Brawl

Etienne also did a bar-room brawl around this time, with sailors. It's a simpler, more fragmented composition but offers a more direct sensuality with the use of colour accentuating the revelatory effect of ripped clothing. There is one notable 'hidden' erotic reference, however, in the pair of sailors far left who could be construed as enjoying a hand job. Etienne's men are remarkably handsome and adult (I love that dishy blond on the floor!) but they are arguably less real and less varied than those of Cas in the preceding picture.

Cas - Balancing Above

Cas loved to depict tight jeans which was the most legitimate way for a man to dress sexily in those days. The biker jacket slung across naked shoulders was a classy embellishment - 1960's cool if you like. Around this time there was also a fashion for low waisted trousers with tiny zips and this picture seems to reflect that trend. Cas, like Oztangles, was abreast of what was fashionable. The upwards looking viewpoint accentuates the effect of the tight jeans and suggests a dominant personality.

This is an exceptionally well-drawn image, breezing through a tricky perspective. 

*Compare with Etienne's skewed bar room perspectives  

Cas - Tights

Although I'm not fond of the way Cas drew eyes, this picture seems very sexy to me with a pugnacious, insolent face (which might have been a prototype for The Hun's trademark blond convict) set atop a muscular torso (glimpsed through an open shirt) and patterned tights that accentuate thick thighs. 

This isn't so much a portrait as a vehicle for erotic characteristics. The patterned tights seem to be those of a circus performer but the sword and distant seagulls point to him being a pirate. These two professions were blurred together of course in the swashbuckling movies of the day starring ex-circus performers like Burt Lancaster - in tights.

Cas - Gardener in Ledehosen Shorts

The half-dressed gardener is the mitchmen brand image and has been the suggestive, saucy background  decoration of numerous adverts and film scenes, most of which post-date this image. 

The clothing of this young man accentuates his physique in a similar way to that in the tights picture above. Here too the open shirt looks as if it is being pulled tight by something hidden inside his shorts. The tattered sleeves are augmented in this image by a tear on one shoulder but are completely missing on the other revealing hairy arms (another brawler?).

He has deliberately turned up his leather shorts, far more than seems necessary for doing his job, but accentuating his hairy thighs and flaunting his masculinity. The prominent pouch does the same job even more directly. He stands, hand on hip with a serious, pouty face, looking like a rebellious teenager whose just been told he's got to do an extra hours. 

You might prefer to see him as confronting someone out of the picture, warning him not to try and interfere with that tempting flap. 

~

Cas was a regular contributor to beefcake magazines in the 1960's but he hasn't acquired the same lasting fame as his contemporary, Etienne, although he was arguably a better draftsman. Etienne had a canny eye for the commercial and played safe with his characterisations, he was also bolder with his subject matter. For all his sharp satire Cas stays within the tradition of innuendo and hidden artifice. 

No direct link for Cas I'm afraid, but there's lots of his images to be unearthed at Tim in Vermont

Oztangles Retrospective 5

The gay art of Oztangles
Read this mitchmen series from Part 1

2020

Oztangles - The Temple 02

Oztangles produced a series of images in 2020 called 'The Temple' and in this one he creates the atmosphere of a sacrificial chamber with a captive lying spread-eagled across Oz's favourite altar stone. Before him stands a monk-like guard armed with a very sharp-looking machete.  

Two more men are suspended from nearby pillars looking on as they await their own fate. Meanwhile they are being utilised as light sources having been fitted with somewhat incongruous, leather fetish gags which are apparently come supplied with an ingenious, candle sconce accessory that you won't get from Ikea. Judging by the skeletons dangling just behind the altar, this is a long term commitment. 

Oz's rendering of anatomy and clothing reaches impressive levels here, but the background architecture is a bit flat. He dips into perilous waters with his retro, Afro-cum-Oceanic characterisation of the High Priest.

Oztangles - The Temple 06

The denouement turns out to be more prosaic as the intimidating guard melts away leaving the principals to get down to some dirty work.

A nicely balanced composition with good suspension imagery. 

Oztangles - Zane in Trouble

Suspension is the main focus of this image with a captive about to be dipped into water. The men are clad in traditional leather fetish gear but the setting has the feel of a modern workshop. It's a background Oz has used to good effect in other images. Here it all looks surprisingly clean and clinical.  

An ingenious transparent container is used for the dunking water. It gives a stronger sense that Zane is being lowered into it, not just suspended above it. It looks a tightish fit too, with not much scope for Zane to struggle, let alone lifting his head out of the water once he is dipped in it. 
These two are not playing games.

The character at the controls on the left has an other worldly quality about him that is quite sinister with dark, unreal skin toning and a fierce face that resembles the vengeful characters seen in medieval paintings and statues. Zane's pointing finger suggests he is attempting to negotiate a reprieve.

Oztangles  - Big Mistake

The man in this image seems to have made a surprising choice for the location of what seems to be his first tattoo. I can't say I'm qualified to comment on just how painful this is and, since tattoos feature in Oz's images infrequently, I suspect he is commenting from the side-lines too. Judging by his erectile state the recipient is finding some compensation in the caring hands of the tattooist, if not the needle itself - or maybe it's the combination of the two that is so stimulating. 

I'm no expert but the way the needle is being applied here doesn't look conventional. One might wish the tattoist would be showing more concentration on the task in hand and surely he doesn't need to spread his legs quite that wide!

The tattooing scenario disguises the sexual implications of this scenario only thinly, but there's a second, less obvious layer to the eroticism. It's the customer's right hand, tightly gripping the armrest of the chair. It also appears to be resting in the tattooist's crotch, indeed it's easy to mistake his wrist with a suggestive body part belonging to the other man. In its way, this element is a mini-masterpiece of  hidden eroticism that the old masters of gay art would have greatly appreciated. 

Oz has managed to find some interesting and authentic-looking background detail for this picture which greatly enhances it. For once there isn't a dildo in sight.

Oztangles - Zdeno's Workout 1

I rather like this straightforward piece showing a boxer beefing up in a gym. It's a place which we've visited several times before in this retrospective (see Part 4, covering 2015-19). If you've seen those images there are no prizes for guessing what happens to the mirror in the companion piece to this picture - Zdeno's Workout 2 (Clue #1:- he's naked in it, Clue #2 see below).

2021

Oztangles - Quarantine Wank

Lest we forget, 2020-21 gave the word 'isolation' a whole new meaning. For gay men obsessed with cruising the deprivation must have been at least the equal of the more well-publicised traumas.
The very term 'lock down' must have seemed a cruel irony 

This image celebrates the consolation prize God left with men, for use when they weren't required for procreation. You probably remember that we have seen other versions of this memorable, sexy pose  at mitchmen blog. 

Oz's cum-spattered mirror seems to have become something of an obsession, extending back a long way (e.g. 2015), well before the virus struck, but the 'virtual' partner seen in the reflection acquired a new vividness in those months of isolation. The 'Angel' character goes back even further to 2009  and has made other sporadic appearances since then (notably in 2019). His imaginary wings that which might have allowed him to fly away to freedom became a poignant symbol in a period that was a time of introspection and nostalgia for the old days.

And who believed the politicians who said Covid would become the new normal? 
They actually got it right for once, dammit!

Oztangles - Ed's Nightmare 05

The centrepiece of 2021's offerings has to be 'Ed's Nightmare' in which he is abducted from his bed by a military gang and handed over in shackles to the leather clad thug we see in this picture. In a typically Oz, high-tech torture chamber he is mounted in a metal spreader frame in front of a TV camera which is dispassionately recording every moment of his nightmare. 

 The X-frame and spread-eagle pose is standard bdsm imagery, but combining it with suspension is less common and very disorienting for the recipient. Oz manages to infuse Ed's limbs with a degree of tension that make it look genuinely stretched. His body shaping and skin tones are softly succulent and the dramatic, ethnic tattoo on his backside accentuates his vulnerability and nudity. 

Those grey demonic skin tones seen in 'Zane in Trouble' (above) surface again in this villain (if you view him as one). He sits back contemplating his prey and  allowing Ed plenty of time to assess him in return, wondering what he is planning to do with him. Meanwhile the camera catches every minute.

Oztangles - Ed's Nightmare 11

Ed is subjected to a series of torments without ever leaving the frame. Many of them utilise electricity and this, the last scene, is arguably the most dramatic. Notice the time that has elapsed during this demanding examination. His feet have been lowered closer to the ground, perhaps to achieve electrical grounding, but he can still only reach it with his toes. The curious balancing on curled toes here seems to reference ballet technique, a painful way to support body weight for the untrained - and it looks it here, although it's not clear whether the frame is obliging him to do that in this set-up.

Oztangles - Tony's Adventure 06

'Tony's Adventure', by contrast is far less traumatic. He is tempted into a strip club by a 'Men Only' promise. After enjoying the show he goes exploring and finds the delectable stripper expecting visitors in his dressing room. Tony is portrayed as a chunky, ordinary man who is probably delighted by the stripper's eagerness to serve him. Its a dream come true that was never expected. 

All of us can relate to that. 

There's a hint of mild S&M in the toys which Tony can see draped over the chairback and on the dressing table beyond (seen by us in the mirror). The shiny thing in his groin is proves to be a chunky cock-ring later, but who fitted it is not revealed.

Oztangles - Tony's Adventure 09

Tony gets to sample one of the dildos in the finale but he's had the pleasure of the stripper's ass in the mean-time. This is the nearest the stripper gets to returning the favour. Clearly Tony isn't disappointed and there's a nice sense of  playfulness here which shows the hunky stripper to be a thoroughly nice bloke, happy to give this somewhat unprepossessing stranger an experience to remember and cherish.

Oztangles - Tony's Adventure 07

This is an intermediate scene. Normally I would pass over an image like this since it's frequently replicated in every porn film you've ever seen and most homoerotic art. But I think Oz has made an exceptionally good job of it here. Tony's pose is perfection and his chunky physique is transformed into an idealised form that any man would appreciate. Paradoxically, the slender stripper unexpectedly exhibits gloriously chunky thighs, an exaggeration that I appreciate. His sitting position has no hint of submissiveness, he's comfortable giving service. Nice.

Oztangles - Laundry Day 01

This is a more everyday fantasy, which was memorably invoked in 1985 (but not fulfilled) in the Nick Kamen launderette ad for Levi jeans and also in one of my own ramblings My Beautiful Launderette. Like the 'Tony' series this story features a man whose outward appearance might be considered unattractive by some, in this case because he is wearing spectacles. 

By contrast his opposite number is a classic, desirable hunk with a trendy, undercut hairstyle, an enviable physique and skimpy cut-off shorts intended to make sure everyone notices him. But in an unusual twist on the 'Unattainable Bar Man' syndrome, it's he who falls for the Laundromat attendant - or his ass at any rate - as he watches him tending the machines.

Oztangles - Laundry Day 05

Inevitably the spectacles have to be discarded as soon as the attendant gets down on his knees to show his appreciation . A routine sex episode follows but it climaxes (as it were) is this unusual, wheelbarrow position which suggests to me that this dumb hunk is something of a sexual athlete. Or perhaps the bespectacled attendant is a very good teacher.

Oztangles - Pier Street Sunday Morning

This image is also based on an unusual pose, but it is really a commonplace sight on city streets and at surfer beaches. Oz transforms the imagery by making the city skateboarder a grown up man and stripping away his clothing to reveal an emphatically adult and well-honed physique. The resulting figure study seems surprisingly original and his twisted body and balancing pose is comparable in beauty to the male statues of antiquity - just imagine the skateboard replaced by a discus or a javelin in his hand. However, this modern, over-grown kid is much sexier. 

This is one of those render pictures where it's hard to tell where the software leaves off and the artistry begins, but for me it's the result that counts and this is a great result. It's one of several images in 2021 where Oz explores athletic, unconventional body poses (like the wheelbarrow and quarantine images above) and it's much to the benefit of his art.

Oztangles - Naughty Corner 02

The title of this piece prepares you for another S&M romp but in fact this is more chuck-flick than bdsm. It shows the moment when Mario, the sub is freed from his chastity cage and tether after 3 weeks in isolation for dilly-dallying with the plumber. Oz does not indicate whether the formidable electrical installation nearby has figured in this punishment.

 The sub-title to this scene is 'Keep still, dammit, the key's stuck!'  So it's actually a comic moment with the master kneeling, apologetically almost, before his hyper -frustrated slave. 

Another cum-splattered mirror seems in prospect.

Oztangles - A Busy Day (detail)

I won't leave 2021 without mentioning this series, entitled 'Execution'. It's a frank and disturbing telling of a grisly tale with a twist of cynical exploitation thrown in. Coming from this artist, it's unexpected. I have covered noose art here at mitchmen before (see 'noose' label at foot of the post for other posts on the subject) but this detail is all I intend to show of Oz's challenging contribution to the genre. 

You can view the whole sequence at the link given at the end of this post. 

2022

Oztangles - Punishment Cell 01

Oztangle's 2022 work is dominated by the Punishment Cell series. It picks up the theme of isolation as punishment which featured also in Naughty Corner (just above). However, in this case it's a Military Punishment for answering back. The nudity of the prisoner here doesn't quite fit with that background and the chastity device on a chain which is only just long enough to allow him use the bucket seems to take us into Guantanamo country. It seems that he is in the midst of relieving his (understandable) anxieties when the disciplinarian Sergeant Vane arrives wearing his 'wet work' outfit and bringing rope and blood-curdling promises.

Oztangles - Punishment Cell 03

Jack, the hapless offender is released from his chain, but only to be trussed for punishment on a bloodstained table. Hopefully, the assorted implements on the bottom shelf mean the torments planned for him will be bloodless. 

The tight leg restraint shown here is a tie that has long excited me, going way back to the 'My Initiation' image. It's ultimately a demanding stress position and often features (without ropes) in wrestling contests. Tied like this, I doubt that Jack could achieve the back-lift shown, unaided.

Oztangles - Punishment Cell 05

Sgt Vane's ropework ultimately results in this neat shibari packaging coupled with suspension (again). The Sgt proceeds to torment imaginatively Jack's unprotected, vulnerable areas. 

This is a further example of Oztangle's interest in unusual, stressed positions for the male body which seemed to begin in 2021. Technically it's a significant advance from the simple X-Spreading deployed in Ed's Nightmare (see above) and several other Oz images.  For the observer this tight, self-contained restraint causes the erotic focus to shift from the body of the prisoner to the restraint mechanism. 

This tight relative of the hog-tie position is very hard to capture, even in photographs, so Oz has done well here. The eternal rendering problem of achieving a snug-looking fit with clothing and (here) rope doesn't prevent him from producing a great, stimulating image.

Oztangles - Punishment Cell 08

Sgt Vane is not without a sense of humour. He expounds the theory of chaotic movement as he swings Jack on the suspension chain with weights attached to his nipples and balls and going in different directions. Oz manages to capture a real sense of swinging movement in this picture and his contrasting characterisations of the two men work well too. The more subtle bdsm of this image lies in the tweaking of Jack's arms as he swings, heavily weighted on the chain.

Oztangles - Punishment Cell 10

Lesson learned,  Jack formally makes amends in the time-honoured, homoerotic way. 

Offering service while tied up is not uncommon in fetish imagery but I can't recall it being portrayed in quite this way before. Oz emphasises Jack's restraint and submissiveness, rather than the sexual exchange. This position, formally kneeling with head-bowed, departs from the usual 'oral' formula whereby the sucker is expected to look up at his master as though entranced with him and anxious to know that he's doing the job correctly.  

By contrast Jack's pose looks detached and rather dignified and it is intensely appealing.  

Oztangles - Five More Minutes

This image relies on a similar use of weights to torment, but with the focus on simple endurance rather than rough tugging. Once again, Oz does well to create a real impression of stretching with the captive forced to stand on tip-toes. It's a virtually inescapable form of restraint and immobilisation and it's pure simplicity heaps frustration on top for the captive. His agonised expression gives a real sense of that his thresholds are already being tested to the limit and the announcement (in the title) of an extension to his designated time is adding anger to his difficulties.

The tormentor's slightly unkempt and grizzled appearance contrasts with the college boy neatness of his test subject and predictably he's completely indifferent to the poor man's mute appeal. Characteristically abreast of the latest trends, Oz shows him taking a photo of his discomfort and helpless captivity. It adds a little twist of sadistic humiliation with the further threat of a public airing of his plight for the amusement of strangers - and possibly those who know him.

These two make an improbable couple, but Oz des not enlighten us on what has brought them together in this way.

Oztangles - The Night Before

This image may offer a clue to that puzzle. It seems to show the same older man, but dressed in an unexpectedly professional manner. He's approaching a younger street hustler who's neatly dressed and clean looking, but provocatively appealing. More fantasy than reality alas. He has a similar appearance to the prisoner in the preceding picture.

Oztangles - The Morning After

The companion image shows a very different outcome with both parties having ended up in a seedy hotel(?) room, naked and apparently unfulfilled. It harks back to the 2019 Night Clerk image which seemed to embody a similar sense of disillusion and disappointment. In another Oz reversal of the usual, depressing rules of life, it seems to be the prodigiously equipped young hunk who has not come up to the mark.

Oztangles - Imperial Guard

This is Oz's latest posting at Renderotica as I write. 

Here's to 2023!

Read this mitchmen series from Part 1

~

Oztangle's work is not always perfectly crafted but there a plenty of impressive highlights. He explores interesting bdsm themes but also more commonplace feelings which ordinary mortals can relate to.

There's an extensive collection of Oztangles at Renderotica which is free to join. The filters applied to some works don't always stop you viewing them, but they're not always as exciting as you might hope!

Men Swapping Clothes No 30 - Royale Studio's Chain Pouch

This article is due to be upgraded and reposted 

in the mitchmen Royale Studio Archive

~

Peter George's provocative pouch and waders in the previous Royale post 

were not the only fetish garments in that studio's wardrobe.....

It's easy to overlook the sexual power of old black and white beefcake images which were designed to look not overly sexy, but the best of them still manage to turn their muscular subjects into erotic gods. In this informal and intimate pose, the softly moulded muscularity of Brian Lamprill seems bulky, real and almost touchable. His indrawn navel creates a strangely alluring detail.

 The skimpy garment he is wearing has the look of a bikini rather than posing pouch. It seems like a properly designed, fashion garment designed to highlight and enhance his near nudity rather than being an artificial screen, crudely improvised for the sake of modesty. It's embellished by a distinctive chain net that adds a dose fetishistic sexiness by suggesting restraint and containment of what lies within.

He's thoughtfully handling an epee here, rolling the handle between his fingers as though considering what to do with it. It's an instrument of combat, a rather refined style of fighting, and it has with the ability to pierce body muscle. That makes its position here, slanting across the bulge of his pouch a very S&M-like touch.

Picture from Man Alive (Apr 61) 

Brian Lamprill was a serious body builder who posed regularly for Royale Studio,

 including storyettes like 'PT Class'

Tibor Urgay wears the same garment to add a fetish flavour to this muscular pose. This model was usually portrayed by the Royale group as boyish and elfin-like rather than beefy like this. His physique in this photo complements the chains which have assumed a wider, more rounded shape to accommodate his projecting tackle.

Update Nov 2024: I don't have a date reference for the image above, but I recently discovered another photo of Tibor Urgay wearing it (disguised as a bunch of grapes!) dated to 1958 so it's appearances in 1961 are evidence of the sensitivity of the chain motif (too near the knuckle as it were in 1958) rather than the date of those photos.

Tibor Urgay also appeared in the Hussar Studio's PT Class

The same, intimate garment worn by a third model (Tibor Noszgay). He doesn't have quite the same allure in my eyes, despite a tidy body. However, his more upright, open pose shows the forward thrust of the pouch in a way that makes the chain containment seem more of a chastity device than simply an exotic decoration. 

His serious expression might reflect the fact that he knows this is a stock Royale/Hussar Studio wardrobe item, one that has been worn by other models before him. If he finds it exciting to wear, he might be imagining just what his predecessors must have felt.

Picture from Man Alive (Apr 61)

Tibor Noszgay is more recognisable (and more attractive) in this picture which I presume is from the same set. In this image, you can see his waist chain curving across the far thigh but it seems to have disappeared on the near side. The dark line you can see is the shadow of his sword, which looks much like the one being played with by Brian Lamprill in the top picture. 

Picture from Man Alive (Apr 62)

James Julien gets himself into groin chains here. He was probably snapped for the conventional beefcake stream, which featured many of the most prominent bodybuilders of the day. At that time the bodybuilding world desperately portrayed itself as a thoroughly decent, health and fitness practice. That may account for the less-than-amazing pouch shape. Still, one can only imagine the thrill of excitement some of those men must have felt when they were invited to don this indisputably kinky garment. He looks as if he might be feeling a little faint and is clinging to the screen for support.

This picture appeared in 'Tomorrow's Man' May 1962.

The chain pouch also figured in one of Royale's most notorious photo sets, featuring real enlisted men of the Royal Horse Guards. That was bad enough for the men at the Ministry (of Defence), but for them to use their own Uniforms to create homosexual erotica and pairing them with a suggestive pouch like this, well, it must have blown their institutional fuses.  

This Horse Guard is Tom Manlick. Just a wild guess but I'd say that's not his real name. 

The helmet affords additional protection of his identity.

In this picture you can see that the chain pouch is completely separate from the cloth inner lining but nevertheless, it's wearers must have been conscious of the other men's groins it had previously graced. You're very aware of Tom's loin in this picture.

Tom also appeared in Football Ballet 

John Skilling in Chain-Male Pouch by Royale Studio

In this image it's an oily John Skilling who gets the cold comfort, ball support. 

He was a seasoned 'Royalist' who appeared in the Football Ballet storyette 

and starred with Fred Collins in the Soldier-Sailor set and others. 

There's been a sketchy Review of John Skilling's career here at mitchmen

(Scheduled for updating)

This is an AI-Enhanced image (view original)

The original picture appeared in 'Tomorrow's Man' Oct 1961.

~

Interestingly, all these chain pouch images were attributed to Hussar Studio when published and not the Royale brand, which was was being discarded as a name when they appeared in 1961-2.

I've not found a picture of Peter George in the chain pouch but given this image I'd not be surprised to see one. He seemed to have an affinity for fetish and bdsm themes.

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 For other posts showing men swapping and sharing clothes,

 click on the 'sharing' label at the foot of this post.

For Royale and Hussar posts click on the 'GIU/Royale' label