From rubber and leather to corsets and latex, fashion plays a massive part in the fetish and BDSM scene. But where did it all begin? We take a brief journey in tracing the origins of BDSM and fetish fashion through history to the mainstream, taking in high-profile supporters such as Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood along the way.

 

Fetishism and fetish fashion are best understood as lust directed at a person's clothing, or specific parts of an outfit. If you're serious about the lifestyle, it's likely that the gear associated with restraint, submission or domination piques your interest.


Part of the attraction is that fetish clothing is usually too impractical to wear for any purpose other than, well, the obvious. So, just seeing it makes your mind wander. Even though it may be restrictive, many kinksters view their BDSM fashion collection as liberating. No wonder that many refer to their bondage gear as a second skin.
 

Where did the fetish look begin?

Many cultural factors came together to create what we now understand as BDSM and fetish fashion. In recent history, the punk aesthetic and particular clothing designers have brought the look to mainstream attention.


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However, modern fetish imagery's true roots go back to libertine writers like Donatien Alphonse François de Sade (better known as the Marquis De Sade) and Leopold Ritter von Sacher-Masoch. Both of these were writing about alternative sexualities over 200 years ago. Jointly, they gave their names to the modern term, sadomasochism.


In The 120 Days of Sodom, de Sade frequently described the use of a cat o' nine tails and leather whips in an erotic context. While in Venus In Furs, Sacher-Masoch describes the goddess Venus from a highly-charged, kinky perspective: “The plush red velvet. The dark fur outlining her naked body. The bracelets cuffing her wrists... But is Venus covering herself with fur, or is she opening the fur to reveal her glories?” he asks.

BDSM-fashion-military-outfits.jpg
Milking it, military style
 


    Then, in the 20th Century, the 1950s biker trend worn by Marlon Brando in film The Wild One made leather a highly-eroticised material. More provocatively, military regalia has also informed uniform fetishes and created some of alternative culture's most popular symbols.

       

      The materials and meanings of BDSM fashion

      In the fetish & BDSM community, becoming aroused at the look, and more importantly, the feel of a fabric is part of the lifestyle. Whether they're part of a uniform, a method of restriction, or stretched around a particular area of skin, the materials used in BDSM fashion convey meaning. 


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      Leather has always made subcultures look sexy. From aviators to bikers, leathermen to punks – it's a sensual way of protecting, concealing and drawing attention to the body all at once. If you don't want to wear it, enjoy the experience with leather restraints or whips.

       

      “Even though it may be restrictive, many kinksters view their BDSM fashion collection as liberating. No wonder that many refer to their bondage gear as a second skin

.”


      Assuming they don't suffer from allergies, anyone can look like a million-dollar porn star in spandex or latex. Indeed, it's a sexy mainstay of BDSM fashion, forming an essential component in maximum impact designs like wet-shine catsuitscorsets  or harnesses. Considering latex started as a functional material used in creating gas masks, gloves and Mackintoshes, isn't it ironic that all of these have since become fetishized?

      leather-BDSM-fashion-fetish.jpg
      BDSM fashion can be both sexy and empowering.


      How does fetish fashion express sexuality?

      Clothing can help you create an identity and feel more assured of your sexuality. Indeed, if you look the part, it begins to sink in at a psychological level. In particular, many women feel empowered by changing their appearance with make-up and clothes. When we put on our bondage gear, it's symbolic; we occupy the role we intend to play for that session, or better still, look like a sexual demon. 

       

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      Mainstream reaction to BDSM fashion

      Curiously, haute couture has regularly been an advocate of sadomasochism chic. The designer Vivienne Westwood was one of the early pioneers, bringing studs, leather and chains to the high street while designing for The Sex Pistols during the 1970s.

       

      “Anyone can look like a porn star in spandex or latex. Indeed, it's a sexy mainstay of BDSM fashion, forming an essential component in designs like wet-shine catsuits or harnesses

.”


      More recently, both Gianni Versace and Jean Paul Gaultier played with extreme sexual apparel in their collections. The Versace Bondage Collection was released in the winter of 1992 and was inspired by imagery from the BDSM lifestyle, with a Wild West slant. Gaultier worked gold cowboy boots into tight leather designs and bold studs, famously declaring, "I don't believe in good taste."


      bdsm-fashion-jean-paul-gaultier.jpgJean Paul Gaultier' The Boudoir', from the "Sidewalk to the Catwalk" 2011 exhibit in Montreal, Canada

      Gaultier also experimented with kinky imagery in his monochrome fetish wear collections, bringing avant-garde designs to the fore and creating the notion of underwear as outerwear. Madonna's pink fetish corset on her 1990 Blonde Ambition tour has become an iconic emblem of crossover fashion.


      Gaultier regularly uses alternative images of beauty, like singer Beth Ditto and burlesque artist Dita Von Teese to display his work. In doing so, he underlines one of BDSM culture's most attractive traits; acceptance and appreciation of all things different, in ourselves and others. •

       

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      What's your most favorite BDSM fashion item you have in your closet? Share deets on your most-loved items of clothing or accessories below or in the Fetish.com forum.

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      Images shutterstock/Eugenia Porechenskaya, shutterstock/Dm_cherry, shutterstock/Richard Semik, shutterstock/meunierd

       

      • Like 170

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      li****

      Posted

      I have a foot fetish for women's feet anyone can text me

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      Ba****

      Posted

      Pour une fois qu’il ne nous pointerons plus du doigt comme “déviants” !

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      Posted

      It's definitely a way to feel Avante Garde... 😘

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      Ra****

      Posted

      An enjoyable read. For me, lace silks, satins, leather, (fake) fur… are the clothing items I tend to reach for as they really assist in the sensory stuff that I love 🥰
      • Like 2

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      Go****

      Posted

      Fascinating 😍
      • Like 1

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      Goddess_Fifi

      Posted

      A fascinating read. Most of the materials mentioned in the article I have no desire to wear, they make me feel uncomfortable and restricted. I prefer silks, satins, cotton, linen, wool's and lace, definitely would wear the occasional velvet or fur though.

      How the fabric glides over my skin is important to me, the way it's cut to drape, sculpt and hug my curves ever so delicately.
      • Like 2

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      Posted

      Well, being a sub as I'm, I would like my future mistress wears revealing outfits instead of the fully covered ones.

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      Cheekysub247

      Posted

      Or it can have zero part in it !!
      • Like 2

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      Posted

      This was a fascinating read 😁

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      fa****

      Posted

      The fashion industry makes these periodical forays into fetish with leather and latex clothes and gear then stops and turns around like a model on a walk way during a fashion show. The same with celebrities like Kim Kardashian and her bondage hoods. Come from the standpoint that something is better than nothing. It goes to making fetish more acceptable in relationships and the bedroom and people more open to try it than be adverse and ridicule it.
      • Like 1

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      ho****

      Posted

      wow omg
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      Ki****

      Posted

      My leather halter
      Leather vest
      Chaps 
      • Like 2

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      Branko

      Posted

      Cfnm fetish
      • Like 1

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      de****

      Posted

      The writer can’t fathom that clothing fetishes and bdsm predate 200 years? Africans wore masks and body piercing and branding as a sign of age and virility. Ejyptians wearing gold as a sign of authority. Even Christian’s self fladulate for a supreme being. Pagans had sex rituals with implements of “magik”

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      Josephr31

      Posted

      When women like wearing pvc and latex 😍😈👌🏻

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      MNDILF25

      Posted

      and foot fetish lovers

       

      • Like 2

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      brogallo

      Posted

      Leather, fethises

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      Ev****

      Posted

      Perfect for ballbusting

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      Posted

      Perfect

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      Ms****

      Posted

      :stocking:
      I love :

      leather

      pvc

      mesh

      fishnets

      lace

      and anything sheer or shiny!!

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      Posted

      Luv leather 👍

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      le****

      Posted

      Interesting

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