Posts in the Charles Guyette category

Charles Guyette Corset Photographs

Amongst the fetish attire that Guyette photos show their models wearing is corsets, several styles of which were used.

Guyette model wearing corset

An Irving Klaw reprint of a Charles Guyette photo. The distinctive corset was later used in Irving Klaw photo shoots of Bettie Page. See Charles Guyette: Godfather of American Fetish Art by Richard Perez Seves for more about this special corset. The corset is either an Yva Richard of France original or imitation made in the United States.

Guyette models wearing corsets

Charles Guyette corset photo with two models. The model on the left is wearing a distinctive corset and is the same model as in the Klaw reprint. This photograph is from Guyette: Vol. 1 Boots and Heels by Vasta, a slim color volume worth tracking down.

Guyette model in the studio

A Charles Guyette photograph showing the dressed model who appeared in a corset in the previous two photographs. This photograph was taken in the studio which has the distinctive flooring pattern.

Guyette model wearing a corset

A Charles Guyette corset photograph of a woman with a tiny waist. This is an original print that I purchased almost 20 years ago. The print has been trimmed and is now 3 by 5 3/8 inches (7.7 x 13.6 cm). The photograph was taken in one of the residential settings used by Guyette.

Guyette model wearing a corset

This is an Irving Klaw reprint of a Charles Guyette photograph. The same model facing the camera and setting are shown in the preceding photo. The print size is 3 3/8 by 5 inches (9.2 x 12.2 cm). The image on the print is about 90% the size of the above original Guyette print.


The Blond Wig

I have come across a few Guyette photographs where a model is wearing a blond wig.

Guyette photo of model wearing wig

I own an early Charles Guyette photograph which I believe was shot in the studio with an unpainted cloth backdrop and a mat used in wrestling photographs covering the distinctive Priscilla pattern Congoleum rug flooring. In this photograph the model is wearing a blond wig. The model’s natural hair is dark and of a different style in another photograph taken in the studio. The photograph I own is is 8.5 by 13.7 cm in size.

Guyette model wearing wig

This is a closer view of the model in the previous Guyette photo wearing the wig cropped from a studio corset photograph reprinted by Irving Klaw which was sold on eBay (an enlargement from the small digital image saved from eBay is partially the reason for the bad quality of the image).

Guyette model wearing wig

This cropped image of head only was scanned from page 84 of Peek: Photographs from the Kinsey Institute (Arena Editions: Santa Fe, NM. 2000). This Charles Guyette model is wearing the wig but is definitely not the same model appearing in the photograph I own. I own another Guyette photograph where a model appears to be a cross dresser or trans and it’s possible the image in Peek is another.


Guyette Studio Flooring

Original Charles Guyette photographs have toned prints while later Irving Klaw reprints tend to be black and white with little or no toning. The toned prints are better at suggesting color but to get a better idea of the world Guyette’s photographs were taken in, the flooring in the studio photographs has a distinctive pattern.

Priscilla congoleum flooring

It’s a Congoleum Priscilla pattern “rug.” Congoleum/lineoleum rugs were so called because they were meant to act as if they were rugs, covering only a portion of a floor. These rugs were popular before the second world war. They were meant to serve the same function in a room as a conventional rug, but easier to clean. This page showing the Priscilla pattern is from a 1936 catalog but the pattern probably dates from the 1920s or earlier. Around 1930 patterns shifted from a grid diagonal to the border to a grid parallel to the border.

Guyette photograph of a woman taken in the studio

An Irving Klaw reprint of an early Charles Guyette photograph taken in the studio. The photo shows the elements of the painted backdrop with pastoral imagery. Later studio photographs have a painted backdrop with architectural elements. The Klaw print is slightly larger than the 4 x 5 inch size he normally used — 11 x 12.9 cm.


Early Fetish Boot Photographs

Here are three early boot photographs by unknown creators. The three may be by John Willie, Charles Guyette, or other creators.

1930s photograph of woman wearing tall boots.

This is an early Irving Klaw reprint in their boot series, B282. The photo was damaged during removal from an album and is 3 9/16 by 4 3/4 inches in size. Years ago I asked J B Rund if this was a photo by John Willie and he said no. It could be by Charles Guyette but I just don’t know. The photo wasn’t taken in Guyette’s usual locations, though I have original Guyette photos that were shot elsewhere, including outdoors. The next photo has the same model. Originally taken in the 1930s.

1930s photo of woman wearing tall boots

This is an early boot photo with the same model as the preceding photo but outdoors. Early Irving Klaw Cartoon and Model Parade catalogs for their boot series reproduce another with her by a lake and numbered in black B4. I don’t know who the original creator/distributor was, possibly Charles Guyette but that’s a wild guess. The print is 4 x 5 inches. Originally taken in the 1930s.

1930s or 1940s photo of woman wearing tall boots

Another early boot photo, probably 1930s. This photo is associated with Irving Klaw (the source was selling a large number of Klaw, including Klaw reprints of Guyette and Willie, photos). The print is much smaller, 3 x 4 1/8 inches. I don’t know if this was a source photo used by Klaw (or not used because of exposure issue) and I have no idea as to the creator. Willie in Australia in the 1930s? Guyette in the United States in the 1930s and early 1940s? Or someone else. Willie and Guyette were Klaw’s two major sources for photos of this type.


Named Guyette Models

Along with being the best introduction to the subject, Charles Guyette: Godfather of American Fetish Art by Richard PĂ©rez Seves provides identification of several Guyette models. I’m going to amplify that identification a little here.

Jane High was a Guyette model who had a small number of her Guyette photos reprinted by Irving Klaw with her name. From the costuming it appears that she was a burlesque artist.

More is known about another model, Jacqueline Joyce, also a burlesque performer. She was born in Toronto and moved to New York City to advance her career. According the 1937 Picture Review which featured her on its cover, she was performing at that time at Mario’s Club Mirador on 52nd Street. She was five foot three inches and weighed 108 pounds according to Picture Review. Her career as a performer extended at least until the early 1950s. The first illustration below is from the cover of Picture Review. The second illustration is her appearance on the 1941 cover of Jest magazine.