Fetish fashion

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Fetish fashion is the clothing often worn in the BDSM scene, and which is usually erotic or revealing in nature. Materials such as leather, latex, rubber and pvc, spandex and fishnet are common, as are items of clothing such as stiletto heeled shoes and boots, corsets and garters. BDSM-specific items such as collars and face masks are also sometimes worn.

Fetish or "bondage" chic can be traced back as far as the 1930s with the creation of the hobble skirt, and arguably other earlier fashions such as the vogue for tight corseting can be viewed as fetishistic precursors of fetish fashion.

Fetish fashion became known by the middle class of the United States during the 1950's through Bizarre, which was a fetish magazine published by John Willie sporadically between 1946 and 1959.

Fashion designer Malcolm McLaren created many items of BDSM-inspired clothing for the 1970s punk rock scene, in particular bondage trousers that connected the wearer's legs with straps.

Skin Two is a present-day fetish magazine covering many aspects of the worldwide fetish subculture. The name is a reference to fetish clothing as a "second skin."

[edit] Nazi chic in fetish fashion

Nazi chic is a highly controversial topic in the fetish clothing world. Much of the fetish community regards Nazi chic as highly offensive, and most fetish clubs ban overt Nazi symbolism. However, the symbolism of fascist, communist, and other regimes remains popular: a common compromise is to adopt the main design features of Nazi-era clothing -- peaked caps, jackboots, trenchcoats, and so forth -- but not to include any explicit Nazi symbols as part of the outfit. Sometimes, substitute symbols are used as part of the outfit, with designs that clearly reference the design styles of Nazi symbols without actually copying them.