Loving Dominant by John and Libby Warren

John and Libby are a couple that knows just how colourful the BDSM scene is, with its wide range of things to choose from depending on you and your partner’s tastes, cleverly likening it to a very liberal Chinese Restaurant. “You can take as many, or as few, items as you want from Column A, B, and so on.”

Because it seems that, over the years, media and society have managed to confuse BDSM with cruelty and undesired maltreatment, John and Libby seek to re-teach the population with this sexual self-help tour de force. I

t is the perfect beginner’s guide and manual to the how-to’s of forming and establishing a loving, safe and consensual DS relationship, with the detailed down-lows on everything from basic bondage ties, finding toys in the vanilla world, performing successful fantasy scenes, to how to win over your other vanilla half, filming your kinky escapades, establishing contracts of submission, and precautions and first aid for your play.

Its emphasis isn’t only on getting started in the physical sense, but also touches on the psychological aspects of your play and ‘the scene’; an aspect often ignored in other books, but which is probably the most important. They take it very seriously, and sometimes treat BDSM much like a course on the curriculum, going as far as to include workbook-like sections with diagrammed kinky D.I.Y. projects to try, not to mention a wealth of suggested reading and resources specific to each topic as you go along. It’s ceaselessly knowledgeable and no doubt retains its status, through each new and updated edition, as the curious and responsible couple’s bedside companion.

The Loving Dominant
(third edition)
by John and Libby Warren
Published by Greenery Press www.greenerypress.com
£10.99

Love Me Like You Hate Me by Venus O’Hara and Erika Lust

We’ve seen a few books about kinky sex here at Skin Two. There are geeky and well-intentioned ones that are worthy but not terribly appealing. There are weighty tomes by learned academics with no feel for the subject at all. There are glossy pot-boilers from big publishing houses based on the ‘sex sells’ school of marketing. There are very few that we would recommend to a friend. Love Me Like You Hate Me is one of the few… Read more

CURIOUS PLEASURES: A Gentleman’s Collection of Beastliness

Some people think modern sexuality has gone far beyond reasonable boundaries but, once having a glance at this guide, supposedly made in the Victorian era, of all manner of far-fetched and incomprehensible carnal desires, you’ll see that we’ve become quite tame in comparison. Rumoured to be an old document accessible only to doctors and professors, the book was written under the guise of an overly inquisitive “Reverend Croom” who takes painstaking risks (crouching in bushes and falling out of trees) to observe people’s ridiculous and disturbing acts, later producing a scientific compilation that is an erudite yet laugh-out-loud read.

Expect to find in-depth descriptions for everything from Androgyny to Zoomutatolagnia (the desire to take on animal characteristics for the purpose of carnal pleasure), with comical commentary, yet all in a gentlemanly and respectable style and tone. And what’s more, it comes with playful illustrations to give you a hilariously filthy idea of the Reverend’s observations.

They say one quick perusal of its contents had women fainting, but today it is more likely to result in a mere raise of an eyebrow and a few chuckles. This reference book makes a unique gift for pervy peers or just naughtily curious friends, supplying them with a wealth of ways to impress with their sexual and dirty knowledge. It also contains a bibliography of other suggested reading for the gentleman, like Domestic Discipline and My Father was Not a Gorilla (the detailed refutation of Mr. Charles Darwin and other theorists), as well as a page for making your own field notes and observations.

Curious Pleasures: A Gentleman’s Collection of Beastliness By The Reverend Dr. Erasmus St. Jude Croom is available to buy on Amazon

By Kara Martin

Dressing for Pleasure: The Best of AtomAge 1972-1980

John Sutcliffe was the father of British fetishism. His AtomAge magazine was published throughout the 1970s; for many who loved dressing up in rubber and leather, to receive the little copy of AtomAge in a plain brown envelope was a secret thrill. In those days before the internet, to know that there were others around the world who shared your passions was really a lifeline.

Back then, a love of dressing in rubber and leather was often regarded as weird and somehow undesirable. But AtomAge showed you what really went on in the suburbs across the country when the kids weren’t around. The photographs of folks who might easily be your Mum and Dad in the front room wearing full enclosure rubber catsuits and masks bring it all flooding back.

This book mostly consists of images from all 32 issues of AtomAge, from 1960s ‘kinky boots’ to smiling girls in sports cars and on motorcycles – and lots of total enclosure, gas masks and hoods. Some text, extracted from the magazine, adds to the flavour. There is no hardcore SM – that went on all right, but only behind the scenes. I love the happy suburban housewife, in the fields, walking the dog – dressed in full rubber. And the couples relaxing at home, against flock wallpaper, on patterned carpets, in their latex mackintoshes and goggles.

Back in 1984, when we started Skin Two magazine, I got to know John Sutcliffe and I remember him with great fondness. John flew with the Royal Air Force in World War 2, helping to defeat fascism. (His co-pilot was Freddie Laker!) Later, he worked as a photographer, then made a leather catsuit for a girlfriend, and went on to create leather costumes for opera productions, for ’60s artist Allen Jones and the iconic show ‘The Avengers,’ as well as an increasing number of private clients.

In 1972, John started AtomAge magazine, which showcased his clothes and also featured the AtomAge Correspondence System, through which fetish fans could get in touch. A precursor to the internet! Atomage also sold books and a member of the public referred a copy of the book “The Story Of Gerda” to the police. The Atomage premises were raided and all the published material on the premises was seized.

John was informed that he would not be prosecuted for publication of the Atomage magazines if he allowed his entire back stock of magazines and printing plates to be destroyed. He was not so lucky with the Gerda books; for these he was fined £1,000. The prosecution created serious financial problems for AtomAge. The level of public outrage at John’s prosecution was such that he started receiving cheques and money in the post from customers of Atomage, to help him keep the business running. I visited one day, to find John deeply touched after a total stranger came to his office, put an envelope of money on his desk, wished him well and left.

Sadly John died one Sunday afternoon in September 1987, whilst working at his desk. At his funeral in Mortlake, we all dressed in leather and rubber. I think of him every time I pass. One of John Sutcliffe’s intentions was to bring into the open the idea that people have fetishes. Today, we reap the benefit. John is considered one of the patron saints of the worldwide fetish community.

20 x 13.5 cm hardback, 208 pages, 270 illustrations.
£16 / $32.95 from FUEL where you may also see images from the book

From October, also available on Amazon and most bookstores

For information of AtomAge, also visit www.Atomage.co.uk

All images: Dressing for Pleasure by Jonny Trunk. © FUEL Publishing 2010

American Fetish a Unique Fetish Movie

There hasn’t been a fetish film like this before. There’s fetish porn, by all means, there’s arty low-budget fetish, there’s fun amateur stuff – but American Fetish is very different from any of those. It’s simply a DVD that’s quite essential for the serious collector… Read more

Calling 1940s Lingerie Lovers – New Photo Book from What Katie Did

“A Serious Study of Mid-20th Century Lingerie” is a super new photo book, oozing with sexy retro images of lingerie, stockings, corsets and high heels…

There are 100 A4 pages and around 100 large colour photos by Tony Nylons, who clearly loves his work. It’s done with a lovely balance of style – always very sexy, but not porny or sleazy. If you like images of women in sexy ’40s lingerie, buy this book. Read more

Best Fetish Erotica

Yet another steamy compilation from Cleis Press, this edition of Best Fetish Erotica takes it up a notch and puts more focus on the darker side of kink, with edgily sexy stories of knife play, cross-dressing, spanking, rubber, doll and food fetishes and the odd costumed animal perv at Disneyland. Read more

Lustre – a Work of Fetish Art

One of the world’s most stylish artists in the fetish genre, Gérard Musy, has released a superb collectors’ item, a book, DVD, music score and print, called Lustre. Read more

Helmut Newton’s SUMO – The biggest, most lavish fetish photo book of the 20th century is back!

The late Helmut Newton was arguably the most famous fetish photographer ever. His iconic book, SUMO, was published in an edition of 10,000 signed and numbered copies. It broke all records for weight, size and retail price – SUMO was huge and it cost £7,500 UK pounds! Read more

Angelica Launches New Fetish Photo Book

Angelica is a well established photographer on the fetish scene and recently launched her book of fetish photos with a party at her Gatwick studio.

‘Sense and Sensuality’ is a 40-page A4 hardback book featuring photographs of Angelica’s customers from the last seven years. Read more

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