Did you know that Fetish Fashion began in the late 1700's?

Fetish usually relates to anything that is not limited to being a part of a person, and which can cause an interest or desire of the observer. For example, wearing boots can be a considered a fetish, as it is not simply the person that interests others but the image that the person has while wearing the boots.

Fetish fashion is a type of clothing usually created to be extreme or provocative. Most fetish wear styles are not practical enough to be worn by the majority of people as routine daily wear.  They are usually made of materials such as leather, latex, nylon, PVC, spandex and fishnet. Some fetish fashion items include: stiletto heel shoes and boots (most notably the ballet boot), hobble skirts, corsets, collars, full-body latex catsuit, stockings, miniskirt, garters and stylized costumes based on more traditional outfits, such as wedding dresses that are almost completely see-through lace and much more.

Although, sometimes confused with "costuming", fetish fashions are usually considered to be separate from those clothing items used in costume play. The exotic fashions are specifically used as costuming to effect a certain situation, such as to create a character for a picture scene, rather than just to be simply worn. Although, sometimes the two areas do overlap, for example in Japan many themed restaurants have exquisite costumes like latex suit or a stylized French maid outfit for waitresses to wear.

Some type of garments that women wear routinely to improve their appearance qualify as fetish fashion wear, for example corsets and high heels. A very common fetish costume for women is the dominatrix costume that usually consists of mostly dark or even black clothing. To fully enhance the woman's domination, she usually wears a corset or a bustier, stockings with high heeled footwear and carries an accessory such as a whip or a riding crop.

Fetish fashion does not have an exact starting point; however, some fashions, that women appreciated just for themselves or wore for a specific subculture, have been noted since the earliest days of clothing. The use of corsetry and hobble skirts back in the late 1700's may well be considered as the first mainstream indication of fetish fashions since the majority of society did not have access to such clothes. These items were specifically appreciated for personal wear.

Nevertheless, some may argue that fetish fashions started underground after World War II with the "leather-wearing" culture of the homosexual London, England. During this period, homosexual men began wearing rarely-used leather clothing items publicly and in large-order with the intention of identification and separation from the norm. Leather clothing items were specifically appreciated for personal wear same as corsetry and hobble skirts in the late 1700's. However, others may contend that this identification is too restrictive and that fetish fashion includes more than just leather.

During the 1960's, the leather subculture became more mainstream as well, specifically in Great Britain due to the influence of rock musicians such as the Rolling Stones and the Who. Furthermore, a popular TV program, The Avengers featured a female lead, who wore leather leotards, full-body leather catsuits, full limb-covering leather and continual thigh-length boots as well as shoulder length leather gloves.
Fetish fashions became popular in the United States during the 1950's through books and magazines such as Bizarre (published by John Willie) and many other underground publications. During this time, several notable performers and producers attained mainstream notability. The most recognized is the 1950's bondage model and pin-up girl, Bettie Page that posed for a pioneer fetish photographer Irving Klaw, who maintained a mail-order photograph business.

Fetish photographers are a direct result of fetish fashion; they photograph people in fetishistic situations, such as in bondage, wearing rubber or leather clothing or in other extremes. Some of the early fetish photographers include John Willie, who published a famous fetishistic magazine, Bizarre (1946 to 1959) and art photographer Paul Outerbridge, who introduced fetish elements into his color photographs as early as the 1940's.

Many aspects of the fetish fashion have been incorporated and accepted into mainstream fashion. As a result many fashion designers incorporate elements of the fetish subculture by using exotic fabrics such as latex or sheer instead of cotton or wool for their creations; and some directly create products based on elements that are not accepted by the mainstream. Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood created several restrictive BDSM-inspired clothing items for the 1970's punk subculture.

As fetish fashion made its way into imagery and mainstream fashion, it has also been incorporated by many fetish artists such as illustrators and painters who make fetish art which depicts people in fetishistic situations. Some of the early fetish artists of 1940's-1970's are Alberto Vargas, John Willie, Robert Bishop, Art Frahm, Mario, Tom of Finland and Robert Mapplethorpe.
Many of the 'classic' 1940's – 1960's era fetish artists, such as Eric Stanton and Gene Bilbrew, began their careers at Irving Klaw's Movie Star News company creating drawings for episodic illustrated bondage stories.