Charles Guyette

Charles Guyette (August 14, 1902 – June, 1976)^[1] was a pioneer of fetish style,^[2] the first person in the United States to produce and distribute fetish art,^[3] and regarded as the mail-order predecessor of Irving Klaw.^[4] Later known as the "G-String King,"^[5] he is best remembered for his bizarre (i.e., fetish) photographs, some of which featured sadomasochistic content.^[6]

Guyette worked as an innovative burlesque costumer and dealer in theatrical accessories,^[7][8] providing vintage corsets,^[9] opera gloves, custom-made fetish boots,^[10] and, most famously, G-strings.^[11] Employed by National Police Gazette editor, Edythe Farrell, he later provided costumes, high heel shoes and boots, and occasionally photographs for publisher Robert Harrison,^[12][13] known for pin-up magazines such as Wink, Titter, Beauty Parade, Whisper, and Eyeful. He was also important in early fetish community social circles of the day^[14] and in the careers of John Willie and Irving Klaw.^[15] Guyette was a fetish fashion pioneer.

In 1935, Guyette went to federal prison, becoming the first martyr of fetish art history.^[16] Later, he operated under a series of aliases and owned a costume shop on West 45th Street in New York City.^[17] Largely uncredited in his lifetime, Guyette influenced key fetish art innovators, including Irving Klaw, John Willie, Eric Stanton, and Leonard Burtman.^[18] The subject of a book tribute, Charles Guyette: Godfather of American Art, ^[19] he is also featured in the independent biopic on Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston. The film Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, written and directed by Angela Robinson,^[20][21] features Guyette as the costumer for Wonder Woman's real-life inspiration, Olive Byrne.^[22] Guyette is played by actor JJ Feild.^[23]

• Irving Klaw
• John Willie
• Eric Stanton
• Gene Bilbrew
• Bettie Page
• Dita Von Teese
• Fetish fashion

• Charles Guyette: Godfather of American Fetish Art [*Cream Paper Edition*] by Richard Pérez Seves. New York: FetHistory, 2019. ISBN 978-1077679689
• Eric Stanton & the History of the Bizarre Underground by Richard Pérez Seves. Atglen: Schiffer Publishing, 2018. ISBN 978-0764355424
• Possibilities: The Photographs of John Willie edited by J.B. Rund. New York: Bélier Press, 2016. ISBN 978-0914646495
• The Adventures of Sweet Gwendoline edited by J.B. Rund.(Second Edition, Revised & Enlarged) New York: Bélier Press, 1999. ISBN 0-914646-48-6
• Charles Guyette’s High Heeled Shoes: Photographs circa 1940 by George Monk. Amazon Digital Services (Kindle), 2014. ASIN B00J0HAMNO
• The Development of Sadomasochism as a Cultural Style in the Twentieth-Century United States (PhD dissertation) by Robert V. Bienvenu II. Indiana: Indiana University, 1998.

• Pérez Seves, Richard (n.d.). "FetHistory". fethistory.blogspot.com. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
• Robinson, Angela (n.d.). "Professor Marston & the Wonder Women". imdb.com. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
• Mitchell, Tony (2018). "Eric Stanton and the History of the Bizarre Underground". The Fetishistas. Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018.