Bettie Page Story: The Fetish And Fashion Icon's Strange Biography
Bettie Page left an indelible mark on popular culture -- first as an in-demand model and later as a symbol or template of the mid-century American good girl/vixen -- yet saw little to no compensation or credit for it during her lifetime. The Bettie Page look, even just her trademark bangs, came to denote an edginess with fetish overtones, reflecting the free and subversive career of a '50s model who posed not only in swimsuits, but nude and in bondage settings as well. The image of Bettie Page shines like a beacon in an era known for its repressive social attitudes, not unlike magazine mogul Hugh Hefner and Sex And The Single Girl author Helen Gurley Brown , Page's persona seemed to ask what if? What if, in the midst of all these rules, we just... didn't follow the rules? In famous photo sessions with Bunny Yeager, the appeal of Bettie Page found its clearest expression. Wearing leopard-print swimsuits and eyeing the camera hungrily...