Sweet Gwendoline French Gin celebrates the daring essence of John Willie’s iconic character “Sweet Gwendoline.”

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sweet-gwendoline-french-gin-is-based-on -the-artwork-of-john-willie

john willie
aka
j.w.

Mid-century
visual artist
and publisher,
“John Willie” and
his wife, muse,
and inspiration,
Holly Anna Faram belonged to a clandestine community of enthusiasts with a richly diverse and liberal view on consensual erotic pleasures.

john_willie_signature_for_sweet_gwendoline_french_gin

john_willie_for_sweet_gwendoline_french_gin

butterfly-artwork-by-john-willie-for-sweet-gwendoline-french-gin

With pen and lens, J.W. set about realizing a fetish-inspired magazine to provide them with a resource
to savor consensual pleasures in their “own sweet way”, as he would often write.

He called his “fashion” magazine

john_willie_bizarre_magazine_for_sweet_gwendoline_french_gin

and published his illustrations, photography, articles, and letters from readers at irregular intervals from 1945 to 1957.

Bizarre

Sweet Gwendoline French Gin inspiration John Willie magazine Bizarre

Sweet Gwendoline French Gin inspiration John Willie magazine Bizarre

Sweet Gwendoline French Gin inspiration John Willie magazine Bizarre

Sweet Gwendoline French Gin inspiration John Willie magazine Bizarre

Sweet Gwendoline French Gin inspiration John Willie magazine Bizarre

Sweet Gwendoline French Gin inspiration John Willie magazine Bizarre

Between its covers, John Willie buttoned up ideas of the fetish aesthetic.

He knew first-hand that wasp-waisted corsets, sky-high stilettos, and oil-slick gloves are charged with erotic appeal among enthusiasts.

Today, John Willie is feted as a visionary artist, his work influencing creatives throughout the visual arts, fashion, performance, and more.

sweet_gwendoline_french_gin_artwork

teacher-artwork-by-john-willie-for-sweet-gwendoline-french-gin

In 1946, our heroine and namesake first appeared in BIZARRE magazine in a teaser ad for a serial strip
that John Willie was developing.

Sweet-gwendoline-french-gin-illustration-by-john-willie

In it, Sweet Gwendoline plays the hapless victim of various dastardly plots to restrain her.

Its stories are highly erotic role-play fantasies told through subversive wit and humor wrapped in knots and corsets.

But beneath Sweet Gwendoline’s feigned naiveté and damsel-in-distress routine is a woman in control and acting out her erotic fantasies.

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