Retro Lovely Magazine

Been meaning to post about this wonderful new magazine for a while; it's the least I can do given that, along with Alt Exclusive, they have apparently designed it just for me :)

With issue #6 imminent, Retro Lovely has fairly quickly settled into a style of showcasing the best pinup photography; features largely focusing on photographers rather than models. It's an approach that works well for me; I do like to follow some of the more well-known models such as the Mosh (as regular readers may have noticed), Masuimi Max and Angela Ryan - all favourites who you see on these covers; but just as much, I appreciate the style of individual photographers, and it's good to discover new ones.

Regular photographers include Robert Alvarado's very glossy, very classic and glamorous style; Mitzi & Co's cheekier retro look; Roy Varga's hotrod-inspired work; and the wonderful, inimitable Viva Van Story who has almost redefined and updated the concept of pinup photography. There's also a regular look at community site PinupLifestyle.com, and more great photos from it's creator, Edson Carlos.

There's also a good mix of models; well-known as mentioned above, and those new to me, who perhaps we wouldn't see anywhere else. Highlights from #4 and #5 include the ever-lovely Jade Vixen, shot in pink retro underwear by Gary Heller; Celeste Giuliano's Jessica Rabbit look for Samantha SamSam; Viva's shots of Tali De Mar; DC Imagery's Notorious Ang; bob-haired Staci Louise by Girlie Show, and Vestige Photography's great pics of Kitty Kosmo - who I'd so love to see more of (however you care to interpret that). There are just too many great artists to list, but one more special mention to Mitzi & Co's shot of Angela Ryan - who, despite being fully dressed by Heartbreaker, looks ever, ever so naughty. And of course, no pinup-related post can be complete without another mention of Mosh - who had the cover and a photo feature feature by Redrum Collaboration  in #2, along with a great interview.

The printing also does the material justice; perfect-bound thick, glossy, almost book-quality paper more than justifies the $15 price - although be sure to get new issues as they come out; older ones get pricier as they become scarce! But the price is very reasonable; a magazine like this is not cheap to produce, and each issue certainly deserves its place among my largely hardback racy book collection.

I can only think of two possible shortcomings of Retro Lovely, and those are really just for the sake of argument. Firstly, that there is very little editorial; an intro, perhaps a couple of short interviews, but each issue is pretty much entirely devoted to showcasing the models and photographers... but I'm guessing that like me, most folk are just there to look at the pictures :) The second is that it's not as racy as I'd like - there's no nudity, but everything looks so good, and the models so alluring, that it hardly matters... and besides, this is addressed in Retro Lovely Taboo Edition - which qualifies for a separate, forthcoming, post!

Although I can't claim to have seen every example of the genre, I'm fairly confident that Retro Lovely is the best pinup magazine there is; everything about it is spot-on. Fans of pinup and glamour will love the photography, and the tactile pleasure of leafing through each issue. Recommended; visit Retro Lovely.

MagCloud & Bella Morte magazine

Whereas I'm a big fan of all the smut great photography available online, I guess I'm a little old-fashioned since I still love the tactile sensation of flicking through racy material in printed form. And having recently mentioned print-on-demand books from Blurb, I figured MagCloud was also worth a mention - it's very much the same concept, whereby publishers can set up their own magazine, and it's printed on demand and delivered when sold.

My favourite find on there so far is Bella Morte magazine. Now in it's 4th issue, it's a gothic-tinged showcase of alt/fetish/pinup creators; including both well-known and new models, photographers, tattoo artists and latex couture. For example, #2 held an interview with the lovely Mosh, and pictures by the equally (well, very nearly) as lovely Redrum collaboration; but I also discovered the wonderful UK model Fae Raven. Then in #3 I was grabbed by model Carly Zu and photographer Jade Noir. Content is relatively tame, with no nudity, but all the models look so good in latex, corsets and lingerie, that's almost (almost!) a positive. And they even feature a strapping male model in each issue.

Technically, the magazine could probably look a bit neater, layout and typography-wise (old habits... I was a designer/artworker in a previous life) - but that's a minor quibble since the content is good. It's also a little expensive at $15 per issue, each about 60 pages; but that's understandable for something relatively niche. And the print quality is far better than I'd expected from print-on-demand; not quite the standard of a traditionally printed magazine like Retro Lovely; but still good quality paper and great - if perhaps a little too saturated - colour printing.

On one hand, POD services like this need to be taken with a pinch of salt - I work in publishing and a great quote I heard recently springs to mind: 'the best thing about self-publishing is that anyone can do it; the worst thing about self-publishing is that anyone can do it'. But on the other, anything that makes it more accessible for creative people to create and disseminate racy material can only be a good thing. I like Bella Morte, and will be keeping my eyes open for more racy things on MagCloud.

Purrfect Pineapples / Tattoo Erotica magazine

Despite being a web developer myself, and having helped folk promote themselves their businesses online via Twitter and other social media... on a personal level, I'm just not that social and don't quite get it. However, I'm trying, and if this sort of find is anything to go by, it's worth following!

Firstly, I happened across the wonderful lingerie from Purrfect Pineapples - although I have to confess to them that I'm unlikely to be an actual customer; I like lingerie, but not in that way. (Um... not that there's anything wrong with that.) However, I do very much like their aesthetic - the potential over-cute-and-girly-ness of their amazing corsets, underwear and more, being wonderfully balanced by having the loveliest alt and fetish models - among which are Mosh, and Apnea, Lauren WK and Ulorin Vex - to show them off. As if that combination of very sexy lingerie and heart-stoppingly beautiful girls wasn't enough, they've enrolled the likes of Viva Van Story and Ama Lea to make them look even more incredible.

Anyway, you get the idea. It's pretty great stuff. But before I get carried away with superlatives, my other great find of the day was in PP's blog, they have a feature in the latest edition of German magazine Tattoo Erotica. I was going to say I'm not sure why I hadn't seen that before... but it's probably because I don't speak German. But I'm not surprised - whereas I love French erotica, I keep seeing great fetish-oriented stuff from Germany, not to mention that the majority of racy book publishers hail from there also.

Anyway, regardless of language issues, the cover promises 'Erotische Foto-Stories' which I think I can just about grasp the concept of... so I'm off to order my copy.

Site finds: Alt Exclusive

Recently found the website of Alt Exclusive magazine, with seemingly a lot of exactly the kind of material I like to see. That is, alt/modern pinups, latex and mild kinky fetish activity. Plus there's seems to be quite a bit there featuring the wonderful Mosh, a perfect modern pinup if ever there was one - and some photography from the similarly sublime Viva Van Story.

The magazine is a little too pricey to get shipped to me here, but I can't see myself holding out too long before subscribing to the site, so look out for a review.