'The just want to see flesh.'
My 10 post salute to Chippendales wasn't planned. It came together, as many of my pieces do, through stumbling upon an image while searching for shots for another piece. After I saw the film Razorback a couple of weeks ago, I decided to feature the movie's star, Gregory Harrison. Anyone who's hunted for images of Harrison knows that in doing so, you often stumble upon shots from his role in the early 80's stripper movie 'For Ladies Only.' It while searching for shots of Harrison that google presented the image above.
The shot, which I tired hard to find larger, is of model and Chippendales dancer Dustin Stevens. Dustin was one of the show's original dancers, hired in 1979. A professional dancer, Dustin worked in LA and in touring shows, until getting into a fight with another dancer while on the road in 1983. There is a great interview with Dustin on Youtube in which he talks in details about the show's early days and his time as a Chippendale and being in some of the first tours. (Many women tried to cut their g-strings off) Check out the Interview on Youtube HERE:
Seeing John's images from the 1981 calendar had me flashing back to the fist time I saw a Chippendales calendar in the late 80's. In all my years of working on FH, I had never thought too much about featuring the men of Chippendales until coming across the shot of Dustin. I always saw Chippendales as sort of cheesy, and more tease than anything else. Dustin had me remembering how much that early calendar viewing impacted me, and how it almost outed me to my family.
My family was visiting my mothers sister just after Christmas. She had two children, both quite a bit older than I was. Both were in college and were only home for the Christmas break. The oldest was my cousin Tara, who I think would have been about 20 at the time. I would have been about 12 or 13 I think and was still forced along to the yearly family visit. Under their Christmas tree was one of Tara's gifts, a Chippendale calendar with three bow tie wearing hunks on the cover.
I had my eye on the calendar all throughout the visit. I was dying to take a peak, but the room was filled with family. I waited for my opportunity just after dinner. Everyone was in the dining room, and the calendar lay alone in the empty living room. I grabbed it and ran into the bathroom, visually devoured it quickly. Before I was done however, the group had returned into the living room and I was forced out of the bathroom, leaving it hidden under a hamper.
1987
I sweated my way through the rest of the visit, trying to figure out how to get it back under the tree. Finally, as we were leaving, I took my opportunity. My aunt and uncle were in the doorway saying goodbye to use as we left. I ran past them, saying I needed to use the bathroom, and quickly grabbed the calendar and stuck it again under the tree. I am pretty sure my uncle saw me drop something under the tree, but nothing was said, and I rushed back to the car, heart racing the entire time.
1990
I remember seeing a few Chippendales appearances on TV and in magazines after that. I did buy one Calendar when I was a bit older in the early 90's. I was inspired by the loin cloth wearing model on the cover... I never hung it, just enjoyed it in the privacy of my bedroom now and then.
1991
When I was putting together today's posts, I was most interested in images from the 80's and 90's. I love the looks and the hair and the nostalgia value in those early images. As hard as I tried, the first calendar, the 1981 calendar featuring Dustin, could not be found on-line. If anyone has it, or knows where image scans might be located, shoot me a line.
1993
