Burlesque – Nicholas Diak's Homepage

In January of 2025, Bachelor Pad, the premier digest-sized periodical devoted to modern-day pinup starlets, launched a new product line: Nylon Nightcap. While Bachelor Pad’s original Nightcap edition showcased pinups in tasteful nude poses, and Tattoo Nightcap took the concept a step further by featuring models with inked bodies, Nylon Nightcap put the emphasis on ladies wearing stockings and not much else.

The nylon stocking is a key element of the pinup and burlesque arts (both historic and contemporary), so having an entire magazine line devoted to the adoration of hosiery and the models who wear them is a boon to the craft (and readers and connoisseurs as well). The first issue of Nylon Nightcap (review of issue one can be read here) was successful which, of course, led the creation of a second issue of the series, which was recently published in October.

Cover shows model Brittany Jean, wearing only black garters and seamed flesh-coloured stockings with black heels and toes. She is sitting on a white, cushioned lounge chair. Behind her are a lot of ferns. — Cover art of Nylon Nightcap #2. Provided by Bachelor Pad.

Nylon Nightcap #2 highlights eight pinup models dolled up and wearing a variety of nylons and stockings, in different styles and colours: Christina Michelle, Penelope Pink, Charlotte La Belle Araignée, Brittany Jean, Abby Costello, Stella St. James, Heather Marie, and Leela Minx. Many of the models featured within have graced prior issues of Bachelor Pad, with some having participated in the inaugural issue of Nylon Nightcap. Each pictorial in the issue positively depicts an alluring pinup who in turn show off their stocking-clad legs.

The first model to be featured in Nylon Nightcap #2 is Christina Michelle, a veteran with numerous appearances in prior issues of Bachelor Pad. Michelle kindly spoke about her numerous collaborations with the magazine:

Bachelor Pad Magazine is the last true vintage magazine of its kind! I just adore it! I’ve always fancied being one of the vintage “under the table” magazine gals, as my own personal style reflects a little bit nice and a whole lot of naughty, but always with class! You’ll find Bachelor Pad holds a certain standard throughout and it is truly an honor to be published with in those semi glossy pages.

Michelle’s pictorial is an excellent start to the issue. Wearing a white fez, dark tan stockings with black seams, heels and toes, with a lacey white girdle/garter, she has an energetic vibe and smile that conveys she is having a lot of enjoymeny. This is best exemplified in a photo showing her sitting atop a bar, holding a stocking across her eyes as if she is about to blindfold herself, and letting out a visible laugh.

Model Christina Michelle is wearing a white garter pinned to black topped stockings. She is holding a pair of black stockings in front of her eyes, and if they were a mask. She sits atop of bar counter. — Nylon Nightcap #2 promo photo of Christina Michelle, provided by Java.

About her pictorial, Michelle says:

I am ultimately so proud of my entire set in the Nylon Nightcap #2! As a true nylon fetishist, I feel as if we captured the playful and seductive vibe I enjoy while engulfing myself into the art of dressing. The angles Sveinn Photography captured were under my professional suggestion and personal perspective to fully embrace the whole experience from a voyeur’s point of view. The entire magazine is interesting cover to cover, but our set is for those who really, really enjoy those nylon adorned stems and the way down to our perfectly polished piggies!

Miss Penelope Pink, who appeared in the inaugural issue of Nylon Nightcap, returns for the sophomore issue. Pink’s photo set is incredibly special as it is shot in her home tiki bar, which sports some wonderful Witco-style decorations, retro seating, and floral wallpaper. Definite inspiration for folks thinking of constructing their own tiki bar. She appears wearing a black garter, connected to seamless black stockings, tall red heels, and sporting a lei around her neck to complete the tropical vibe.

Charlotte La Belle Araignée has blue hair and sits atop an antique dresser. She is dressed like a pinup magician. She has one elbow length back glove and the other is a red. Both have gems. She is wearing a white garter, also with gems. They connect to flesh-toned stockings that have black tops, with red hearts below them. She has sparkly red heels and black beaded necklace. — Nylon Nightcap #2 promo photo of Charlotte La Belle Araignée, provided by Java.

The third model showcased in the issue is the turquoise-haired Charlotte La Belle Araignée. Her outfit is themed around playing cards: her white garters have a heart, spade, club, and diamond on each one, her seamed stockings are flesh coloured, but black at the top with lots of small red hearts below. Aside from the attire, the photo incorporates playing cards as a prop, either with her holding them, fanning them out, or having them stick out of her stocking tops, as if she was hiding them to cheat in a future game. Though Araignée’s accompanying text ties with the card playing/poker motif, her theme (combined with her background in burlesque) could double as an illusionist. Her photoset is certainly magical!

Following Araignée’s spread is cover model Brittany Jean’s set. Jean goes for a luxury look: her set a fern decorated boudoir, and her attire is black garters, heels, knickers and black seamed, tan stockings. She does a variety of poses in a white lounge chair, giving off major luxurious and elegant vibes. The epitome of affluent glamour.

Next in Nylon Nightcap #2 is burlesque performer Abby Costello, whose photo set is a chronological strip tease. Her outfit begins with pink-patterned knickers, garters, and heels, with pink seamed, tan stockings (her bra is already off and sitting on the couch). Each photo has her removing an article of clothing one at a time: undoing her garters, removing a stocking, then the other, until finally she is reclined, in the nude, stretching her stockings out. It is a clever and fun set that captures a burlesque act in a sequential style.

Stella leans back against a wooden dresser, that has an old rotary phone, a bottle of brandy, and a Tiffany desk lamp. She is wearing a pearl necklace, a garter with lots of strops, and black stockings. — Nylon Nightcap #2 promo photo of Stella St. James, provided by Java.

The sixth star of the issue is Stella St. James who makes her Bachelor Pad debut with her photo set. St. James has been gracious to talk about her appearance in the magazine:

This is indeed my first appearance in Bachelor Pad! I really jumped into the deep end by starting with a Nightcap issue – this is also my first topless publication, and I can think of no better home for it than Bachelor Pad. I’ve been a fan for a long time, and when I had the opportunity to work with Jason Kamimura [photographer], I jumped at the chance! The Nylon Nightcap happened to be the next upcoming issue, so it was mostly serendipity that led me to submitting for this specific issue, but I will also say I’ve always loved the aesthetic of stockings, especially with a back seam (as the ones I’m wearing in this set have). I just feel like they perfectly encapsulate the fantasy of vintage femininity, and I love that the line of the back seam draws the eye from the ankle all the way up. As a burlesque performer, I incorporate stockings of various types into almost all of my costumes!

St. James’ photo set takes place in an old study, with a red leather chair and a wooden dresser decorated with a rotary phone, a decanter of spirits, and a tiffany desk lamp. St. James’ attire consists of opaque, black seamed stockings, connected to a garter belt that is a network of black straps coming in at different triangular angles:

I [specifically] choose poses that highlighted the legs and stockings themselves, since they’re the star of the show! So, you’ll see me in poses that have me tugging at my garter straps, bending over to extend the legs, etc.

For her debut in Bachelor Pad, St. James knocks it out of the park with her fun and glamorous photo set:

I’m just happy to be here! I know that sounds trite, but as I said, I’ve been a fan of Bachelor Pad for a while, so being able to be a part of it is a dream come true. I’m hopeful that this will be the start of a long and beautiful collaboration. As a burlesque performer, I’m of course also hoping to introduce myself and my art to a new audience, and if this photoset leads to stockings coming back into fashion, I wouldn’t be opposed to that either!

The penultimate pinup of the issue is Heather Marie, another returning model from the first issue of Nylon Nightcap. Marie has an aura that projects strength and commands attention, like the Italian maggiorata fisica actresses from the 50s and 60s. Marie, as with Brittany Jean, goes for an intimiate-luxurious look, with golden hued and flowered garters, knickers, and seamless stockings. The flavour text for Marie’s pictorial has her regaling a tale of her and her paramour having a passionate get-together on their way to Caesar’s Palace.

Leela Minx sits atop a tiki bar that is lit with red lights. She has a big smile and is wearing black seamed, tan stockings. — Nylon Nightcap #2 promo photo of Leela Minx, provided by Java.

Nylon Nightcap #2 concludes with Leela Minx, the cover model of the first issue of Nylon Nightcap. Minx has the biggest, epic smile, and just radiates “fun” with her photos. As with Penelope Pink, Minx’s set is a tiki bar: red hued, filled with rum bottles, tiki mugs, and a bar that is decorated with a zebra print and wooden masks. Wearing leopard print heels, tan-coloured stockings with a black back seam, and sometimes a black floral print pair of knickers, Minx brings a variety of poses in her pictures: sitting on the bar, leaning over a stool, doing a Yoga plow pose, and so on. Because of the sheer (pun intended) variety of poses, Minx’s is the most kinetic pictorial in the issue.

In addition to the eight pictorials, issue two of Nylon Nightcap contains one fiction story (“Glorious Revenge” by Bachelor Pad mastermind Java himself) and numerous single panel comics whose punchlines revolve around stockings. The funniest one is by Dennis Davis, which depicts a woman hanging up wallpaper and wearing brown seamed stockings. Her Romeo steadies the ladder, with her proclaiming “Hold it steady, I don’t want the seams visible”, referring to the wallpaper of course, but to readers, her stocking seams are quite visible.

All in all, the second issue of Nylon Nightcap continues with the successes that the first issue brought. All eight pinups are lovely to behold, and their respective emphasis on stockings is extremely welcomed by nylon enthusiasts. Bachelor Pad certainly publishes great issues, themed or not, and the Nylon Nightcap series is definitely a high watermark.

Sincere appreciation to Christina Michelle and Stella St. James for letting me ask them a few questions to add to this interview. More information about Bachelor Pad, the models featured within, and other contributors can be found at the below links:

Bachelor Pad Links

Model Links

Artist Links

Other Links

My review of Nylon Nightcap issue #1

What is neo-vintage?

With a show-not-tell approach, this is the question that Jimmy Vargas and Lady Medusa’s book, Vilioti Vintage (2022), seeks to answer via interviews with twenty luminaries from the retro and vintage scenes. Per Vargas’ introduction, Vilioti Vintage is not a retrospective but instead a look to the contemporaries of vintage who seek to recreate it through different means. In its representation of neo-vintage, Vilioti Vintage casts a wide net, not just across occupations (artists, designers, musicians, photographers, pinups, publishers, et al.) but geographically (United States, Australia, England, Germany, Indonesia, and others), for its featured subjects. The end result is a resource that hits upon all the different avenues regardless of approach to the neo-vintage subculture.

The interviews begin with Scotty Morris, lead vocalist for American swing revival band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Morris shares his thoughts about some of the songs in the BBVD canon and talks about the importance of the movie Swingers(1996) in catapulting them (and by extension the retro scene) into greater visibility. However, with nearly three decades of being part of the music-business, it feels like Morris is reserved, or rehearsed in his answers.

The second interview is with Vegas-based burlesque performer Hazel Honeysuckle who is overt in naming her sources of inspiration. She is much more candid than Morris, talking in depth about her origins and even relating some fun anecdotes, such as when she was a guest on the Netflix series House of Cards (2013-2018).

Tom Ingram, the creator of the Viva Las Vegas festival, holds no punches and brings a candidness to his interview. While other interviewees in Vilioti Vintage name drop the folks who inspire them, Ingram takes the opposite approach of speaking about dubious business partners and other obstacles he has faced over the years. He comes across as weathered and weary of the corporate aspect of running an iconic festival, but he has definitely seen it all and exhibits his learned wisdom.

Filmmaker Chris Magee, who takes on a John Peel-esque role of presenting Americana music on his Bopflix YouTube channel, is not afraid to speak his mind on political issues. While folks in the retro and pinup scenes espouse mottos such as “vintage aesthetics not vintage values,” Magee follows through with these promises, illustrated when he talks about his drawing the line in the sand and saying a firm “no” to displaying confederate flags in music videos.

The fifth interview is with Jason Croft, founder of Bachelor Pad magazine. Croft’s observations of the retro revival happening during the 90s coincides with Morris’ recollections in one of the many displays of networkedness showcased in Vilioti Vintage. Croft’s answers come across with extreme enthusiasm and really dives into the history of Bachelor Pad. Though Vilioti Vintage mostly focuses on the noir to atomic age of vintage and retroism, Croft’s description of running a cheesecake website during the halcyon web 1.0 days adds a small element of vaporwave retroism to the book.

Croft’s interview is followed by artist Nathalie Rattner who talks in great detail about the technical aspects of creating pinup art. An interesting aspect about Rattner’s interview is her embracement of the corporatization of vintage. While Vilioti Vintage seems to take the angle that businesses swoop in on the newest trend, capitalize and cannibalize it, then move onto the next thing, (a sentiment certainly echoed with other interviewees in the publication), Rattner speaks freely of her art appearing on merchandise and advertisements and the associated boon it brings.

The next interview is with Don Spiro of Zelda Magazine, who brings in a contrasting perspective to the world of publishing when compare to Croft. While Croft’s rag seems on the up and up, Spiro talks of the death of his business partner, having to scale back Zelda to an annual publication, and how demand for his portrait work has dwindled due to the shift in models using selfies for self promotion instead of commissioning a professional.

Rockabilly musician Wes Pudsey, who has performed at Ingram’s Viva Las Vegas, brings in an Australian perspective of Americana, relating fun stories of being on tour, such as when his vehicle got stuck in a low clearance situation while in Germany.

Ken Holewczynski, publisher of Exotica Moderne and owner of House of Tabu, brings perhaps the most offbeat perspective to Vilioti Vintage. While other interviewees speak of events in their youth that set them on their retroist path, Holewczynski is fairly new to the scene having only gotten into tiki culture a few years ago. His past is with comics and industrial music, which do not tint his glasses when assessing tiki culture. It is probably this idiosyncratic background which has allowed Holewczynski to flourish and publish a high quality magazine and create desirable tiki mugs and glassware where others have faltered.

Italian burlesque star Albadoro Gala brings a continental touch with her philosophical answers. Gala has the most memorable yarn in Vilioti Vintage when she relates the tale of how she got her namesake when a crazy old lady attacked her with a knife.

Ralph Braband, owner of Rhythm Bomb Records in Germany, echoes similar sentiments of Spiro in the difficulties of running a business, starting with great highs but dealing with current world woes. He offers realist answers of how his music business has weathered Covid-19 and the actions he had to take to do so.

Hairstylist Tom Vacher offers up an amusing story from his youth of getting to the car of two strangers – a couple who were into vintage clothing and driving an old school car. He was smitten immediately with their vintage lifestyle. He follows this up with stories of operating in the hair business in both the UK and in Australia.

Marcella of the Puppini Sisters has the most bubbly interview of the lot. Like Morris, she has experienced the whirlwind of a major record label swooping in on her music and then whooshing out. Though her and her singing partners, Kate and Emma, look the pinup part with their old school aesthetic with a modern twist, Marcella is adamant that they are musicians first while style comes second.

After Marcella’s interview, Vilioti Vintage loses a bit of its steam with the next handful of interviews of Harry and Edna (radio hosts from the UK), Maryann Lant (a European rockabilly musician), Aldi_ Hydrant (Indonesian clothing designer), and Tamara Mascara (drag queen) being on generic side. The answers in these interviews are short, and lack many of the personal details that prior subjects exhibited. The folks are interesting none-the-less and offer nuggets of wisdom and insight into their craft, their responses are simply not up to the caliber of prior interviews.

Vilioti Vintage regains its footing with Beck Rustic’s interview. Rustic is the owner of the Swelltune record label in the UK. He dives into an amusing story of how his label was accidentally started when he wanted to print a commemorative vinyl of the festival he hosts only to pounced upon by music acts to become involved. He gives candid responses on the impact of social media and streaming on the music business.

Australian burlesque artist Porcelain Alice showcases the most inspiration in her interview to readers. She offers approachable advice for those who want to get into the business: there’s no qualifications required! One doesn’t need to know how to dance and there is no gatekeeper stopping someone from trying. For outsiders looking in at the retro world who might feel intimidated, Alice helps breaks those intimidating barriers down.

Vilioti Vintage ends with an interview with Natty Adams, an author and clothing designer based in New Orleans. Adams offers detailed and thoughtful answers into how he got started in his line of work and how he taps into a plethora ofhistoric eras for inspiration.

To compliment the subject matter, Vilioti Vintage bookends each interview with a series of high quality photos depicting their interviewees in their most fashionable or glamorous style. With each interview running around ten pages and the book in its entirety clocking in at around one-hundred and eighty pages, Vilioti Vintage aims for both quality and quantity. The end product of Vilioti Vintage looks to carry the torch brought about by the RE/Search publication Swing!: The New Retro Renaissance (1998) (the shout out to RE/Search in Vargas’ acknowledgments lends credibility that this was a desired outcome).

Taking the book as a whole, there is definitely reoccurring themes and observations from each interview which reinforces a complimentary nature. The interviews were conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic, so many subjects address how they operated during the dark times. There’s a philosophy to look to the past in order to deal with modern problems, and Vilioti Vintage, be it by happenstance or by design, reinforces this notion; that there is value to bring forth elements of the past and merge it with the present to create something new that lies in the realm between utility and homage. Vilioti Vintage is an invaluable resource for both appreciating and understanding the neo-vintage subculture.

More info about Vilioti Vintage can be found at its product page at The Lady Medusa & Vilioti Press website.