Fashionistas, The Review

Cast: Belladonna, Taylor St. Claire, Caroline Pierce, Kate Frost, Sharon Wild, Friday, Monique, Gia, Rocco Siffredi, Manuel Ferrara, Brandon Iron, Billy Glide and Mark Ashley in sex roles; Chelsea Blue, Tricia Devereaux, Star Chandler and many others in nonsex roles (including a brief cameo by director John Stagliano—can you spot him?).

Director and writer: John Stagliano

Production date: 9/1/02

Length: 4 hr. 38 min.

Extras: Audio commentary (with John, Belladonna, Taylor and Tricia), 110 min. "The Making of The Fashionistas" featurette, 72 min. soundtrack CD, 45 min. extra sex, 13 min. preproduction, 12 min. photo shoot, 9 min. bloopers, 5 min. extended fashion show, 4 min. The Fashionistas trailer, 1.5 min. "You Know Ass?" segment, fetish menu, filmographies with factoids (Belladonna, Taylor, Kate, Caroline, Sharon, Friday, Monique, Chelsea, Star, Gia, Tricia), four galleries totaling over 200 images, cast list by scene, John's autobiography, Jonn's award list, The Fashionistas AVN nominations list, production schedule, company profile, website info and at least four Easter eggs!

Audio/visual quality: This is easily the best-looking adult film I've yet seen. The visual quality is outstanding. It's as clear as video, but prettier somehow. The lighting looks especially good on the latex wardrobe and on the glass and metal toys. The camera angles are perfect. (One example is Manuel's cumshot, which is beautifully framed to show both his and Caroline's faces along with his cock.) A small amount of enhanced motion has been judiciously applied. There are shadows here and there, but those are about the only visual "flaws."

The audio balance and clarity are also excellent. The music is exceptional. The pieces range from hard-driven rock to eerie piano instrumentals. Some songs contain vocals, but they fit the mood of the movie extremely well. The music plays only for portions of the scenes, with much of the audio consisting of live, unadulterated sex sounds. At times, it is possible to hear the whirl of the handheld camera faintly in the background. This is explained in the commentary, and it doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the movie.

Disc problems: My machine has rejected Disc 1 twice, but it has played properly each time I've reinserted it. The CD is a little funky in my computer (the sound cuts out intermittently), though there are no such problems with my two regular players. I am also unable to exit any of the photo galleries or John's autobiography without ejecting the DVDs. These problems occur on an iMac with an Apple DVD Player (version 2.2.1); they are much less likely to be an issue with other players.

First impression: Unlike most fashions, this movie will endure the test of time.

Scene highlights: The Fashionistas has been extensively reviewed. As of this writing, accurate synopses have already been provided by lee_carver, astroknight and MLyons. I hope I will be forgiven if I simply refer my readers to those excellent scene descriptions and avoid repeating all that information here. Because I've had some rather strong reactions to this movie, I think it might be more interesting if I dedicate this space to what I like and don't like.

Thumbs up: Here are a few positives that really stand out for me.

• The production values. In addition to the audiovisual quality mentioned above, the wardrobe, locations and props are all top notch. A high budget and extreme attention to detail are among this movie's many strengths.

• The story. There's enough emphasis on story that the first sex scene doesn't start until 15 minutes into the feature. Not everyone agrees, but in my opinion, the plot and character development are plenty good enough to hold my interest. I especially enjoy the humor and creativity in the two segments concerning the fashion promo DVDs. Rocco's disappearing and reappearing pants are a nice little touch.

• Truly striking imagery. Belladonna's dance and the "deep into the egg" sequence (in which Belladonna's body is worshipped, part by part, with lots of clothespins) are unforgettable. These are easily the most erotic parts of the movie for me. The electrical wand thingy used on Tricia is way cool, too.

• High energy sex. It's considerably rougher than I prefer (more comments follow), but no one can accuse the talent of holding anything back. I'd much rather watch something like this than sit through a movie in which the performers are primarily interested in collecting their paychecks. I appreciate that the actresses' makeup is very messy by the end of the scenes.

• The casting. Belladonna's part was written specifically for her. Her character is a bit of a split personality—a sweet computer/design nerd by day and a seriously kinky submissive by night—and she's flexible enough to be utterly convincing at both (not to mention her physical flexibility, which is spectacular). Everyone else looks exactly right, as well. And since I'm a straight female viewer, I'm particularly excited to see...

• ...Two attractive male leads. This is always a bit of a judgment call, but they're good-looking to me, anyhow. Their physiques are toned but not overblown, and they have handsome faces and no tattoos or piercings.

• The sex toys. Ever since I bought my Julian Snelling butt plug, I've envisioned how marvelous it might look on film. I'm so delighted that someone else realized this, too. I haven't yet sampled a Pyrex glass toy (I have a custom-made test model on the way), but the ones in this movie look absolutely amazing.

• The soundtrack. This bonus CD intrigued me so much that I immediately popped it into the player (before I looked at the DVDs). The music is both listenable and danceable. I've enjoyed improvising to it (wearing my boxing gloves for some pieces).

• All the other extras, too. I don't see how anyone could possibly whine about the cost of this set when it includes so much fantastic bonus material. There are four discs: two DVDs for the movie itself, one DVD just for extras and one CD for the soundtrack. In my opinion, this is worth at least $10–$15 more than the current price at most AdultDVDTalk affiliates.

Thumbs down: I don't particularly enjoy the following.

• The face (and breast) slapping. In the commentary, it's explained that the slaps provide an adrenaline rush which heightens the excitement for some receivers. I can accept that as valid without quite understanding it. When I see someone getting smacked (while knowing there's nothing I can do about it), I experience a feeling of helplessness followed by numbness. My mind goes to a very clinical place; my arousal level plummets. Slapping is not something I've ever fantasized about, much less wanted to do. Your mileage may vary. Viewers who are sensitive to slapping, however, should be aware that there's quite a lot of it in this movie. Not all of the slaps are hard, but according to the commentary, the hard ones are not "pulled."

• Length of the scenes. This is a matter of taste, but I actually would've preferred them somewhat shorter.

• Dead spots in the commentary. It'd be unreasonable to expect John and the ladies to talk for nearly five hours. I wish the regular soundtrack would play during their two breaks, however. Because I'm a bit quirky, I watched the DVDs with the commentary first. It was disconcerting when the sound vanished in those spots, and it was somewhat inconvenient to switch back and forth between the tracks.

YogaGrrl's motherly advice: Oh dear, where do I start? For information on the health risks of ass to mouth (A2M), see my review of Lex the Impaler. For information on the risks of anal vibrators lacking flared bases, see my review of Pandora's Box.

Breath play is perhaps the most important issue here, and it's a difficult matter for me to address without hypocrisy. The practice of yoga contains many breath exercises (also known as pranayama). I teach a few of these to my students, including at least one which suspends the breath. I have never asked anyone to hold their breath for more than five seconds, however. When an actress laughingly remarks in the commentary that she once held her breath so long that she fainted and fell in the shower, it worries the hell out of me. I would strongly encourage anyone who's interested in breath control to first read Jay Wiseman's essay. Please understand the risks. Oxygen deprivation can potentially cause cumulative brain damage, cardiac arrest and changes in blood pH that result in sudden death.

I normally subtract a half star from the overall rating of movies that depict dangerous acts. I have declined to apply the deduction here because: (a) it's an S&M film and (b) it's obvious from the commentary and extra footage that the welfare of the performers was of great concern during the production of this movie.

Themes: Heavy BDSM (primary theme), straight, lesbian, three-way, group, oral, deepthroating (major theme), vaginal, anal (major theme), rimming, ass to mouth, facesitting (major theme), smothering, gagging, slapping, hairpulling, spanking, flogging, paddling, genitorture (clamps, clothespins, electric shock), toys (dildos, butt plugs), tease, foot worship (toe sucking, boot licking), footjob, pony play, sensory deprivation (blindfold), fetishwear (mostly latex), facials, interracial.

Condom use: None.

Juice-o-meter: Medium low. I didn't know beforehand whether this type of sex would arouse me, so I took a chance. A lot of it simply looks physically abusive to me (though I know the performers feel differently). I think I personally would've found this more erotic if the violence had been directed only at the performers' butts and not their faces. (I don't know quite how to explain that, except there is a difference in pain thresholds between those two body parts.)

Final analysis: I've written a bit more about myself and my sexual preferences in this review than I normally would. That's part of the beauty of The Fashionistas, however. Like all great works of art, it provokes a response (and maybe even self-reflection) from the viewer.

Although I don't find it consistently arousing, I appreciate that The Fashionistas is amazingly successful at what it attempts to do. Twenty years from now, this movie will be regarded as a classic. It belongs in the libraries of all serious porn collectors, and anyone with an interest in BDSM should definitely check it out. I'm glad to have it just for Belladonna's solo dance and for her body worship sequence with Billy Glide and Mark Ashley. Those images could well qualify as the most strangely gorgeous footage ever captured on adult film.

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