'Baby Doll' poses in Royale's images

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Royale portrayed more than one model in 'baby doll' poses in the early years. It represents an unambiguous departure from the formality of beefcake posing, an attempt to develop a language of male 'glamour' by copying the female formats which had been developed in the 50's.

John Skilling in set JOS-1 mid-1958

Royale even used this one of John Skilling for a catalogue thumbnail. This pose shows a lot of skin, but very little muscle development. Instead, there is a glimpse of backside cleft, enough to hint at sexual interest of the homosexual kind. The 'allure' is dampened somewhat by John's sour expression and incredibly dirty feet, but it's little wonder that none of the beefcake mags ever printed this image.

Royale Studio - Ian Oliver (IOL1-7)?

This Royale image was safer and the editor who printed it (John Barrington) was bolder than the mainstream mags. He provided no model name, only the Studio. I have attributed it to Ian Oliver although the baby-doll pose and seductive smile is quite unlike any other image we have of him. It was printed in John Barrington's 'Man-ifique' (No 8, Winter 1958).

John Barrington had given the manliness of  Don Avard the same treatment much earlier (May '57) and arguably much more explicitly (more detail pending). Substituting a man for a woman still seems incongruous to modern eyes, unmanly if you like, it was shockingly so back then. 

Peter George in set PUN-4 (1959)

This 'baby on the mat' pose by Peter George in set PUN-4 uses an even more provocative camera angle, adding a smile and getting in close. The result is a massive magnification of the inherent eroticism of nudity into what seems like a seductive invitation to 'bed' the model. 

Peter George in set PUN-4 (1961?)

This image, also Peter George, is a nicely crafted composition, but it seeks a more serious emotional response with the model making direct eye contact with the viewer. It is not openly inviting like the 'black' variant above. Instead, Peter's expression suggests we have stumbled in on a private moment and caught him by surprise. Inevitably it brings out all the boyishness in him, but this is clearly a young man not an immature youth.