FERNANDE

Fernande's Changing Appearance

2009-02-19T06:45:00.000-08:00

Nude models typically become less appealing and less popular with age, making room for newcomers. An interesting thing about Fernande is that the reverse was true for her: she became more appealing and more popular as she grew older.

With experience, Fernande refined her style and took more command of the frame as you can see in the photos below. A big part of her allure, however, is that her appearance changed radically over time, to the point where she appeared to be a different model. In fact, some of her postcards are dismissed as non-Fernande!

Although she began modeling as a slim teenager, for most of Fernande's career she was considered voluptuous. She continued to gain weight over the years and in her final sittings she was quite plump. Despite this, series like JA 105 and GA 104 have a solid following. An acquired taste for sure, but a popular one nonetheless.

To the uninitiated it's difficult to reconcile these different "looks" as being the same person. But that's what makes Miss Fernande so fascinating to her fans.

Two New Photos From Series AW 108

2009-02-18T12:53:00.000-08:00

AW 108 is one of Fernande's few postcard series not photographed by JA. With its white rose foreground, it is reminiscent JA 018. For many years we were aware of only two photos from series AW 108. We are happy to report that we recently discovered another pair, now in the collection on MissFernande.com. One of these lovely photos is shown below.

Fernande Look-Alikes

2008-10-17T08:46:00.000-07:00

For a nude model, Fernande enjoyed an unusually long career. This did not come without consequence. She steadily gained weight over the years and her appearance changed dramatically.

Fernande's different "looks" have resulted in other models being confused with her by collectors. Dealers do this, too, either by mistake or intention. This is unfortunate for the novice collector who may realize too late that he paid premium dollars for a non-Fernande postcard.

There are at least three models who are regularly confused with Fernande. One such model, below left, is often confused with the young Fernande. In this side by side comparison, the differences are obvious, but the mixup happens enough to make it a problem for unwary collectors.

Here are comparative photos of a younger and older Fernande. Notice how she maintains her grace and beauty despite the weight gain:

Below are comparative photos of the look-alike at a younger and older age. Wow! No way is this model Fernande.

Colorized Fernande

2008-10-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

Fernande postcards were shot in black and white, but a handful have been colorized by JA and others. The exact number is unknown because there are no existing records for these specialties. This is complicated by the fact that some may have been colorized many years after the official B&W postcards were released.

Colorizations ranges from just a few areas of the frame to highly detailed work covering the entire image. Missfernande.com has a section devoted to colorized postcards. Every now and then a new one surfaces (as is typical with Fernande collecting) and we add it to the collection.

Colorized photos present an unusual problem for restoration, especially those that are partially colorized. Specifically, it is often difficult to tell whether an area of the frame had color applied to it or simply aged that way.

There are several techniques the restorer can use to detect clues. Adjusting saturation and inverting hues, for example. Sometimes this is not enough to make a determination and the restorer must wing it. In the above example, the colorized areas were easy to determine despite an overall sepia tint in the original.

Fernande Quasi-Series

2008-10-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

There are two sets of photos in MissFernande.com that are not true postcard series. We've coined them quasi-series 491 and 74 based on identification numbers found on the bottom of several of them.

These photos are quite intriguing. 491 shows a very young Fernande with a rather formal hair style, and 74 shows an equally young Fernande in street clothes. We cannot tie these photos to a true series or stereo-view set. They could have been tests (particularly 491) or, simply, photo releases.

Most of these photos were highly deteriorated and required extensive restoration. We originally had one picture in each series, then added another to each a bit later. After quite a few years, we discovered yet another belonging to the 74 group. It is for this reason that we call our collection "virtually" complete. You never know when a new shot will be discovered!

Miss Fernande and Bettie Page

2008-10-07T10:56:00.000-07:00

Bettie page is considered the first pinup star, however, Fernande predates Bettie by fifty years and was just as popular in her day. Both of these lovely ladies exuded a charm and beauty that set them apart from their long forgotten competition. While Bettie is more fixed in recent memory, Fernande is the genre's original pioneer. A quick search on eBay shows that both are still popular. Despite Bettie's immediate name recognition, Fernande's photos command considerably more money.

There are important differences between the two that account for the divergent public awareness and collectibility. First, the ladies worked on opposite sides of the Atlantic, Bettie being American and Fernande being French.

The most significant difference is that Bettie's image was captured by many photographers so there are thousands of original photographs of her in both B&W and color. She often posed for photo clubs resulting in dozens of angles for just one sitting. In addition, Bettie's popularity was spread by appearances on the covers of men's magazines and pulp fiction.

Fernande, on the other hand, was primarily photographed by one individual, Jean Agelou. JA, as he was known, rarely released more than ten poses from a single session, called a serie or series. In all, there are only about four hundred photos of Fernande. All were shot in B&W, with only a handful colorized. Considering the relatively small number of photos and scant information about her personal life, it's amazing that Fernande did not become lost to the ages.

During Fernande's time, postcard collecting was a huge hobby. It started with portraits of famous people and then moved on to every conceivable subject, including erotica. This was Fernande's medium. (It's interesting to note that postcard collecting eventually evolved into the trading card hobby we know today, which includes sports cards.)

A benefit of working with a variety of photographers is the synergy that arises. This comes across in Bettie's broad range of poses and settings, from simple bare walls to exotic jungle shots. While Jean Agelou was a photo artist in his own right, one cannot help but muse about Fernande's work had she teamed up with different photographers.

Fernande and Bettie had extended modeling careers, longer than the typical nude model. Fernande's career, however, lasted upwards of fifteen years, considerably longer than Bettie's. Consequently, Bettie's appearance was consistent, while Fernande's changed radically as she matured from a slim teenager to a voluptuous thirty-something year old.

Their styles were different, too. While Fernande and JA experiment with period pieces, Bettie was firmly grounded in the 1950s. Fernande used her arms with grace, while Bettie was all legs. It's interesting to note that despite the time and country displacement, both women were pressured by decency laws of their day. Ironically, neither appeared in pornography nor did they pose with men.

Bettie's trouble started when she began posing in bondage photos। She was fun-loving and these were thoroughly tongue-in-cheek, which comes across in the shots. Still, it caused such an uproar that she quit the business. Interestingly, there is a hint of bondage in Fernande's series 20 and 21.

Welcome to the Miss Fernande Blog

2008-10-03T08:07:00.000-07:00

We decided to add this blog as a supplement to the Miss Fernande: First Lady of Erotica website to keep track additions and changes. The website contains a virtually complete collection of Miss Fernande postcards, however, new discoveries are added occasionally, particularly fantasy and colorized photos. Also, some of the photos in the collection have not fared well over the last hundred years and are upgraded when a better example surfaces. The same is true for some of the earliest scans we made, which were of a lower resolution than what's available today.

We hope you find these posts helpful. If you are new to collecting Fernande postcards, check-out our online art photo collection and identification guide. There you will find historical information on Fernande and her principal photographer, Jean Agelou.

Visit www.MissFernande.com