Rubber and PVC fetishism

PVC fetishism is closely related to rubber fetishism, with the former referring to shiny clothes made of the synthetic plastic polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and the latter referring to clothes made of rubber, which is generally thicker, less shiny, and more matte than latex.

These fabrics usually consist of a backing woven from polyester fibers with a surface coating of shiny plastic.

The plastic layer is often textured to look like leather ("leatherlook", "pleather"), as opposed to smooth ("wetlook", "patent").

Thus, wearers of skin-tight latex or PVC garments may be perceived by the viewer as being naked, or simply coated in a shiny substance like paint.

Another common stereotype is of the image of a dominatrix wearing a skin-tight, usually jet-black, latex or PVC catsuit.

[4][5] Numerous underground fetish production houses were started, which published magazines such as Shiny, Shiny's International, Rubberist, Dressing for Pleasure (both of these publications later merged with each other), and rubber fetish author Helen Henley and others of this time frame.

[6] Fashion designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Cardin and André Courrèges have used PVC in their collections.