that in Case 51, equus eroticus, the woman was preferred dressed. In Case 89, of the sixth edition,—that of a man manifesting contrary sexuality,—the same preference is expressed.
Dr. Moll (op. cit.) mentions a patient who could not perform coitus with puella nuda; the woman had to have on a chemise, at least. The same author (op. cit., p. 129) mentions a man affected with contrary sexuality, who was subject to the same dress-fetichism.
The reason for this phenomenon is apparently to be found in the mental onanism of such individuals. In seeing innumerable clothed forms, they have cultivated desires before seeing nudity.[1]
A more marked form of dress-fetichism is that in which, instead of the dressed woman, a certain kind of attire becomes a fetich. One can understand how, with an intense and early sexual impression, combined with the idea of a particular garment on the woman, in hyperæsthetic individuals, a very intense interest in this garment might be developed.
Hammond (op. cit.) reports the following case, taken from Roubaud (“Traité de l’impuissance,” Paris):—
When his studies were completed, and he was sent to a garrison where he could enjoy freedom, he found that his sexual desire could be excited only under certain conditions. A brunette could not excite him in the least, and a woman in night-clothes could stifle every bit of love in him. In order to awaken his desire, a woman had to be a blonde, and wear gaiters, a corset, and a silk dress,—in short, she had to be dressed like the lady who had first awakened his sexual desire. He was always compelled to give up thoughts of matrimony, because he knew he would be unable to fulfill his marital duty with a woman in night-clothes.
Hammond reports another case where coitus maritalis could be performed only by the help of a certain costume; and Dr. Moll mentions- ↑ The fact that the partly-veiled form is often more charming than when it is perfectly nude, is, as far as object goes, similar, but quite different psychically. This depends upon the effect of contrast and expectation, which are common phenomena, and in no sense pathological.
