Thursday 9 July 2009

On the run from the (fetish) fashion police

Fetish/sm club dress codes provide a perennially fruitful topic of discussion in discussion groups and forums. The "I don't need fetish clothing to be a dominant/ submissive" and the "Dress codes keep out the vanilla gawpers" points of view are well rehearsed and, on their own terms, quite reasonable.

"Tolerance". That's supposed to be the core value isn't it? Your kink is okay (it's just not my kink) was the old saying (I can't remember what I last saw the acronym) and pretty much whatever consensual activity you want to engage in, people are okay with it. OK scat gets a bit of a rough ride from time to time but by and large tolerance rules okay. Unless... unless you're not suffciently fashionable.

I have come to the conclusion that if there is one unforgivable sin that is deemed to mark a male, sub or dom, out as a newbie, a wannabe, a person generally beneath contempt, it's wearing unstylish shoes. Other unstylish clothing comes close, but shoes really seemed to be the thing. And should you have the temerity to attend an event - yes, even an open air event in high summer - wearing sandals, then flogging is too good for you. Much too good. Even a little light spanking will be more than you deserve to get or give, apparently.

Curious.

Now I can be as sniffy as the next person about someone who's made no effort whatsoever - that's not what I'm talking about: it's this idea that someone wearing a decent enough outft can be dismissed out of hand solely (ha!) because of their shoes. We all have our own ideas about what looks good - I think heavy boots on the end of bare pallid hairy legs look ghastly, but if it works for you, go ahead and wear them, doesn't bother me - but why this major snoot about shoes?

Bad tranny with good shoes: OK. Immaculate tranny with bad shoes: beyond the pale. Extrapolate across all genres.

Beyond me.