The peaked cap is a classic look for dominants of both sexes. For female dommes it’s up there with leather corsets, boots and snarling expressions as clichéd elements of the ‘look’.
Personally I was never much of a fan. It struck me as just too stereotypical and ripe for parody. However, having done a session with a domme wearing one, I’m beginning to warm to them. It wasn’t something that I’d requested. I’m not a fetishist and I’m always happy for the dominant to choose and wear whatever she feels like. It even provoked a smile from me when I saw her with it, but in the scene it definitely added something and pushed some of my submissive buttons.
I’d always assumed that the power of the idea came from the military association. Officers wear them, and officers give the orders. There’s definitely an aspect that carries through from that. But I also wonder if there’s something more basic about the design. The horizontal line of the cap helps emphasize the line of the eyes, framing the face and pulling the attention to the wearers gaze. It also hides the softer hair and squares off the head, creating an aggressive profile. It even offers the wearer a degree of control over what they reveal, helping to shield their face is they so desire. I’d always though the military adoption had been an accident of history and BDSM had simply borrowed the psychological aura that came with them. Perhaps there’s actually something more fundamental about the design that makes it work well for both groups.
This is the model Kay Morgan in a photo shot by phoebus-photos. You can see her in a different angle from the same shoot here. I found the above shot on the S.I.N. tumblr.
Hi Paltego:
I believe these leather caps were first introduced by the post World War 2 biker community; originators of the gay leather community we are familiar with today. I don’t know that much about those early homosexual bikers but they have an important role to play in the history of modern BDSM. A close friend of mine is much more familiar with the “leather daddy” community than I am. In any case that cap is an American classic! I think I first remember seeing one on Marlon Brando.
I do love leather and I am a sucker for classic BDSM imagery so leather caps do tend to grab my attention. That said Her Majesty does not wear one at home…
Hey hmp,
Yes, I’ve read a little bit about those communities, but like you I’ve got a very limited knowledge. I know a lot of the post WWII bike community was ex-military (and air force particularly), so the vector of the military look into the gay leather and then to more general BDSM community makes sense. But, as I kind of pondered about in the post, I wonder if there’s something ‘right’ about the design of these kind of caps that made them likely to get adopted anyway. Hard to know. I really should dig up some books on the early BDSM communities.
-paltego
Hi paltego,
First time I visited a pro in Los Angeles, I was still coming to grips with my submissive needs and desires. She was six feet tall (I’m only 5’8″)) in full Nazi regalia. I grew up Jewish. It was love at first site.
She whipped me hard and spew lots of verbal humiliation on me as she did so.
I came back for more. I guess the come on and the delivery worked.
Best,
scott
Mrs. Kelly’s Playhouse
Hey scott,
That sounds like the kind of situation that could have gone really well or really badly. Glad it was the former. I have a lot of unease about Nazi outfits, but at the same time they can be pretty damn hot. The id really doesn’t care why it likes what it likes.
-paltego