Why Size Matters

My post on long gloves triggered a number of interesting comments. Readers had a variety of different theories on why they were particularly sexy. With advance apologies to the original commenters, I’ll try and summarize them here. I may well screw this up.

  1. Long gloves are explicitly decorative rather than functional, so sends a signal of being desirable and wishing to attract attention.
  2. Gloves are protective armor, insulating the wearer from the world. So long gloves emphasize this separation, elevating the wearer above the viewer.
  3. They emphasize the limb and trigger thoughts of either touching or being touched by them. That’s particularly true for sleek sensual materials like latex, leather, velvet, etc.
  4. Gloves communicate both intent and, in the case of long gloves, high status. Once the gloves are pulled on then things – possibly evil things – are about to happen.

What I like about these theories is that they’re all different, possibly contradictory, yet entirely plausible. In fact it’s possible that they might be simultaneously contradictory and yet all correct, which seems impossible. They work in different ways for different people in different contexts.

This is Cindy Crawford shot by Ellen Von Unwerth for Italian Vogue in 1991. Which of the above theories matches to this particular image? I think I could make a case that it works for all of them.

Short can be Sexy

I’m returning to the subject of gloves for my next couple of posts. A few days ago I asked why long gloves are sexier than short ones. That generated some interesting comments I’ll share in my next post.

However, I’d hate to leave anyone with the impression that only long gloves can be sexy. That’s very much not true. For example, here’s Mistress Audrey Fatale looking particularly fabulous in short black leather gloves.  Admittedly, most of the fabulousness comes from Mistress Fatale herself, but the glove is definitely adding a certain something to the shot.

Mistress Audrey Fatale is a Melbourne based pro-domme who offers both virtual and in-person sessions. You can find her professional site here and her twitter feed here.

Diana Rigg

I was sad to read of the recent passing of Diana Rigg. I’m sure a lot of my more mature readers will know her from her iconic role as Emma Peel in the Avengers. She was a 60’s fashion icon, bringing an edge of fetish into the mainstream. Her career was long and varied, with roles ranging from the gun toting Emma Peel to Shakespeare, and from marrying James Bond to hanging out with Kermit. More recently she was Emmy nominated for playing Olenna Tyrell in GoT.

There was no shortage of images I could have used for this post. There’s the iconic catsuit, the minimal super spy look, the 70’s jumpsuit and whatever the hell is going on here. In the end I went with a publicity shot from the movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. It might not have been the best Bond movie, but this shot is beautiful. Thanks for everything Diana.

Size Matters

Why are longer gloves sexier than shorter ones? It’s thoughts like this that keep me up at night.

Obviously they emphasize more the shape of the arm, but is the forearm really a super sexy body part? It’s not quite the same as a leg being emphasized by a long boot. Long medical gloves like these imply things are going to be particularly messy, which is hot. But long opera style gloves are also sexy and they’re very much not PPE equipment. It’s a puzzle.

This beautiful image is from the twitter feed of Mistress Euryale, a Hong Kong based pro-domme. You can find the original fullsize version and another shot from the same scene in her original tweet. Mistress Euryale also regularly visits Paris, so if you’re near either there or Hong Kong and would like to meet her, then check out her professional site.

Measuring Progress in Arms and Inches

I love the fact that, despite hanging around kinky websites and social media for decades, I can still discover new things. For example this week, via this twitter thread, I discovered that arm band tattoos are used to indicate interest/progress in fisting. That was news to me.

While it’s definitely not my kink, I did like the comment that Goddess Faustine added to the discussion. She has a mugwort tattoo on her bicep and uses it to measure fisting progress…

So the stalk of the plant is oriented lengthwise along My bicep, and the leaves ascend the stalk from My elbow to shoulder, the further toward My shoulder and away from My elbow the better they’re doing depth progression wise. A lot of fistees enjoy recording progression

I personally don’t think I’ll ever want to explore fisting. I have an irrational fear of things splitting or tearing. However, if I did venture down that path, this sounds like a very beautiful and elegant way to track it.

This lovely selfie of Goddess Faustine is from her twitter feed. She’s a SF based pro-domme and for anyone interested in some mugwort anal action, you can find her session application info here.

Horny

It’s inevitable that when I have a handful of posts bouncing around in my head, I’ll start several of them and finish none of them. Too many ideas is almost as bad as no ideas.

By way of apology for my failure to complete my thoughts, here’s a horny lady with a big weapon. I’ve no idea who she is, why she’s got a sword or what the deal with the helmet it. I’ll just say that I’m a fan of the entire look. If Halloween had more of these outfits and less of the sexy <insert profession here> costumes, I’d be far less of a grouch about the whole thing.

Updated: Thanks to my super helpful readers I can attribute this image to Mistress Verushka who was active in San Francisco scene through the 70’s and 80s’s. I actually featured her in a post last year.

Mistress Antoinette

I’m going to close this series of vintage themed posts by returning to the first one in it. Several readers reached out via comments and emails to say that the domme in the photograph was a Mistress Antoinette. I’d not been aware of her until now, but by all accounts she was an amazing person.

This Rialto Report article provides some interesting background, with tributes from the likes of Dita Von Teese and Annie Sprinkle. Among her many accomplishments was publishing the fetish and femdom Reflections Magazine and creating the fashion company Versatile Fashions. You can hear from Mistress Antoinette as well as see some of her creations in this 1997 video of the Dressed To Thrill Ball.

One reader was kind enough to send me a lovely story of his interaction with her back in the 80’s. I’m sharing it below with his permission.

Way back In 1983, while driving back to San Diego after a few days of climbing in Yosemite National Park, I visited her fetish clothing store, Versatile Fashions Boutique. To my delight she was in the store that day, and was very kind when I told her that I was a longtime fan who loved being submissive to women. She had a reporter coming in for an interview, and for his benefit I was allowed to play her slave, footstool, bootlicker, and errandboy while she chatted merrily and casually with the reporter. It was a wonderful experience for me, exercising my macho rock climber persona on one day, and my worshipful slave persona the next. Plus she was just such a decent person with a big heart and a wonderful sense of humor.

She’s now retired and, based on this article, is sadly suffering from some health problems. She was clearly a kinky pioneer with a great personality. I’m sure we all wish her well in retirement.

Although Ms Antoinette has retired, the fashion company continues today under the brand Versatile Corsets.

Good Advice

Vice magazine has a pretty decent article on how to find a kink positive therapist. For anyone living through the dystopian hellscape that is the US right now, therapy is close to an essential resource. Just below bread flour and slightly above toilet paper. Finding someone who works well for you always involves a degree of trial and error, but this article seems like a good starting point.

This is of course the amazing Mistress T. She’s not actually a therapist, but she does play one on TV.

Pegging Pleasure

For the longest time I didn’t understand why dommes liked pegging. I was grateful they did, but very hung-up on the comparison with regular PIV sex from the male perspective. A dildo doesn’t have nerve endings in it, so why is it a fun thing to wield?

I’m afraid to say that several years passed before the penny dropped. Most BDSM activities don’t result in direct physical pleasure for the top. Whether it’s bondage or caning, piercing or sounding, the pleasure for the top is far more complicated than nice friction at a good spot. It’s about control, feedback, invasion, responsiveness, reactions and emotions. Pegging framed through a simple male perspective of pleasure seemed odd. Seen in the spectrum of other BDSM activities, as a way to play with pleasure, pain and control, it makes total sense. Realizing that actually made me enjoy it more from the submissive perspective. It felt less selfish to indulge in.

I mention all this because of this twitter thread, featuring a number of dommes posting their love of pegging. The image below is taken from it, featuring Lady Valeska. I love her relaxed, confident and in control attitude that comes through in this shot.

Lady Valeska is a London based pro-domme. You can find her professional site here and her twitter feed here.

Relax with a Devilish Domme

Continuing with the theme of gaming and virtual experiences, the deviant.tech company has launched something they call the Devilish Domina Therapeutic Domming experience. It’s a VR experience designed to allow you to relax and release stress. According to this dailydot article on it,

Players sit or lie down with a curvy Devil Girl who helps the player relax with love, care, and deep breaths. The session continues until the player stands up, after which they can play again if they’d like. There are no commands, no rules to follow, no movements required by the player.

I’m not sure I like the use of ‘therapeutic’ in its title. That word has a particular meaning which seems beyond the scope of this project. Also, on a personal level, a red devil girl would not be my first choice for a calming presence. However, I do admire the goal of releasing stress by combining VR, kink and the aftercare elements of BDSM. Given what a fucking nightmare of a year 2020 has turned out to be, anything to help people relax and unwind is welcome. Particularly given this is being offered for free.

Assuming you have the necessary equipment, you can download the experience here. Alternative, if you’d like something a little less relaxing and a more typical kink focused experience, you can try their Dominatrix Simulator.