If these skintight rubber fashions and the NSFW tag above pique your interest, you’re perhaps tempted to attend SF fetish fashion events like RubbDown ‘15 or International Ms Leather. And you’ll surely look f*ckin’ fabulous in those shiny, clingy outfits that so prominently emphasizethe precise dimensions ofyour boobs and/or junk. But the broke-ass post-holiday financial doldrums are enough to put a serious damper on both your semi-erection and your disposableincome, making these hot skintight fetish fashions seem out of reach for your richly deservingboobs and/or junk.
We spoke to theRubber Men of San Francisco, with RubbDown ‘15 is coming up February 5-8and moths still flying out of our wallet. The photos in this articleare all from RubbDown’s annual Tenacious: Rubber on the Runway event, with designs fromMr. S, Lust Designs, Skintight Rubber, Regulation of London and Invincible Rubber. (This year’s Tenacious event is Feb. 7 and will be hosted by Greg Sherell of Fernando & Greg and Nancy French of “sh*t & Champagne”.) The Rubber Men gave us a few tips —but just the tips —on how to do rubber and latex fashion on a modest budget.
Tenacious 2014, photo by Levi
The short answer is that you can’t do rubber and latex fashion on a modestbudget.“Latex clothes are damned expensive,” says Polly Superstar, founder of the Latex Fashion School. “There are reasons for this. Latex, the material, is expensive to produce. There are very few places that make it, so usually it has to be shipped from Europe. It’s the pervy equivalent of making clothes from the finest gold spun silk.”
“Making latex clothes requires a very specific and difficult to learn skill which very few people have. So you’re paying for an artisanal craftsperson to create your garment,” she adds. “That person probably doesn’t live and work in China or India, where most cheap clothes are made. They live in London or San Francisco where rents are crazy high and they’re hanging on by a thread trying to be an artist in a city that doesn’t support them.”
So, you hangers-by-threads in a city that doesn’t support you… are there any ways to save money on latex and rubber fashions?
Tenacious 2014, photo by Victor
Attend Fetish Event Swap Meets
Every big sexy weekend like Folsom and Pride, the Rubber Men of San Francisco hold a Community Gear Swap Meet the weekend prior.This event serves as a “clothing swap for fetish attire”, and this year’s pre-RubbDown Swap Meet will be Saturday, January 31 from 3pm-6pm at Powerhouse.
The Rubber Men also host a virtual online fetish gear exchangewith items for sale, trade or ‘up for grabs’. Here you will find delightful items like “Vinyl Waders” for prices like “Please for the love of God someone just take these”.
Tenacious 2014, photo by Victor, reproduced from above but with full nipple visibility intact
Make your Own Rubber and Latex gear
“There’s only one way to have a constant supply of awesome latex clothes for cheap, and that’s to learn to make them yourself,” says latex designer Polly Superstar. “That, in itself, isn’t cheap. But if you’re a committed perv, then in the long term you’ll save money.”
Ms. Superstar will be teaching a Latex Fashion School classJanuary 19/20 from 6pm-9pm at a SoMa location. For more information, check out the Latex Fashion School website.
For planning your pervy 2015, RubbDown 2015is February 5-8 in San Francisco. International Ms Leatheris April 9-12 in San Jose. And when you’ve got something more than moths in your wallet, be sure to support local fetish designerslike Lust Designs and Mr. S!
