I think that people have a very specific image in their head when they hear the word fetish. They may think silk ties, or paddling, or leather, and none of these are wrong. However, the world of fetish is so much broader and colorful than how the media portrays it, and Fetish Con is a great place to have your mind expanded. It is truly a convention, in that behind the superhero role playing and the afterparties is a place for those in the industry and lifestyle to gather for teaching and learning. Models meet photographers, tops meet bottoms, vendors meet customers, and people meet their true selves.
Our Fetish Con weekend kicked off Friday night at Platformz in St Pete. It was an odd mix of convention-goers and club regulars. People were mostly respectful, which is one of the most important part of the culture, along with consent. Those who were there to leer and lurk were at least creepers from a distance, and the night went well, starting with a shibari performance by Dominic Wolf and three lovely friends.
The first latex fashion show of the night was by The Baroness who had a latex Elvis impersonator as the center of the show. As he gyrated to Elvis tunes, models in precious, yet sexy, latex designs came on stage to swoon at him. That is, until international dominatrix Jean Bardot came onstage and made him weak in the knees.
The second fashion show was by Baby Love’s Latex, and showcased her unique take on latex, integrating breathable fabrics and stencils with her unique color palette.
Mayven Misbehavin had my favorite show of the night. She mixed burlesque moves with fetish sensibility in a sexy show where she seductively pulled off her liquid latex in a neat twist on strip tease.
The final show was Goddess Phoenix, who took her submissives through the numeric slave positions before some rhythmic spanking.
Saturday was our first day at the actual convention, and it started with George Perez of Wonder Woman comic book fame lining up with some of the participants of the Super Heroine Showdown.
On the way to the classrooms, we ran across leather artist Damon Dark giving bullwhip lessons.
This year’s classes included such subjects as obscenity and the first amendment, cross dressing, hypnosis, and fetish acting. The most intriguing class for me was “Bondage from the Neck Up”. The instructor, Zetsu Nawa, taught a standing room only class about his journey in kinbaku and how to safely enter the rarely seen world of facial bondage.
This evening’s latex fashion show was from Vengeance Designs, and was inspired by the concept of dominatrixes from outer space.
Emily Astrom wrapped up the evening’s performances with her portrayal of Darth Talon escaping from bondage tape.
After a full day of shopping and learning, and a full night of Castle-strength drinks, Sunday's convention and movie awards would be a bit painful, but just the right kind of painful!
