I appreciate the look of intricate rope bondage but not really enough to have (so far) applied myself to learning how to do it. I know the basics and that's enough. Knowing my personality I think it's possible that my disinterest in rope bondage has much to do with it's massive popularity in the BDSM scene right now. Anything that's so much of a trend loses some appeal for me.
But fortunately there are other bondage materials available. For instance, I am fairly skilled in the use of silk scarves and saris for bondage purposes. I adore using silks for a number of reasons. For one thing, scarves are so lovely and colorful – a subbie tied up in silk can be such a pretty sight! And oh, the feeling of silk sliding across skin…it is a fetish all by itself. Seriously, I remember sticking my bare arms into the racks of silk shirts at the mall back before I was old enough to understand what a "fetish" was, just to enjoy that lovely slippery-warm feeling. And I will still take silk over leather, on myself or my submissive, any day.
This article appears in Jul 7-13, 2011.