Some nice armbinder pix from Dave and Elizabeth Andrews...

Elizabeth Andrews was kind enough to send along some images of the patent zipped armbinder I made for her being put to good use in one of their recent videos. It always makes me happy to see the gear in action! Thanks Liz...

Dave with his usual attention to detail.

Man, I wish we had this kind of apparel in my office. 

Of course, then we'd probably never get any work done. At least I wouldn't! 

You can never be too shiny in my opinion. 

I think the clip lives here at their "Office Perils" site... search for Johannie.

Elizabeth Andrews in her Zipped Armbinder

Elizabeth Andrews was kind enough to send along some images of her trying out the new zipped armbinder I made for her. We are both pretty happy with the fit, and it's been really fun working together with her and her David on these projects. 

You can check out her Office Perils site here, or try this link for something more tight & shiny. Hopefully my armbinder will start appearing in their videos soon!

Custom High-Heeled Fetish Boots

I was asked recently if I knew any good place to have custom fetish boots made. I actually had a pair made years ago at a small shop called Solanj Shoes on Santa Monica Boulevard up in LA. But the gentleman who worked there was very old, and I don't think he has a shop anymore. 

Some years ago Little Shoe Box (located in the UK) was also an option, but they have since closed down as well. 

During my searching around online I came across Fabulously Fetish, a London-based shop that seems to be doing really beautiful classic bondage and fetish-style boots, handmade in real leather. These aren't cheap Pleaser styles made in China, but hand made of quality leather, and customizable as well. 

My four favorite styles: Aleah (love how tight the ankle fits):

 The Regina: (I think every woman needs a pair of OTK boots, don't you?)

 Ring Master: (Once again, the fit!)

 And the Vivian (shot by Jim Weathers):

I know they're not the cheapest boots out there, but these have that classic beautiful bondage-style look. Anyone have experience with these? I'd love to hear what you think...

Behind-The-Scenes Black Cherries photos

Karen Hsiao sent over some beautiful Behind-the-Scenes iPhone pix tonight from her recent photo shoot featuring model Brittany Bao. It's all part of the massive ongoing "Black Cherries" series of images we've been working on together for over a year now. 

It's really inspiring to work with an artist like Karen, as she has this incredible energy, and endless creativity. I don't know how she gets so much done... but she does. 

We have discussions about the next phase of our collaboration, and it's so different - visually, thematically. It's evolving. The ideas just flow, and I just try to take notes and keep up. I can't wait for you to see it, but at this point it is probably a year or so away from being real. 

 There is so much involved in creating an image from scratch. It just makes me appreciate all the quality images I see, when I know how much discussion, planning, coordination and work go into realizing a unique picture you may have seen first only in your mind's eye. 

Check out Karen's blog for the complete set of images.

Karen Hsiao iPhone studies

Karen Hsiao sent over some images taken with her iPhone during her recent photo shoots. She has been experimenting with different models, and adding elements like the gauze wraps underneath the hoods. I love seeing her play with the gear, and taking it in different directions... She is also working on a book on the Black Cherries series, which I am really looking forward to. Check out her blog site for more images from the series.

Black Conical Hat

Another image from the Black Cherries series with Karen Hsiao. I made the hat and we integrated a finial with tassel Karen had found into the design. The hat is actually patent leather outside and lined with a garment leather on the inside... With the beautiful Asian girl and the pops of black on the eyes, lips and nails - I just love how this image turned out. 

Karen is putting together a book with images from the series... Can't wait to see these all in print. Limited edition fine-art prints will be available too, which I'll let you know about here, of course! 

Red Butterfly Girl

This might be my favorite from the series so far... from Karen Hsiao's Black Cherries. Her face and body just embody a sense of erotic surrender and submission - saying "Take me, as you wish - have me. I'm yours."  At least that's what I see... 

Heart-shaped Hoods: open ear and lamb variations

I finished up a pair of hoods tonight, made from the same pattern but in two different leathers. The first one is in red patent pig leather, the second in red lamb leather.  

This pattern was modified to have a little more of a "heart-shaped" face opening compared to the other open-face hoods I've made in the past, with a slight curve at the cheek. It should really frame the face nicely...

The open-ear makes this hood unique. It's a good hood for all of you out there who find the ear to be an erogenous zone. 

I think I need to do a version with the ears open, but the face closed - nose holes only. That would be evil... Especially for those with sensitive ears. 

The red lamb leather version is just stunning. Soft and supple, it feels great on the inside. It is also thicker than the patent pig (0.85mm for the lamb vs. 0.4mm for the patent), but more stretchy. 

The stretch gives it a nice smooth look. I wish all the lamb leathers were this nice, thick and supple. It gives the topstitching a nice puffy look along the edge. 

The front view gives you a nice look at the "heart" shaped opening. 

In the rear you can see the difference the leather makes - the lamb pulls a lot closer together than the patent on the same form. 

So pretty...

Another day, another hood (or two)...

Making of the Strappy Body Harness in Red Vinyl

I wanted to share the process behind the vinyl body harness I made back in November, in case anyone wants to give it a try. It was the first time I had tried to make a strappy body piece, and I definitely learned a lot along the way. It was much harder than I thought it would be, and I came away with a new appreciation for the amount of work involved with making such a piece. 

I started off with a duct-tape wrap, giving me all the dimensions I needed in order to get a nice close fit. Ideally I'd have a girl to work on the entire time, but since it took me about 12 hours to make this, that wasn't a realistic option! (My girls aren't that patient.)

I marked up the wrap with a Sharpie, showing the centerline, side lines, and junction between the collar and the body. I also indicated contour lines which I would follow if I wanted to make a fitted leather bodysuit instead of a harness made of straps. Whenever you go through the trouble of making a wrap, it's great to be able to re-use it for different things. 

My main division in most patterns is the centerline, which I try to get as close as possible. There are always variations in the symmetry, but these are cancelled out when making the pattern from the pieces.  I usually trace both halves out, and average out the differences between them. This keeps the pattern (and the final piece) symmetrical. 

At this point in the breakdown I have four rear panels, two front panels and a crotch and collar piece. 

Rear pattern pieces: 

And front:

All of the duct-tape pieces are transferred to kraft paper, and I then use these to create the parts of the pattern I'll need for this harness: collar, crotch piece, arm and leg openings. The rest of the harness will be made of individual straps. 

 

Now I'm ready to cut out my shaped pieces. I'm working with a nice heavy upholstery-weight vinyl. It should give the harness a nice amount of body without being too stiff. 

Here we have the collar, arm holes, leg openings and crotch pieces cut out. 

For the collar and arm holes, they fold back to create curved shapes with smooth openings. 

The leg straps are connected to the front and back of the crotch. 

At this point, I'm ready to begin connecting things together. I'm starting with the shoulders, and taking measurements from the duct-tape wrap from which the pattern was derived. 

You can just make out the duct-tape body piece in the photo below (with a pillow inside to help keep it's shape). I am taking measurements along from it as I go, and using the dimensions to cut the straps to the correct length. 

Here we have the front center strap riveted to the collar and crotch panel. The side straps are clipped in place, and ready for riveting. 

I know, it looks like boob-holes, right? But those are actually the arm holes...

I start working my way down from the collar, and up from the crotch, using the duct-tape body to measure every step of the way. 

Now it's time to start on the straps that will go all the way around the body, so I need a lot of straps to work with, and also need to create what will become the rear opening. 

One thing that surprised me was how much vinyl it took to make straps like this. Because the vinyl wraps around, it takes a little more than twice as much material to make a strap of a given size. My strips were 1.625 inches, and my finished strap was right around three-quarters of an inch. 

Because I have no glue that works well with this vinyl, every strap is sewn along both edges to hold it together. With leather, this step would be completely optional, as the glue would easily hold it together. 

I ended up coming up with a shape for the rear opening I thought would work. I wanted it to be the smallest possible width that would accomodate the rivet (to secure the strap) and the grommet to reinforce the lacing hole. 

I tapered the strap as it approached the collar, although at this stage I wasn't even sure how I would make the collar close. It could be snaps, a buckle, or a continuation of the lacing... 

Once the opening panel was in place, it's time to start riveting the straps to it. 

One strap at a time, I'm working my way up. Each length determined by the guidelines on the duct-tape wrap. 

I start each horizontal strap by riveting the center to the front vertical center strap. Next, I rivet the strap to the sides using the measurement from the duct-tape wrap. Finally, each end of the strap comes around and is riveted to the rear opening. 

As I got to the shorter pieces connecting the arm holes to the rear opening, I was using bunches of clamps to hold everything in place. 

I initially thought I'd be able to assemble almost the whole thing with tape first, and sew everything together, but ended up usually doing only one strap at a time. Otherwise it was too easy to have things slip out of place as the piece was being moved around while being sewn. 

The final piece uses probably about twice as much leather as it would have if it were just made of solid panels. And the amount of time it took to make it was probably 3 to 4 times greater. 

I'll never take it for granted next time I see anything made with straps like this: it's a lot of work! 

 It was kind of cool how it takes on a rib-cage kind of aspect...

I still need to punch holes and set grommets for the rear lacing, but I don't have any photos of that part. 

Hope you enjoyed, and see you next time...