Hey you Kinksters and general booty shakers,
Happy Fetish Friday to you all, the weather in Boston this week was SUPREME to make up for the sad as heck gray and damp weather from last week (there’s a reason I left Seattle, sorry @BeauBriefs). This week, I am gonna enlighten you a little more into an aspect of the wonderful world that is my life. Since moving to Boston almost 2 years ago, I have become quite immersed into the world of burlesque. Before moving here, I had been to ONE burlesque show ever (I recall almost nothing, it was horrible). Now, I frequent them quite often, getting to see lots of my friends and colleagues who do both circus and burlesque shining on stage (sometimes really shining, SOOO pale). I don’t really have any need to become a burlesque performer- though I won’t say no to a butt-centric circus act here and there. I just support my fellow performance artists doing their thing and making it sparkle. So now, to the title of this Fetish Friday:
WHAT’S YOUR CROTCH REVEAL?
In this wonderful world of underwear, we have all sorts of brands catering to the guys that just wanna whip it out. For the sake of this post, we’re gonna ignore the “just pull em down” method. That restricts the legs movement, and stops the potential rond de jambe you might be adding to the striptease. So, with my intensive research, and my background in professional costume design, we have for you…
THE CHOICES:
VELCRO, SNAPS, ZIPPER and FLAPS.
VELCRO:
A better known term for hook and loop fasteners (it’s like Kleenex), is known for it’s ease of use (there was a time when you couldn’t tie your shoes). You just slap a fuzzy piece (the loops) against a scratchy piece (the hooks) and they connect. Then you get the satisfaction of creating that nice rip sound as you pull them apart. The benefit is simple ease, you know it will shut just by touching the two pieces together. But you loose a bit of accuracy of placement the more velcro you have on a garment. It also has the stick factor of the velcro being able to attach without you pressing. I’ve only seen these on some random swimwear on the side seams. Maybe they’re not as big of a thing in underwear?
SNAPS:
Snaps, or sometimes “poppers” across the pond, are a type of fastener involving a bulged post that squeezes into a socket that hugs it. It acts much like a ball and socket joint do. They come in a variety of types (ring snaps, spring snaps, plastic, metal…etc). They also come in a variety of strengths (the strength needed to pull before they separate). These snaps can be found on all sorts of garments, leather, swimwear, underwear. I just recently fell in love with plastic snaps. You will see more about that soon enough (I’m going to be SEWING a pair of sexy undies and documenting the process for you all). Snaps are great because you can put them anywhere. They can be as decorative or as stealthy as you want depending on the look you’re going for. To me, snaps are greater than velcro, because if you are somewhere you are trying to be discreet. Your boo is like “let’s go”, you can get down to business almost as fast as this lady:
Downsides to snaps are unlike zippers, flaps, and velcro, you can’t cover a long distance in one go. A snap only snaps that one point. If you want a long connection. You gotta use a row of snaps (just so you know, I STRONGLY dissuade buying snap tape, it’s pre-made and cheap, and you end up with nothing better than that).
ZIPPERS:
Zippers, sometimes referred to as slide fastener (sorry, I majored in costume design), are made up of interlocking rows of “teeth” that can be locked or unlocked by a tab that slides up and down the two tracks. They mostly come in nylon and metal, and are either coiled or molded. These, unlike snaps or velcro, CANNOT be used for spot attachments. They connect long seams of fabric together. They are relatively silent, unless you are one of those zipper DJs, and for the most part, work well. There are times however, unlike flaps, snaps, and velcro, where zippers will get caught on the garment itself while zipping. Or the zipper can just misbehave altogether (watch an episode of Project Runway). The zipper doesn’t require a lot of accuracy for unlock and locking. You just find the pull tab, and pull it up or down. The downside is, having zippers near your precious cargo could lead to some pain if you’re rushing. Generally though, zippers are pretty awesome.
FLAPS:
Flaps, in this case, refer to any pouch that is able to moved aside or down or away to reveal the kit without needing to remove the underwear. Or use any fasteners as seen above. These flaps can be attached to multiple seams or just one. Sometimes the flap just stretches aside, or it is meant to swing away. Pros: nothing to mess with, just pull and pose. Cons: doesn’t take that long, so the whole striptease idea might not play off as well (unless you have a really good choreographer).
So my fantastic fiesty readers, what’s your favorite reveal: Velcro, Snaps, Zippers or Flaps?
Tune in next week for more Fetish Friday fun-times.
Keep it Kinky,
TtheAmazing over and out.
IMAGES FROM: Male Power, Cellblock 13, N2N Bodywear, and Andrew Christian. Women’s dress designed by Hussein Chalayan.
