The choice is a message
An acquaintance of mine sometimes publicly wears an impressive leather outfit with a muir cap and all. It is obvious to everybody who sees him that leather is a fetish for him. On the other hand, fetishism is a big secret for some men. Some cannot even imagine trying to buy a pair of black leather gloves.
I guess most leather fetishists lie between these two extremes. Many do not want to be obvious fetishists but want to hint at their interests to persons who are able to recognize the hints. Straitjacketed writes:
My theory is that many people register a (conscious or unconscious) attraction to certain fabrics and types of garment, and wearing a certain item is like projecting a signal on a semi-hidden wavelength.
It is once again the time of the year when motorcyclists begin to populate the roads of Finland. More often than before I find myself pondering whether a leather-wearing motorcyclist is trying to hint at his fetishistic interest in leather. Modern non-leather riding gear with all the technical innovations (Gore-Tex, Kevlar et cetera) is very practical. Choosing leather gear is no longer the obvious default choice it may have been in the past.
Your friend looks great in his gear. I particularly like the Levis style jacket. It takes quite a bit of confidence to wear this sort of all-leather outfit ie. openly fetish rather than biker. I’ve done it in public but have felt somewhat self-conscious, and worried about inviting ridicule/hostility.
I know what you mean about leather becoming more of a conscious choice among motorcyclists. I guess this must be what it was like for the motorcycle riders of the ’40s and ’50s in their long rubber coats, boots and gauntlets, when short leather jackets and jeans started becoming more widely available in the ’60s. After a decade or two, anyone still wearing the old style gear raises the question of fetishism.
Straitjacketed
April 19, 2009 at 5:02 pm