This year, the organisers of Skin Two worked hard to improve and develop the format of a weekend of pervy fun in the Capital. They introduced a newsletter to let everyone know about the events, organised their own 'Fetish Expo' (which, confusingly ran alongside rather than as a replacement for the Fetish Fair), organised a booking hotline that could offer discounts at good hotels in the city that were primed to expect kinky guests and to round the weekend off they moved the Ball from last year's slightly grim and very smokey venue to the newly opened Fabric 'superclub' in Smithfields market.
Purely in the interests of journalism.. no, that can't be right.. purely for personal reasons, we went to the Ball to have some fun on one of the kinkiest nights of the year. Delayed by a slow train and slower dinner at the hotel (oh, and the usual marathon makeup session), we arrived at the entrance to Fabric at about eleven o'clock to find a very long queue indeed. Not expecting this we hadn't worn much and at the beginning of November it was far from warm (both my partner and I were wearing black rubber minidresses, though I had a certain amount of extra padding and clinching that helped keep out the cold).
The lorry drivers who bring food into Smithfields throughout the day and night were having very leisurly and I suspect unscheduled tea breaks to admire the line of slightly shivering partygoers. Between the queue of suddenly unfashionably late revellers and the gatherings of curious drivers, the occasional limousine passed quietly to deposit more organised, rich and famous guests at the door to be quickly welcomed in. Sadly the improvements in the organisation had not been prepared for the delays at the door and cloakroom and it took another hour before we could get into the warmth of the club.
Fabric is an excellent venue - a number of dancefloors of various sizes are linked by little bars, corridors and walkways on two separate levels. There are plenty of places to sit, stand, dance and exhibit yourself and the whole place had exactly the right mood for the evening. Rather weirdly the very efficient air conditioning did a good job of keeping the atmosphere more tolerable until the dancefloors were flooded with artificial smoke to give the lightshow a boost. Oh well, you can't have it all.
One area had continuous shows put on during the night by various designers and retailers. Whilst this gave the whole evening a good sense of occasion, the current style of posturing to classical music in clothes that are beyond most of our budgets became a little repetitive. Here perhaps Skin Two are trapped between their sexual roots and the desire to be seen as a legitimate passion. It would have been nice to see some more direct demonstrations of the undoubtedly very sexy and sexual clothes on display.
On a similar note the revellers this year seemed more mainstream than ever, with clubbers' fashion mixing with rubber and fetish. The overall effect was cool and the guests were as accepting as ever of the range of ages and tastes very much on display. However, the feeling that fetish might be just another fashion accessory was hard to avoid. Despite this worry I can think of no other place on earth where retired gentlemen can parade in rubber shorts alongside cute young things in their cowboy hat chic.
We wandered between the dancefloors, watching the other guests and enjoying the strategically placed bars that kept the evening lubricated. Between dances we could sit in areas with large and comfortable seats to view the action on tv screens or simply chat (shout over the noise and bitch about other people's outfits).
Some of the sights at the Ball were very impressive, with rubber interpretations of uniforms, military costumes and classic fetish imagery of sheath dresses, harnesses and corsetry. One beautifully figured woman was led round the areas in a stunning red rubber dress and a gag held firmly in place. It would have been nice to tell her how good she looked, but her reply would have been rather hard to interpret.. Another sat besides us in one of the seating areas to accept a queue of men ready to lick the soles of her shoes. Other men looked either dominant or cute in uniform or simple shirt and leathers dom gear. Transvestites ranged from stunningly convincing to over-the-top drag. Some of the guests chose simply to be nude (but very neatly shaven).
The greatest strength of events like Skin Two are that they remain accepting and safe. Though the previous paragraph may cast images of perfect physiques and immaculate costumes into your mind, the reality is wonderfully broader. Guests were allowed to display beer bellies and cellulite, to be any age and into almost any 'kink' - so long as they were willing to accept the same in everyone else. Certainly there are few places where women can feel safe in the knowledge that they will not be given any hassle - apart from occasional would-be slaves who can easily be politely declined. Perhaps the least comfortable guest there seemed to be the woman in the 'Jade Nun' costume (a spectacular dress costing over a thousand pounds, first produced for the previous year's Ball), who turned out to be a journalist for the Independent newspaper. She showed a praiseworthy desire to find out what the fuss was about but it appeared she couldn't quite empathise with the people who would go to such sartorial lengths in their own free time.
As such the Ball is a great introduction to fetish. It offers reassurance that it's ok to be a bit different and a view of some of the things that might be possible. Sadly, to find out more it is probably necessary to show rather more persistance and hunt down the rest of the scene in London and the UK - which is represented in events like Torture Garden (who held their own pre-ball party as an earlier part of the weekend) and smaller clubs and venues helpfully listed in Skin Two magazines and in flyers at many fetish shops. The Ball itself is not perhaps as edgy as it used to be, and certainly doesn't shock (unless you have never seen another human being in less than a nice cardigan and comfortable thermals) but it does manage to provide a spectacle and a chance to party.
After watching the shows and sights of the Ball, and having a good bop to the music, it was time to go home - all too quickly. We caught a very helpfully supplied cab back to the hotel. As usual it took a lot of persuasion to get me to take my outfit off (oh how good it felt!) and wipe the makeup from my eyes, but after a hard night's work, I need my beauty sleep more than ever. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep, dreaming of the outfit I'll wear next year..