One Sash to Rule Them All

i didn't "grow up" in the Leather scene-- i went from 0-60 in under 7 seconds so to speak. My first IML was 2002, and by 2004 i was an International Titleholder. i'm seven months in to my title year and my head is still spinning from everything that i get to see and do because if it... The TRAVEL! The GLAMOUR! The RED CARPET! (just kidding on that one...i'm watching the Oscars) Friday night in Cleveland we ate from a sandwich buffet table that had a human centerpiece... him all wrapped up in a leather body bag.

At my first IML, i saw everywhere... Titleholders-- men and women striding proudly around the leathermarket in their Title Vests decorated with chrome studs and black, red, and blue leather. i'd seen Drummer magazine once back in 1994-- i had two friends who were leathermen--and on the cover was Mr. Drummer 1994 (i don't remember who it was). i didn't get it. was it a beauty contest? was it a fashion show? did the contest actually just involve criteria that couldn't be shown on the cover if the magazine? and then that was it for eight years...

Granted, i didn't live in a vacuum for those eight years--my first bondage party was also in 1994 where i was blindfolded, chained to a beam above my head, and spanked by an ex- to the point where i couldn't sit down for three days... all on stage in front of over 100 people.... but the Goth/fetish scene of Milwaukee, Wisconsin just doesn't have a lot of contact with the leather title scene...

Every event i go to, i learn more and more about this elaborate title system that i am strangely a part of. but for another five months, i get to fly around the country with a chrome studded leather sash in my carry on-bag, i get to speak on stage in front of people i would have never otherwise met, and with my Title Vest on i get to stride through the leathermarket at IML where i'm sure some goth chick is going to look at me and think "what IS all of this Titleholder business?"