A Glam Gear Event To Warm The Soul!
Northland correspondent JJ Deogracias was on hand (and probably out of hand!) for one of Toronto's most beloved fetish events.
Picture it. Toronto. February 20th, 2010. On the stage of a former Baptist church, a woman in a corset sketched a picture of an almost naked woman tying herself up and suspending herself in a bondage geo dome. The same woman in a corset later sketched a picture of another woman flogging an almost naked man while he held onto another man in a kilt. A burlesque dancer pirouetted with a big balloon, popped her head into the balloon, got slowly consumed by that balloon, and then finally popped her way out of that balloon. Downstairs, in the dungeon, some wielded floggers, paddles, crops, or their own hands, and unleashed their percussive power onto those tied or held down onto a St. Andrew's cross, a whipping post, a spanking bench, or a bondage geo dome. Throughout the club, a sea of leather, rubber, corsets, fishnets, uniforms, goth, and drag ebbed and flowed and coursed and crashed on all three floors to the music rippling in the air, to the sights playing on stage or in the dungeon, or to the alcohol being sipped, suckled, and swigged.
That was the scene at the Revival Bar as almost 700 people came to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Northbound Leather’s Fetish Night, considered to be Canada’s original fetish night and Toronto's longest running club night. Northbound Leather – the store that provides innovative fashion, educational workshops, and regular events for people into or curious about the leather/kink/BDSM community – took over all three floors of the club to celebrate this milestone. For this milestone, Northbound Leather got local Toronto performers and artists to provide “decadent spectacles” for people’s viewing and hearing pleasure. These included rope bondage expert Lotus Lily; avant garde sexual educator Lady Viktoria and guardian of the dungeon for that night; Kimberley W., the visual artist who sketched the live play scenes on stage; the Skin Tight Outta Sight Burlesque Troupe; Baron Marcus of the Vampire Beach Babes; and D.J. Jimi Lamort, D.J. Lazurus, and D.J. Matt C. spinning the music for the entire night.
George Giaouris, the owner and president of Northbound Leather, recalled what initially inspired Fetish Night. “A lot of people were coming around telling us that all sorts of things were filling their closets from our store and other places and no where to wear it outside of their homes,” he said. “This is a way for them to wear their gear as their alternative selves, as opposed to their normal business-suit self.”
Giaouris also pointed out that a lot of Northbound Leather’s clientele are straight. “Recall that this is back in the early ’80s. There were a couple of men’s bars, but no place where men could be with women. Gay men had the Toolbox and the Barn, but those places would not accept women or straight couples. So we created an environment by setting up a club night once a month in order to accommodate everyone that were not accepted anywhere else, a place where they could be comfortable in full regalia… and one thing I always tried to maintain is pansexuality at my events.”
Initially, the Fetish Night started off slow with only 60 people attending, and the first bar that hosted the night got shut down by the fire department. But as time went on and the Fetish Night grew, so did the number of people that came and how far they came to see this night. People arrived to this night from cities all over North America including Quebec City, Winnipeg, Los Angeles, and Kansas City, and some visited from as far as Germany, Australia, and New Zealand.
Along the way, multiple venues hosted this Fetish Night – the longest of which was the gay bars, Boots and Buds (which later became Kurbash). Other venues that hosted Fetish Night included Club Alibi, 5ive, Boots, Stealth Lounge, the Embassy, the Empire Club, the Lizard Lounge, the Bohemian Embassy, the Reverend John, the Gasworks, and currently Goodhandy’s – Toronto’s Pansexual Playground.
When I asked what contributed to the longevity of Fetish Night, Giaouris believed that it has to do with the dress code for Fetish Night, which include leather, rubber, corsets, uniforms, Xdressing, fetish glam, fetish sex wear, goth, and drag. “[When] you give people an environment that's comfortable to express themselves and to wear what turns them on, and they'll return again and again.” Based on what other attendees told him, Giaouris said, “What they see is an anchor event, something that's been there for a very long time, and will continue to be there for a very long time. I've been told by some that it's like the mecca of kink, something that people gravitate to.”
Another reason for Fetish Night’s longevity is that the event creates a safe environment for the people who attend. Giaouris recalled in the beginning when the Fetish Nights were visited by the Toronto cops, and on a couple of occasions, the staff needed to sneak one cross-dresser out the back door, as the cross-dressed feared that these cops would recognize him as a fellow cop. And if people misbehave or don’t follow the rules at the event, “you will be ejected and asked not to come back,” according to Giaouris. “That's why people feel safe coming to these events wearing what they wear. And this has worked for us for 20 years.”
For those who come to this night, it’s an opportunity for people “to be themselves, and not have to hide in the shadows anymore,” Giaouris said. “And it always makes me happy to see the smiles on the faces as they arrive and leave from the events because like me, they now know that they're not alone.” Some have even come so far as to find their soulmate, and as a result, Giaouris has been invited to several weddings.
And for those who are interested in coming to Fetish Nights in the future, Giaouris recommended that you “just be yourself. And be respectful of other people being themselves. Everyone keeps to that code, and they'll have a very memorable
time.”
Don't forget to check out the Fetish and Fantasy Pics Gallery as well as the pics on the Northbound site. Be sure to check back on Leatherati for the interview with Northbound Leather owner and President George Giaouris
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