Lycra Suits

I think rubber/latex suits will always be my main obsession, but for reasons of cost and ease-of-use, a nice lycra suit can be a nice alternative. Sometimes the hassle of talc/lube, cleanup, sweat, etc., just isn't worth the effort. Since lycra suits are a lot cheaper, I've been able to sample quite a few more varieties than I have in rubberwear.

Here's a quick review/rundown:

My first lycra suit was a Red PVC suit from Spandexwear.com, which I purchased many moons ago. I chose PVC because it had roughly the look of latex, but at a fraction of the cost, about $100 is a good rule-of-thumb. The red suit was full-coverage, which meant it had attached feet, hands, and a hood with eye-holes and a mouth.

The PVC material is nice, but not quite as good as it appears visually. The back-side of the material is a rather rough nylon weave of some sort, basically white in color, and a little thick and stiff. The outer-layer, while a pretty good facsimilie of rubber, is not quite as smooth or tactile as the real deal. The PVC bonded surface actually as a little bit of a texture to it. But overall, its visually damn close from more than a couple inches away. The Spandexwear.com suit was custom-fit and took a few weeks to deliver, but I was pretty happy with the results. The fit was good, the seams were a little visible, and over the years, some of the tighted seams have started to work themselves loose a little bit. But the PVC surface has held its shine, and its still serviceable.

Some time later, I wanted to try a silver metallic suit, so I tried ordering from a couple vendors, just to see how the fabric differed from place to place. The first one I ordered was from an online site called IITYWYKM designs. A pretty simple model, with attached hands and feet, silver fabric, and no hood. The inside fabric was somewhat similar to the PVC suit, a white nylon backing which was a little rough and somewhat stiffer than standard thin lycra would be. The silver outer layer was well applied, it covered the surface fairly fully, with a bit of pattern evident on the surface, and the silver stuff seems, in general, to be a little bit more prone to wear. I had a nice high-band collar which looks nice. I got this custom fit as well, but the fit wasn't quite as good as some other's I've experienced. The glove fingers were a bit too long for me. The quality of the silver outer material in terms of shine and reflection are about the best I have purchased thus far.



My second silver suit, delivered at almost the same time, was from an online site called Maleskin. This was also custom-fit. The material they used was quite different from either of the other suits I experienced. Overall the material seems much thinner, and the inside material is very soft and light. The overall weight of the suit is much lighter, and it seems to cling better overall. It seems to have a much thinner weave. The inner material is still white in color, however. The silver exterior was similar, but not quite as brilliant as the previous suit. But it would be a close call. The maleskin suit silver has a bit less sparkle and a bit less reflectivity. Fit was good, although the zipper could have been made a bit longer to make it easier to pull on over the shoulders. The fit felt good, but not quite glove-fit custom as it could have. I didn't get attached hands with this one. Hands are a bit of a mixed blessing. I like the greater feeling of coverage, but gloves make various activities a lot harder, mainly because the seams are always pretty tricky in a lycra glove and tend to get stretched and ripped more easily.



My last contender came from a website named "Spandexman". This site has a lot of different cuts and colors, in general. In this case, I didn't do a custom fit and just got an off-the-rack Large. This material (a mixture of silver and blue) was a very different metallic fabric than either of the above suits. (So that's three vendors, three different fabrics so far..). The Spandexman suit has the reflective material applied more in a patterned layout, rather than trying to cover the fabric entirely. From a distance it might look similar, but up close its like a loose pattern of silver squares over a grey background of fabric. Overall, this pattern does not do much for me visually, it doesn't really approximate the look of rubber or metal. But the feel of the fabric, on the inside, was quite nice. Not quite as nice as the Maleskin fabric, but nicer than the IITYWYKM fabric. The inside of the fabric was also grey, whereas all the others were white. The grey on the backside is the same as the grey on the front that is visible in-between the silver pattern. The outer surface is the roughest of the three, however, and the metal squares are even more prone to flaking off than the others. Where the Spandexman suit really excelled was in the fit. For a non-custom suit, the fit was incredible. Maybe I just got lucky, but I felt it hug every curve and there were no loose or saggy parts to be found, once on.

So overall, the winner for best fabric, Maleskin. Best fit, Spandexman. Tough call to pick an ultimate winner.

As far as what I would try next in this area, Maleskin offers a "Pearlized rubber" suit surface that I have not seen listed elsewhere. If their "metalskin" fabric is any indication, it would probably be quite interesting (probably some type of PVC coating). I've also seen a few German-based sites that sell similar garments I would be interested to try or hear feedback on. (such as www.fets-fash.com). I'm also tempted to try some non-PVC/non-metallic suits to try and find a combination with a very smooth, thin fabric surface of some sort.

First Catsuit

Ever since I realized I had an interest in latex and similar fetish clothing, I was always most interested in full-body coverage items like catsuits, etc. Something about the look of a clean unbroken rubber surface really seemed like the ultimate turn-on.

My first personal experience with a full latex catsuit was only about four years ago, give or take. Cost is obviously a big factor, but so is availability. About five years ago I moved to the bay area, which has a lot more fetish opportunities (most of which I have yet to explore, no doubt) than where I lived prior to '99. Once I got settled, I looked on the internet and found listings for a few fetish stores in this area, and started some window shopping.

Eventually I stumbled across a shop called "Mr. S" in the SOMA area of downtown S.F. This is not primarily a latex fetish shop like Demask, but primarily a gay-oriented leather shop with a moderate-sized latex section, maybe accounting for 20% of the floor space. The other stores I found that carried latex were primarily focused on women's items, so finding Mr. S was a welcome surprise.

Mr. S is definitely a big, impressive shop. If you're into the gay leather scene, I'd imagine its about the best in the world. Its in a quiet area of town (warehouses, etc.) so plenty of parking, quiet street, etc. When you come in, there is (or was) a huge wrought-iron cage right at the start with some suspension gear, harnesses, real wild stuff. The middle section of the store is dominated by leather items (pants, chaps, jackets, police gear, etc.), and the rear section has a mixture of latex, neoprene, and "toys".

For latex wear, it seems the Mr. S makes or at least re-labels their own in-store brand. They carry several rows of shirts, shorts, pants, and variations on those pieces, without getting too crazy. My main interest on this trip was the circular rack of "suits" which included full catsuits, sleep sacks, surf suits, and so on.

Generally Mr. S carries only items in black. I've seen a few items on occasion in a different color which were probably special-order items that were not picked up or something. They produce catsuits with a few variations in zipper placement. Although I did not know it at the time, they produce their catsuit garments in a somewhat thicker gauge of latex than some other shops (like Cocoon).

I selected a catsuit that had two shoulder zips and a cod-piece, rather than a zipper, for "quick access". To this day, even after trying suits in other configurations, I think this is my favorite. The shoulder zips allow the entire body of the suit to be completely devoid of zippers, which always impede the stretchiness of the suit and break the nice smooth lines you can get from a catsuit. I have never tried a neck-entry suit, and I think I would like to for the same reasons, but the shoulder-zips allow for a higher neck-line and (probably) thicker material than a neck-entry suit could.

This catsuit used the standard "4D" rubber, it seems, with a smooth outer surface and a slightly matte inner surface. I bought a size "L" even though I feared it might be a bit on the small size. I wanted to err on the side of a tight fit. I also bought some "Cult" lube at Mr. S which I had never tried before. As usual the most torturous part of the experience was the ride home to try it on...

Once home, I lubed up the inside of the suit with a generous (and expensive) layer of Cult lube, carefully turned it back right-side-out, and slipped in one leg at a time. It was amazing! The suit did not have attached feet, but the cut of the legs in the suit was prefectly shaped for the ankle and calf muscles, much better than my previous experience with non-shaped pants or leggings. As I pulled up the suit to my ass, my dick popped through the reinforced cod-piece hole perfectly, and allowed the suit to fit quite well all through the crotch. So now I had the entire lower-body pulled up, just a matter of the arms.

The catsuit did not have attached hands. The arms on this suit were probably cut a little too small (not short) for my body. It wasn't a custom fit, so all in all, it was remarkably close. The shoulder zips run from the exact side of the neck to the mid-upper-arm. I slipped my arm into the non-zipped portion of the suit's arm, and the wrist and forearm, while tight, slid over reasonably well because of the lube. But I could definitely feel the pressure across my arm. The most difficult phase was getting the shoulder zips pulled up. I've become fairly proficient at this now, but at the time, I wasn't sure the best way to do this. After perhaps 10-15 minutes of difficulty, I finally got one zip pulled up, then the other. The neck line on the suit is very high, so the zips go right up to the jawline. I love this fact becsause it looks great and seamless with a hood, etc.

So after I'm all in, time for the judgement. I was very impressed with the suit and the fit. For an off-the-rack purchase, I think I got incredibly lucky. The tosro height seemed perfect, no drooping in the knees or anything. The thicker latex had a great shaping effect on my body, and the shaped legs and tight arms really were transforming. The black material was pre-shined so looked great right out of the box. My only complaint at the time was the somewhat tight arms, and the seat of the suit isn't really cut to follow the shape of the ass; sort of flattens it out. That's something I've yet to find in any suit, however, so I can't dock points for that. When I take the suit off after a longer-term wearing, the tight arms definitely leave marks on my arms, especially where the zips are placed, little red "dents" on my arms that look odd, but are not long-term or painful.

I always gave a big thumbs-up to my first experience using Cult instead of talc. The whole thing felt so much better going on and stayed comfortable so much longer using the liquid lube, I was pretty addicted. Unfortunately it was an expensive habit, and I've since had to go back to talc on many occasions. Cult is also getting to be very hard to find, and none of the similar products I've tried have worked quite as well. I'd be interested to hear suggestions from people on what to try.

Since this was my first suit, I was still very curious about going to an even FULLER-coverage rubber skin. What about a suit that has attached hands or feet? Or an attached hood? I was definitely curious, but since Mr. S doesn't sell such a suit, I was content to leave that for a future experience. I was also interested in colors other than basic-black, but again, you have to start somewhere.

Over the years, the suit has held up really well and is still probably my favorite full suit. One strange effect I noticed is that over several years of occasional wear, the suit seems to have "grown" a bit. It no longer feels quite so tight in the arms, and the shoulder zips can now be pulled up without any special effort. The legs and crotch of the suit seem to tend to creep down a bit more than they used to, as well. I don't think I've gotten smaller (probably the opposite) so I have to assume the suit or the glue seams do grow or stretch gradually over time.

The cost of the suit was, at the time, about $375, I believe. They still sell similar suits for roughly the same price, and I'd highly recommend it. The sell this configuration on their website, I believe, but its a little hard to locate, their catalog system is not real great for browsing for a specific item.

3xL : Lust, Love & Latex!

I just wanted to give a link to the first latex-based blog I stumbled across, which enticed me to give this a try... Thanks!

3xL : Lust, Love & Latex!

My first rubber

So here's the story of my first-ever latex purchase.

Even though I would consider myself a fetishist since a young age, until I was I guess 22, I had never had the opportunity or the guts to do much about it. Even at a relatively young age I liked to purchase lycra bike shorts or tight swim suits, but rubber or latex was sort of the unreachable goal. I was afraid to have something mail ordered because I always had roommates while in college, etc.

So finally during a vacation, I found myself in Amsterdam on my own. Something about being in a foreign country with such a liberal atmosphere must have worn down my inhibitions, because I finally had the guts to go into a shop I noticed while wandering the "Red light" district area, which was a "Demask" store. To be totally honest, I actually walked past the door of the store maybe three or four times before I worked up the courage to go inside. I can't really explain it, but it was oddly frightening, even though it was a well lit store in the middle of the day, not exactly a risky proposition.

Once inside, I felt an immediate flush, a combination of excitement, being surrounded by rows and rows of these erotic, taboo, garments, and also the self-consciousness of being a street-clothed, wimpy American student who looked very out of place. I felt like I was on auto-pilot, just wandering the store a bit, browsing and trying to look "normal", whatever that meant. I finally I settled down a bit, and found my way downstairs to where the men's clothing was.

I had no idea what to buy, it was all equally enticing. I finally settled on a pair of latex jeans, pretty tick-gauge, jeans-style, and a plain long-sleeved, thin shirt. I figured the two together would be like a poor-man's catsuit. I've always been more excited by the notion of a single seamless sort of garment with full body coverage, but I was also on a bit of a budget and at this point, anything seemed pretty daring. I sheepishly brought the items back up to the cashier, a very beautiful, young sales girl, presumably dutch. I was terrified to the point of incoherence at the thought of being judged by this person for being weird or creepy, but I was past the point of no return and, to my relief, she was incredibly nice. She asked if I wanted to try something on and I just about lost it; politely declined.

After 'escaping' the store, I wanted nothing more than to get back to my hotel to try on my new outfit in front of a mirror. I knew I had to get some sort of talc or lubricant first to put it on, so I wandered around until I found a pharmacy. After an infuriating 15 minute search for "talc" in a languge I didn't speak a word of, I finally found some baby powder and headed back to my hotel.

It was quite exciting, wearing rubber for the first time ever. One thing that I like about rubber fetishism is that it doesn't really lose its appeal over time, its nearly as exciting each time I "suit up" as it was the first time. I say nearly, but probably not entirely. I was a little disappointed that the latex jeans I bought were a bit more of a loose-fit around the ankles, I probably would have enjoyed more of a "tights" sort of fit. The shirt was great and very form-fitting. Both were basic-black, of course. I didn't have the courage to do much else besides admire myself in private. I was tempted to wear one of the items out into the city, and in retrospect, what better place to do it, but I simply didn't have the confidence to leave the privacy of the hotel, even in Amsterdam.

I still have both items, although they are no longer my favorite garments, they have a sentimental attachment, I suppose.

Introduction

Ok, so I'm totally new to this blogging thing, but I wanted to try it out and publish some information on a topic of personal interest.

This blog will be about my particular "fetish", which is, as near as I can tell, a passion for sleek, tight-fitting clothing for both women and men. I go throught various phases where my interest will focus on rubber or latex suits, lycra catsuits or lycra sports gear, pvc or vinyl suits, or even just form-fitting underwear.

As for myself, I am a 29-year-old straight male, living in Redwood City (San Francisco area), and single. I am hoping by sharing experiences in this blog, I will find others with similar interests and trade stories and information and grow closer to whatever "community" these interests encompass.

A quick summary for future expansion: As part of my fetish, I enjoy both watching others wear tight, sleek garments, wearing such garments myself, or (on rare occasions) wear such garments with others.

I own a small personal wardrobe of items. I have three full latex catsuits, four full-body lycra catsuits, a pair of latex pants, an older latex shirt, and countless pairs of commercial lycra bike shorts, lycra underwear, and so on. Also a cheap latex mask. I spend a decent amount of money finding and buying items that interest me, but also enjoy spending time just browsing for such items on the web.