First, a bit of background. I'd been to the HardOn Xmas event the night before with a mate. I'd worn my tight rubber leggings with 1 inch yellow side stripes tucked into my 20 hole rangers (yellow laces) and topped it off with a simple black rubber t-shirt which I'd had made with yellow trim too. After a night of good music, super sexy men, much alcohol and a strange lack of rubber covered bodies I headed home and fell asleep around 4am, falling into a deep drunken slumber. Oddly I woke at 8am, horny and still wearing my rubber and boots. I'd forgotten to undress and crucially was still a bit drunk so whilst horny, rubbered up and under the influence I did what any self respecting rubber boy would do; decide to go Christmas shopping to Camden Market!
I have no idea why I wanted to go, or indeed why I didn't question my inner thoughts about staying in gear but I wacked on my MA-1 flight jacket and made my way to my nearest Tube Station. I'm grateful now that at 9am on a snow covered Sunday morning there weren't more souls about. I remember stopping at the bottom of my road and thinking, "Fuck, what am I doing? Should I go back?". Perhaps it was the alcohol in my system or my longing to actually follow through with my desire to "go public" but after a moments though I carried on to the station, avoiding eye contact with dog walkers and taking the quietest route. It was fine. I made it to the station and very few people where around. I don't remember any comments, or looks and I felt confident that this was going to be an interesting day. The first hurdle would be sitting on the tube train, opposite others. At first I was a little embarrassed as I stood on the platform waiting for the train to arrive. I soon remembered, however, that the beauty about London is that, especially on public transport, people try to make as little eye contact as possible. Soon I was sitting on the train with my shiny rubber clad legs clearly visible, my t-shirt peeking out from under the collar of my jacket and I felt great. In fact, I remember feeling a real surge of confidence, "I'll wear what the fuck I like, who gives a shit". I kept repeating this mantra to myself and began to enjoy the confused micro-glances I could catch as new passengers go on the train. I'll admit it. I enjoyed the feeling of essentially appearing as a "rubber skinhead". It was a turn on and it filled me with confidence, so much so I missed my stop to enjoy the feeling for longer and give time for Camden Market to open up for business.
In Camden, my first stop was Starbucks to kill some time and attempt to sober up with a cup of tea. On my way I walked passed a hunk of a builder. He was a young guy and wearing the regulation workie kit. Grey sweat trackies tucked into rigger boots, dirty hoody and Hi-Viz vest. He caught me by surprise as I was about the enter Starbucks. The conversation went something like,
Builder: You been out somewhere or sumin' last night mate?
Me: No really. Why? (I lied, I wanted to see where this was going)
Builder: So what's this style?
Me: What do you mean?
Builder: Like, what's all that about mate? What's ya style?
Me: (coy) It's just...my style. What's your style? (point to him)
Builder: It's just work....How come you wearing that?
Me: I just do. We're all different ain't we?
Builder: Yeah, guess so. Pretty different. Wotever mate. You 'av a good day.
Me: Will do mate, you too.
Now, I know that seems like a pretty dull exchange but my impression of most 20 year old builders is that they're not generally the most open minded of chaps. It's true that his work mate was pretty amused by my attire but this guy was just curious, polite and just shrugged it off. It was another boost to the morning. My next encounter was sitting in Starbucks, sipping tea. The guy behind the counter leant over with a smile and asked what it was all about. He asked me if I was a Superhero but I guess shiny leggings with stripes give that impression at first. I explained I just liked them and said they were nice and warm, a half truth as I found out later when my beer jacket wore off. It made me realise that most people are really not used to the sight of latex clothing so it really can be a curiosity to them, or simply weird. I often forget this when I'm so used to seeing guys rubbered up in clubs and online. I think this is also true of many of my Vanilla gay friends too.
As I sobered up, I headed into the market and the reality of my situation kicked in. Apart from the odd pointed finger from confused groups of mates or the giggle of some young girls I might as well have been wearing denim jeans and a normal t-shirt. I felt great. I walked around all morning, bought a couple of things and had lunch. By this time I'd noticed that it was getting much busier and bloody cold! My legs were pretty chilly with only one thin layer of protection and I also realised that I'd have to head home in exactly the same gear I left in. That though scared me a little as I knew it would now be much busier around my area. What if a known neighbour spotted me, or worse my vanilla flatmates? They'd yet to see me in rubber and I wanted to keep it that way.
[caption id="attachment_278" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="A bad quality phone pic of me in Camden. I've tried to enhance it a bit. Taken in some changing room."]
[/caption]I decided that as much as I'd enjoyed the shopping experience of wearing rubber around strangers I just wasn't comfortable about bumping into someone closer to home. Call me chicken but It just wasn't going to happen! Thankfully, I managed to find a pair of army camo combats so changed into them and headed back. I must admit, I felt slightly saddened to leave my temporary public "rubber bootboy" identity but I saved myself any potentially major embarrassment.
So overall, I LOVED wearing gear in public. I was happy to think of my attire as a "casual" rubber style with latex worn as a sort of clothing alternative rather than the full "gimp" look. Although I think that's horny too, it's much more "out there" and potentially more threatening to people than a pair or rubber jeans, leggings, t-shirt etc. I've wanted to do it for so long and was glad I finally just went for it. Admittedly with some dutch courage but I feel much more confident that I'll be able to go for a rubber clad wander another time, when it's warmer, and with any luck accompanied by one or two more rubber gear heads.
If anyone else has tales or interesting experiences of wearing gear in public, I'd love to hear them! Contact me.
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