I never was into leather.
Then I saw a picture that changed it all. It was an ad for Mr. B depicting a tall and proud man fully dressed in leather. It literally waw me! I could not put this image out of my head for weeks. So, one Wednesday afternoon, I have decided it was the time. I left my work early, I took my car, and I drove to Antwerp where that Mr B shop was.
With the ad in my hand, I have entered the shop and said: “I’m not into leather. But that picture did something to me. Can you fully dress me as this guy please?”. The shopkeeper smiled at me and gladly accepted the mission. It was a mission indeed because I never knew how long it would take to dress up in full leather. Especially the first time. Everything is tight and needs time to “break down” to your body. But that time, the tightness is actually part of the pleasure.
After about one hour of fitting and adjusting, I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked somewhat like the guy in the picture, minus the confidence. I absolutely loved the look and feel, but it was a lot to take at once. Both mentally, and financially to be honest. Therefore, I took off my leather armor, and on that day I left the shop with just a small purchase: a leather armband.
Although the seed was planted. And I came back two weeks later and did bought the most iconic piece for me: the leather pants. What a great feeling. What a sensation of sexiness, empowerment, and masculinity. It was magical. And the magic involves also people. Some other clients in the shop couldn’t help be noticing my enthusiasm. We chatted a bit and they proposed that I should join a leather social that was about the start in the nearby café.
That’s another good thing with leather: the community feeling. When you share something deep and meaningful, you can easily connect with almost anyone that shares that same fetish. So, I went to that cafe and quickly met a lot of new people. The welcome was very warm.
Excited about my new discovery, I wanted to explore more. I have created a social media profile, completely dedicated to my leather side. The goal was to get as much inspiration as possible. And to make new connections. Again, it went very quickly and after a short time, I was connected with thousands of like-minded people. And building up my leather collection parallelly.
Leather made me feel sexier. Leather made me part of a community and allow me to meet wonderful people and even a few new friends. But leather also helped me to step out of my comfort zone. Three months after buying my first leather pants, I decided to throw myself into the next challenge. Why not the competition for mister leather Belgium! Something that I would have never thought about in my entire life. I was so excited and enthusiastic that I decided to go all for it. I ended up in second place, but the whole experience was definitely worth it. They say happiness is lying out of your comfort zone, and I can say that this is true.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter if it is leather or anything else. The pursuing of who we really, genuinely, deeply are is a key to happiness. Stepping out of the standard road will always come with some bump. But it’s also certain that the end destination will be a great one. Because it’s a destination that you are creating from your own design. And it comes with beautiful people and experiences along the way.
What are you into?