Loving in leather

May is a month of multiple holidays, from May Day at the beginning to Memorial Day (in the U.S.) at the end. But for a certain subculture around the world, May is time for another ritual: The time for the annual pilgrimage to Chicago to attend the International Mister Leather conference and contest, commonly known as IML. The event takes over an entire downtown hotel, filling it with nothing but participants, voyeurs, and hangers-on to the leather scene.

One popular component of the gathering is the vast vendor fair that occupies large portions of the hotel with all manner of leather paraphernalia, clothing, toys, and fetish gear. (On a dare, I once walked the entire circumference of the vendor area stark naked, finally getting stopped by hotel security just as I was completing the assigned task.)

The leatherfest also includes many dances as well as impromptu play parties, in addition to the contest that forms the climax of the multi-day affair. And throughout it all, there is a surreal quality of being in a hotel where at every turn people are walking through the lobby, down halls, and up and down escalators in leather or revealing fetish wear.

And so to honor this annual celebration of the leather life, we offer this month a collection of leather-themed photos. Joining me in these smoldering shots is my sexy friend Gary, whom you saw in a previous photo set. I hope our new set, the Lure of Leather, gets you in the mood for a little kinky exploration of your own.