The Story of The Harness and The Boots
And kinkcore and Martin Gore!
Like many of you, I started 2024 watching some trend predicitions, but very few engaged me. Then I came across this, and it resonated with me, in the sense that I found it more fresh and playful that many others.
She is, amongst other things, referencing “kinkcore” as a trend, visible in details such as oil-slick textures, latex, harnesses and knots.
And that really resonated with me, on a more intimate level.
And as the previous two Stories about clothing (read them here and here), it is woven together with music.
Namely these guys: Depeche Mode. And especially the blonde one in the harness.
I could write an essay/book about my love for this band and their music, but I will focus on Martin Gore´s (lack of) clothing and how it´s connected to my own wardrobe.
For many devotees (which is the name of us DM-fans), Martin is the suffering, narrow-shouldered leather prince we identify with, while Dave is the dancing Daddy we lust for.
And, I would argue, there is some correlation in these devotees and their sexual, uhm, proclivities. As in stated on Martin´s shirt here:
The Harness
You know the feeling, when you put on an outfit that makes perfectly sense for you, that makes you feel like, well, you.
You feel good, at ease, your have a certain spring in your step, and your back is straight and proud.
But for some, putting on a piece of clothing or dressing in certain materials, can feel beyond “good”. It feels right.
It might be that the clothing is the focus of a sexual fetish, or close to it. It feels pleasureable. It feels exciting. You feel true.
That was the case the first time I put on my first harness.
I knew that I very much appreciated the aesthetic, always have. Dark vibes and sexy goths and leather freaks, yes please.
But actually wearing it, was beyond feeling good in a cool outfit.
But I have also worn it as part of a cool outfit:
Some kinksters may have some feels when fetish-wear, which holds strong meaning for them and their identity, becomes a trend or “core”. But it can also make some feel more comfortable donning said wear more often, even outside of a kink situation.
I´ve worn harnesses “out” to work functions and nights out, as well as in Pride marches. And I recognize the fact that me being a straight-passing cis woman, living in a LGBTQ-friendly city and country, makes it safe for me to do so.
Some might read it as a cool fashion statement, others might read it as me being a kinkster out in the open. It may be both.
And it's for me to know and enjoy.
The Boots
Un-original but true: Women in knee-high leather boots make me weak in the knees.
It may have been the case for a long time, but after obsessing with a painting by Marlene Dumas, which I encountered in an exhibition at the Munch museum in Oslo in 2018, I became acutely more aware that it was an appreciation beyond just finding them cool and fashionable.
I felt almost transfixed by this painting. I took a photo of it, and I have looked at it many, many times since, my eyes drawn to the boots. Which are not knee-high boots, but still.
Without them, it would still be a powerful painting. The woman´s exposed neck, her hair. The soft but strong yellows and pinks, the contrast to the black.
So I immediately went out and bought these boots, humming this song:
Back to the painting.
Marlene Dumas is renowned for her portraits and sexually explicit depictions of naked bodies, often in full size or larger, where she explores emotion and feeling (she was educated in psychology as well). She made a great companion to Edvard Munch in the exhibition.
But I did not know this, which makes PERFECTLY sense for this story:
“In the early 2000s, Dumas collaborated with photographer Anton Corbijn, together they visited nightclubs in the Red Light District of Amsterdam to work on the art book Stripping Girls (2000).” (reference)
Now, I don´t think this idea for a book by two established (and priviledged) artist would “fly” today, but 25 years ago, arts and pop-culture was, well, kind of “porn-ified”. As an elder millenial, I remember coming to age in this zeitgeist well.
Either way. Anton Corbijn is, of course, the visual mastermind behind *ta-daaa* Depeche Mode´s imagery and many of their music videos.
Which lands this story where it started: With Dave and Martin. Or, me and Martin, in our very similar harnesses.
