Peel them like fruit: Clothing play and rope bondage

Looking for ways to turn up the heat in your rope scenes? Keep your clothes on!

Ordinary items from your closet can lend exciting layers of restraint and support in your ties. Use the structured elements of clothing in sensual ways to increase intimacy and build erotic energy: an unbuttoned shirt, a lifted skirt, an open fly… You may be surprised by how exposed you look and feel while still being mostly dressed.

Join us September 24-25, 2024 from 7-10pm and get ready to watch your partner melt.

Couple's and solo observer tickets available on a sliding scale. Options to purchase both nights or a single night.

Night One

Peel them like fruit, clothing play and rope bondage

Tuesday September 24, 7–10pm

This is not a pattern-focused workshop: we will not teach nor review technical elements of tying. The aim is to focus on ways to play once our partners are secured.

In this guided lab, Bondagious and Thumper will introduce a variety of tactics to explore an unexpected form of edging through undressing. We will examine clothing in rope bondage as a structural element as well as a tool for sensation play.

Prerequisites

• basic knowledge of rope bondage techniques (eg. single column tie, wrapping with even tension, securing ends)
• foundational understanding of consent and safety (eg. opt-in/opt-out negotiation, rope placements to reduce possibility of nerve injuries, hand checks, etc.)
• good communication skills and a trusting dynamic will enable partners to explore potentially new and challenging experiences.

Equipment & Materials

People who tie:

• small rope kit (1–2 x ~8m/25ft ropes). Note: we use natural fiber jute ropes and thus our expertise is relative to this material only
• safety cutting tool

People in rope:

We will explore play with specific elements of clothing. Please bring garments with the following characteristics:

• An upper-body garment with buttons down the front, eg. a button-up shirt, bodice, dress, even a jean jacket or other light outer garment could be fun
• A stretch fabric upper body garment that covers the chest and torso that you are willing to have manipulated and possibly damaged. Worn out or badly stained clothes, items that will not be useful for you or anyone else are excellent candidates. eg. t-shirt, jersey dress. Note: short or long sleeves provide more options for restraint.

Disclaimers

The exercises are offered as points of departure for exploration. You and your partner are in control of what and how you wish to engage. If you prefer to not expose the skin of your legs or torso (or any other part), please feel comfortable layering elements under the item being removed. You are free to determine to what extent you wish to be disrobed and what you wish to keep covered. Partial nudity is completely voluntary. Genitals must remain covered.

Clothing play can be a very effective way to engage psychologically and emotionally with one’s partner. Undressing someone who has offered up the control of their body is a precious gift to unwrap, and taking care of their vulnerability is our main priority while we play. Be conscious that many of us have intensely ingrained shame surrounding our bodies, that we work hard to present them at their best while clothed. Fashion is also a way we protect ourselves from the scrutiny and ridicule of others.

Aesthetically we will be playing with images and situations that are influenced by ‘cinematic’ scenes of non-consensual acts. This is a form of edge play, and as such we will be walking a fine line. It is up to everyone to stay in good communication with themselves and each other about possible triggers and trauma responses. The principal difference in our practice is that this exploration is based on a deep attention and care for the participants, of finding ways to more safely explore the shadows of our desires and our imaginations.

About The Presenters:

Bondagious (he/him) snared Thumper (he/they) at a rope date in the fall of 2019, and they have been tying tangible and intangible bonds ever since.

Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the duo has studied principally Akechi Kanna-style rope bondage, from official and unofficial sources. They draw inspiration from Barkas and Addie’s approach to rope as a tool for communication and connection, strongly influenced by the teachings of Yukimura Haruki. With backgrounds in the performing arts, they seek opportunities to surprise and delight audiences and each other, drawing on the dynamic, high-impact minimalism of Tifereth and Nicholas Yoroi.

A shared textile fetish inspired them to develop their Exposure and Restraint: clothing play and rope bondage workshop, which they previewed at NARIX Montreal in June 2022. Since then, they have been fortunate to tour this weekend intensive to rope studios in Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City, New York City, Chicago, Austin, and Denver.

Locally, they co-host Mens Rope Night, an open practice at Tension Montreal for GBTQ+ men who tie men to meet, chat, watch and tie in a secure and supportive environment. This monthly event aims to increase the presence and representation of masc/AMAB people-in-rope.

This October, they will be headline presenters at Men Roping Men 2024, the first annual weekend rope conference focused on education and community building for men, masc-leaning non-binary/trans/gender non-conforming folks, in San Francisco.

Photo Credit

@tiedtov (IG / FL)