The Canadian National Newspaper: Tgirls and Transsexuals: Getting Extreme or Just Edgy at Halloween

When it comes to Halloween fashions, many TG’s let their wilder side loose and go for a fetish look. On the other hand, many of us often prefer the sensuous feeling of leather, latex or vinyl year round.

As the witching hour is within days away, I recently spoke to Glenn of the Fetish Factory, one of TG Life’s own advertisers.

Gina Lance: Hi Glenn! Tell us a bit about you and your business - how did you get started?

Glenn: Fetish Factory was founded back in 1995 on a whim and its run by partner in crime, Donna (who doubles as my Fiancé!)and myself. We both come from healthcare careers and worked together and when I sold our healthcare business we decided to try something as far away from healthcare as we could conjure up and wanted to do something we had not experienced before. We both were kinks and never could find Latex fashions at any of the lingerie or erotic shops. After begging store owners to bring in Latex fashions and constantly being ignored, we decided if we wanted it we would have to find it on our own. We then decided why not open our own shop where we can sell what we could not find and offer the people in South Florida something new and exciting to wear beyond lingerie intimates. Before we knew it we had a store filled with outrageous latex and alternative fashions and nobody in South Florida had a clue where to wear such unique fashions. Unfortunately we found that a lot of people did not instantly embrace what we had to offer and seemed perplexed with our idea. We then were forced into pioneering the idea of alternative erotic fashions in latex and vinyl (pvc) as an alternative to leather and lingerie.

We then soon realized that you cannot just dress people up if there was no place to go to wear the fashions. In our first year of business we had to change our philosophy to be more than just a store and we needed to take on the challenge of building an Alt Lifestyle Community where we could offer the cutting edge fashions. Our next step was to introduce a new concept in Alternative Clubbing with Glam Fetish and created the Alter Ego strict dress code Nightclub party which became named as the largest and longest running strict dress code Pansexual Fetish Club in all of North America - now approaching 14 years running.

GL: So Fetish Factory has not only an online store, but a physical location, right?

Glenn: Yes, we have one of the largest Fetish Stores in the U.S. with 5,000 square feet of showroom and a Shoe store called Strut with outrageous sexy shoes for Women & Men with sizes ranging from 5-16. We have over 40 websites but our main websites are FetishFactory.com and StrutShoes.com where we sell our fashions, accessories, media, toys footwear and much more. We also have built an 'alt community' 'online' with over 15,000 members, TheFetishParty.com.

Glenn: We offer every top brand of couture fetish wear concentrating on Latex first and then Vinyl (PVC) and leather as well as the most sexy club wear anywhere. We also have an incredible selection of hosiery. We have all the top names and too many important names to mention here!

GL: I've worn latex fashions before - are there any tips on wearing latex you could give our readers?

Glenn: First and foremost you need to use a silicone based lube and we recommend Eros. You can use water based lubes but they become sticky and oil based lubes are an absolute No-No. Oil based lubes will breakdown the integrity of the latex and break the seams. If you do not have lube than baby powder or corn starch can be used but the trouble with powder is you sweat in rubber and you will find yourself dripping white drops from under your latex which really is not so sexy. You also must shine latex to give it a glossy wet look and we recommend Cult by Eros.

GL: Since many TG Life readers don't get a chance to get 'dressed' everyday, I think wearing something exciting can make you feel very special. Do you get that response from your clientele?

Glenn: Absolutely...In fact it gives people an ego boost and so many people just love the latex look. When I am wearing latex I find so many people wanting to reach out and touch me and it really is fun to see just how intrigued people are when I wear the latex fashions. We get so many people who come to our store and are very insecure about wearing what we sell. Some people are shy while others feel it would take them out of character. I always remind people that it is refreshing and invigorating to dress out of normal character and to break social norms which restrict you. People then question where they would feel comfortable wearing such sexy outfits and that is when we introduce them to a party where we typically get 750 attendees and restrict entry to only those that are in strict fetish dress. We tell people that if they were to dress casually they would be on the outside looking in and even if we dare break our dress code they would feel like a fish out of water. We offer people a safe place to go to wear the sexy fashions and guarantee them a room full of eye candy. When you wear our fashions you also have a chance to live your alter ego and become that character as Batman is simply the mild mannered Bruce Wayne in casual clothes but when he dons his Rubber suit and cape and mask he becomes a super hero Batman. I think latex gives people the same feeling that Bruce Wayne feels when he is all dressed in latex! Our events are hosted monthly and we have a good 50:50 mix of male to female and about 50% are couples while the other 1/2 are single. We cater to all sexualities including straight, gay male & female, TV/TS, adult babies and Bi and Try Sexual (will Try anything!). Our Alt Community website offers our visitors to learn a lot more about our events and a place to register a FREE profile to get connected with other like minded Alt people in our community TheFetishParty.com.

GL: Can you help crossdressers and others transgendered figure out what size they should purchase?

Glenn: We certainly can and we offer several ways to help. We have a showroom open 7 days a week and people from all over the world visit our shop where our trained sales associates can help with fittings. If people are not in our area we can speak with them via telephone or email or live help on our website.

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