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Homosex has, for good or ill, squarely entered the mainstream. But when gay celebrity gossip grows tedious, when metrosexuals are hogging every Nautilus at the gym, when too many GWM-25s-seek-same-for-romantic-dinners, when the gay world seems like it's fading to vanilla white, that's when you have to thank heaven for leather.

The world of leather retains a depth, chewiness, an unregenerate sense of the sacred-- goods often gone missing from other queer spaces and scenes in homosexuality's recent journey from underground to everywhere.

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Sure, go to a big leather confab and some of what you see-- the on-stage jockeying for titles, the deathless avowals of community service-- could provoke a sneeze, and the thought that some pollen had blown in from a Miss America pageant or a convention of Rotarians.

And leathery old-timers will grumble about the lost days of ritual and courtship, about newcomers who don leather merely for fashion, who eschew clubs and codes and instead plump for quick-connects over AOL.

But even when leather tries to fit in, it stands out. One weekend last May, 12,000 leather-clad (and often largely unclad) guys thronged the Chicago Hyatt Regency for International Mr. Leather-- one of the mega-events on the global leather circuit. You knew from the wide-eyed bewilderment of the stray businesswoman or family-from-Iowa that it wasn't a gay-marriage conference.

If we pose as anthropologists trying to crack the nut of Western homosexuality-- and not, as probably anyone reading this, himself a member of the tribe-- we can maybe grasp the strangeness of the opposition of "leather" and "vanilla"-- one of those rarefied distinctions that cultures conjure up, and that graduate students brave snakes and dysentery to write dissertations about.

It's odd, when you think about it, that leather should become the main differentiation in contemporary gay life, the biggest next-turn after the main exit off the highway of heterosexual typicality. Leather is sort of like New York City-- gateway and symbol of the much bigger, eponymous state. Whether your destination is bondage in Buffalo, fisting in Albany, cigars in Syracuse, daddy-boy role-play in Utica, SM in Schenectady, or a rendezvous with bears in the Adirondacks-- chances are you're going to clear customs at the leather scene's Ellis Island. These erotic subspecialities are all distinct locales, with their own town squares, histories, and chat rooms. But each is also partly sustained under leather's big tent. The French word for leather-- cuir, homonymous with "queer"-- is an apt cross-lingual pun: as gay is to straight, leather is to gay.

Which, if it involves so many things, raises the question "what is leather?"

A good place to start is with the stuff itself-- the feel, the smell of it, maybe even, if there's a bridle in your toolkit, its taste. But most of all, there're the inexhaustible meanings of cloaking one's skin in an animal's.

For many purists, leather's erotic charge goes way back before conscious sexual orientation. "My first and very early-- at the age of six or seven-- interest was in riding-boots and breeches, which in England, after the First World War, were common sights," recalls Jason, an enthusiast now pushing 90, who lives in California, and recounts his history on the fascinating site www.cuirmale.nl. "Also, military uniforms, especially booted horse-soldiers and mounted policemen, gave me lots of excitement," Jason goes on, sparing no detail. "Some motorcyclists wore long leather coats, like early pilots used to wear. Those early air-circus pilots were very dashing and exciting to my young eyes. They didn't have leather pants, but wore tight white breeches and shiny boots with their leather jackets, and long white silk scarves flying out behind their leather helmets and goggles."

A devotion to leather as end-in-itself is evident as well among the makers of chaps, harnesses, thongs, cuffs, and jackets-- the fetish objects around which the scene revolves. As the modern leather underground coalesced post-World War II, the motorcycle clubs that were its nucleus had to buy their gear from firms in the military and police trade. But today, gay leather has spawned a world of craftsmen-- who, if they weren't serving their communities-- could be running high-end workshops in Modena or Milan.

Naturally, such accomplished practitioners sometimes journey to water's edge to catch the zeitgeist's incoming tides. "Purple is the hot new color," declares a press release announcing Northbound Leather's winter 2005 collection, inspired by cartoons and animated porn from Japan. Black bomber-jackets will sell perennially, says Northbound president George Giaouris, but "young guys today are more into the brightly-colored motocross uniforms that have a superhero influence, as opposed to the Tom of Finland aesthetic that's been popular since the 1960s and 1970s."

Toeing the line

Just don't try to get into the Pigsville Eagle this Friday decked out in chartreuse suede. For serious leathermen, that would be a violation of nigh-sacred protocols.

Clubs in the leather scene operate along a continuum of strictness. Some welcome only leather-insiders, men who know the codes and rituals. Others are more open to the general gay world-- people wearing leather on carefree whim, or those who enjoy a leather ambiance, but whose outfits are merely vegetarian or petrochemical. (Among fibers, leathermen hold Levi's, if not fetish object themselves, the equivalent of a really good soy-burger). Some bars try to keep everyone happy by allowing entry through the front doors to anyone, but creating inner sanctums and special-events nights where only the properly dressed get in. Or they maintain another, separate special leather-only satellite. In some cities, leather and drag go hand-in-hand, each drawing spark from its antipode. But in other places the two scenes show no mutual tolerance.

"The first couple times I was wearing black business slacks, a white dress shirt, and God forbid, wing tips," recalls Dave Rhodes, publisher of The Leather Journal, about his first visits to a leather bar. He was generally ignored, but not bothered. "I sometimes wonder how much I would have developed in leather, if at all, if someone had found a way to embarrass me for not being up-to-code."

The sense that it's a realm in which one can "develop" also distinguishes leather from vanilla. No one would talk about "going far" in gay life and expect anyone to be sure what that means. Leather's concern about codes is partly like a surgeon's being careful to wear stain-free scrubs-- in itself the particular detail might not matter, but surgery's demand for absolute attentiveness and discipline does.

Leather-sex encompasses practices-- bondage, whipping, fisting, nipple torture, cutting, slings, mummification-- that require the delicacy of a sushi chef and the sensitivity of mother nursing her baby-- not to mention a storyteller's sense of pacing. And it's not just about pulling off a convincing show, as one could say about comedy or drag. At its best, this attentiveness goes into transforming consciousness.

"In many cultures, the application of carefully chosen physical stress is a method for inducing transcendental mental and emotional states," notes Pat Califia. And it's not just a matter of sitting home alone and putting on the tit clamps. It's the shared storyline that makes the scourging rituals of the Shias or the Easter-time Filipino crucifixion re-enactments not just individual crazymaking, but ways of getting deep into oneself, while also-- at least potentially-- profoundly connecting with one's community.

"The men I knew and ran with then," recalls leather philosophe Guy Baldwin of his experiences in the scene starting in the mid-60s, "saw and understood clearly that we were definitely not common, not average, and not conventional. For us, radical sexuality was our art form. And for a smaller number, it was also our religion, our salvation and destiny. It was the central, organizing principle of our lives."

On the vanilla side of the fence, a contrary view predominates-- with sex generally understood as something done best when one is fresh and green. Look at the groaning erotic bookshelf labeled My First Time-- or its flipside, the contemporary belief that an early blow-job devastates a soul till the grave, and maybe beyond. If vanilla sex is Christianity, making child purity its central fetish, leather is more Confucian, appreciating the weathered flesh of experience.

Or maybe vanilla and leather play off each other, yin to yang. There are those who knew leather was their thing when they were five. But a more common pattern is for guys to discover leather in their late 20s or early 30s. Maybe fetish interests, like deep rock-formations bared by eroding soil, require the destructive force of youth's erotic flood to be made manifest. Of course it's not a bad career move, either: if you can't compete in the meat market of young looks, why not switch to one where skill and experience can really count?

Loving constraints

It's notable that at the turn-of-the-1980s, post-Stonewall gay culture-at-large plumped for leather in a big way-- just when its natural development was about to be shattered by AIDS. The clone phenomenon, which then dominated the urban gay aesthetic, was mustachioed, leather-clad, and thoroughly masculine. "Gay men of my generation and experience were beginning to understand," writes Michael Bronski, "that we could become the men we wanted and felt we could never have-- the men of our dreams."

With its sexual abandon, the clone era strikes many of those who lived it-- as well as those too young to have been able-- as a golden, unfettered age. But in leather circles, the golden age, by wide consensus, is held to be a time of greater stricture-- pre-Stonewall and post-World War II, the period of leather's Old Guard.

In a recent ode and requiem to the Old Guard, Guy Baldwin recalled how he stumbled upon the scene in 1965, when at 18 he was kicked out by his mother when she found out he was gay. He went to Denver's then "main fluffy sweater bar" and ran into two leathermen "slumming"-- "They pulled on their Levi's, cowboy boots, t-shirts, and leather jackets, and set out to go make the queens well, 'nervous' which they did; all but one, anyway. I walked right up to them, compelled... and we talked."

"Long and funny story cut short," Baldwin goes on: "I fisted one of them later that night, with lots of coaching from the other one. I'd never even heard of fisting; I had no idea it was even possible. It was my first step in what would prove to be a long and amazing journey into a much larger world."

Of course, there was an Older Guard, but they didn't leave much of a footprint. Jason, our elderly Englishman, found a scene in the 1930s amidst the London Metropolitan Police barracks-- where young constables were hosteled, a force kept at hand and leather-clad in case of urban unrest. Many of the coppers, Jason discovered, were alive to the pleasures of gay sex and leather-- or at least those tastes were readily precipitated when a queer's come-on sparked them. Not so much gay, they were probably simply sexually available, as a great proportion of young men were in Western societies well into the 1980s, and outside the West, still today.

As Jason's police companions suggest, pre-Stonewall and especially prewar, the leather scene bubbled quietly at the margin and under the veil of other pursuits. The motorcycle magazines of the period provided a cover-- and through their classifieds, a link-- for those with homoerotic interests. (Opera magazines served a similar function.) But the dangers of exposure obstructed formation of any open scene.

The 50s and 60s, by contrast, maybe offered the golden-mean of veiling versus freedom. Being completely upfront was not yet possible, of course. But the end of the war unleashed a flood of surplus military leatherwear, while the booming consumer market supplied cheap motorcycles. The war had shaken things up and moved people around, and for some veterans, the war's horror found exorcism and balm in sadomasochism and brotherhood.

Leather grew aboveboard after Stonewall, with the rise of a leather press-- notably, the now-defunct Drummer magazine-- the proliferation of societies and clubs, the diminishing of motorcycle clubs, and the rise of title competitions, leather's version of circuit parties. With the internet providing a way to short-circuit them, bars and clubs face new competition themselves. Those tight cliques, where Baldwin found his mentors, are less in evidence today. Like an ageing kabuki master watching the young generation losing itself in anime, some worry about the loss of the old forms and ways.

Baldwin has concerns, but isn't pessimistic. "Growing numbers of younger guys who came into radical sexuality through the internet have finally begun to see the limitations of the cyber medium," he says. "Posted text and pics are simply not reliable for judging erotic chemistry. That man who e-mailed those great photos might actually have no sex energy at all, maybe can't talk in person, smells of perfume, lives with his aunt, is too tweaked to focus, is a crappy host, and is all about his fancy 800-thread-count sheets. Conversely, the plain lookin' guy standing across the room can feel sexy as hell, yet he'd get rejected online because his photo doesn't reveal his heat."

"It's still true that the best way to get the 'feel' of someone erotically is face-to-face," Baldwin continues. "No technology comes close.... I see more new guys [in leather bars] all the time."

Radical ambivalence

Having survived naugahyde and vinyl, leather will likely survive the age of online cruising. Leather is semantically rich in part because it's so radically ambivalent, encompassing, and never quite resolving, its contradictions. Cheese, a wag once said, is milk's leap unto eternity. Leather, you could add as corollary, is flesh's. Skin is the membrane through which animals encounter the world. Flesh weathers-- grows leathery-- with sun and experience, sort of how film records light. Skin is a symbol of life: quick-- as in that to which a thorn cuts-- means both "flesh" and "living." Dead quick is the contradiction coiled up in every leather cuff and cock ring.

The first leather came from the skins of beasts man hunted to eat. And for hunting's rough-and-tumble, those skins proved the best material to wear. Donning the flesh of his kill symbolizes a man's triumph. But in doing so, the hunter can't help partly assume the identity of the animal he's vanquished, becoming victor in victim's clothing, life dressed in death. The ultimate continuity of hunter and hunted is something almost all native cosmologies emphasize.

Ironically, the surest supply of leather came with farming and its associated animal domestication. Agriculture took men and boys out of the hunt, and fixed them firmly in the domestic sphere, nursing foals and seedlings. Agriculture's enforced effeminization provoked the first crisis of male identity, argues one school of prehistorians, spurring the male, by compensation, to create and dominate patriarchal spheres of art, religion, culture, and warfare. The rest, as they say, is history.

Wearing leather was natural whenever work was hard-- whether for blacksmiths beating hot metal into horseshoes, police facing a madding crowd, or pilots taking to the sky in open cockpits.

But leather's not just useful. A symbol packs more oomph when its referent is fading. Nothing says phone like a disused black 1970s rotary model; nothing says car like a '56 Impala. For the longest time, leather wasn't a symbol-- it was what certain categories of worker wore for good reason. It's no accident that leather burst onto the scene as Cultural Phenomenon at another moment of crisis. The end of World War II not only threw a lot of surplus leather onto the market. It established that in a world of push-button nuclear missiles and automated factories, the men who'd recently worn that leather in the course of performing heroic deeds weren't really needed anymore. It was the-end-of-the-hunt-at-the-rise-of-agriculture all over again.

Clothes make the man

The homoeroticism that was always essential to male socialization could be overlooked-- as it was among Catholic priests-- so long as the male that emerged from that hot homo-crucible was necessary. It is biting irony that the gay movement could burst forth in the 60s because unspoken homosocial bonds-- in the hunt, on the battlefield, on-board ships-- were now superseded. The view of homosexuality-as-identity championed by Magnus Hirschfeld savvily embraced this New World Order-- making lesbians and gays sexually indeterminate, between-men-and-women. It was brilliant marketing, just a generation ahead of its time. Hirschfeld's view triumphed in the West with the gay liberation movement, and his rivals, who defended homosexuality, in the Greek mode, as a maker of men, were defeated. As usually happens, the latters' views were erased from public discourse, even largely from the history books.

Maybe the most interesting thing about leather is that guys who deck themselves out in all that outrageous gear manage to do something absolutely serious. Their costumes could so readily be "performance" in the acidic, post-modern, everything-means-nothing sense. But somehow it isn't. Leather is poignant, and it can't quite put its tongue on why. And that's maybe because leather's a meditation on masculinity. And a timely one, for the male has grown so ripe a symbol just because his underlying reality is fading away. By tangling itself around that key civilizational problem, leather has become one of the queerest, most interesting things going on.

­Bill Andriette

The leather scene is happening all over North America, probably at a bar, club, bathhouse, or leather retailer near you. Here's a rundown of what's what in the cities The Guide knows best.

New England

BOSTON-- Ramrod (1254 Boylston), Boston's original leather and denim bar, is open daily noon to 2am, with nightly DJs and no cover charge. On Fridays they alternate leather and fetish play, military gear, rubber-fetish, and bear nights. The cruisy leathermen's backroom is dress-code entry Thursday through Saturdays. On Sunday, the complimentary buffet is followed by "Mandance." Amateur pool tournaments for cash prizes take place every Monday, with free pizza, too.

The Alley (14 Pi Alley) is a new downtown club that continues much in the tradition of the old 119 Merrimac bar-- both in ambiance and with many of their staff and customers. This men's cruise bar daily pulls in a very friendly crowd of leather, Levi, and regular guys, and bears from late afternoons on. Parking is just $5 after 5pm. Their drinks are among the best buys in town and they have pool tables and games. Bears have a special night each third Saturday, and many other special events, theme nights, and giveaways fill their calendar.

PROVIDENCE-- The Providence Eagle (200 Union Street), the only seriously leather bar in Rhode Island, gets hell-bent about leather on Fridays, when those so attired get in for free of cover charge.

PROVINCETOWN-- In Provincetown, leather men meet at The Vault , part of the famous Crown and Anchor complex (247 Commercial Street; 508-487-1430). This hotel, restaurant, and bar group is home to promoter David Flower's "Summer Camp" series, attracting huge numbers of mostly naked muscle boys. The complex also includes Paramount Nightclub (which doubles as a cabaret theater), and the Wave video bar; there's a popular pool area with outside bars, too.

You'll find men in leather, too, at Purgatory (9-11 Carver, basement level of the Gifford House Hotel).

Among the guesthouses, The Ranch (198 Commercial Street; 800-942-1542) has a reputation for raunch. It is 20 rooms of affordable fun, located smack-dab in the middle of the Commercial Street action. There's even a resident leather crafter here. The Ranch hosts special weekend parties off-season, and host Howard confides the series will most likely resume this fall. Their upcoming series includes a "Tightie Whitie Party" in September, and a "Daddies and Cubs" event in October. The Ranch is already gearing up for Provincetown's big "Mates Leather Weekend," the first weekend in October.

Stan at Romeo's Holiday (97 Bradford Street; 877-MY-ROMEO) caters to leather, too, and he notes that he's got the only clothing-optional back deck and hot tub in Provincetown. He encourages visits to his site-- www.placesmenstayinptown.com -- where you can look, but don't touch, unless...

Mid-Atlantic

ALLENTOWN--Leather Masters II (1023 W. Hamilton Street) is part of the national Leather Masters chain (with sister stores in San Antonio and San Jose). They offer leather apparel, SM toys, and goodies of all sorts.

BALTIMORE-- In Baltimore, it's Baltimore Eagle (2022 North Charles Street).

NEW YORK CITY-- Long supporting the leather and Levi community, Rawhide (212 8th Avenue) is a legendary Chelsea neighborhood bar that is constantly evolving. One of the original leather bars in NYC, it draws men from 10am on!

Eagle (554 West 28th Street) is a legendary name among leather bars was among the first of its kind. With its 34th anniversary coming on October 2nd, this tri-level bar continues to rock. Shirts tend to be doffed on the roof-deck during the steamy days of summer.

While lots of retail establishments in the Big Apple cater to leather needs, Revision (265-A West 19th Street) tends to carry unique fetish gear made from synthetic rubber. Their Nasty Pig label is designer wear to many across the nation and abroad.

DV8 (211 West 20th Street), now under the wing of Purple Passion (www.purplepassion.com), is a 4000-square-foot outlet carrying goodies for men and women alike. And of course there's also Pleasure Chest (156 7th Avenue S.) catering to the leather (among other!) needs of the gay community.

PHILADELPHIA-- Bike Stop (206 S. Quince Street) is an adventure spanning over four floors, with constantly evolving kink at hand. Their basement level bar-- called the Pit Stop-- is where the leather scene gets intense. An independently-run leather shop, called Gear Box, tucked within this level, offers leather retail.

REHOBOTH BEACH-- The Double L Bar (622 Rehobeth Avenue) is Delaware's only leather and bear bar. Located at the entrance to Rehoboth Beach, they're open seven days a week and feature their own beer on tap. Voted the number-one cruise bar in the state, they feature a daily happy hour from 5 to 7pm and have an outside heated deck that's open year round. On September 18th, join them for the Mr. Double L 2004 contest.

WASHINGTON, DC-- Washington's most favored leather/Levi and bear bar, D.C. Eagle (639 New York Avenue NW), may also be one of the most welcoming, down-to-earth, and friendly bars anywhere. There are three floors, with the uppermost for the most leather-dedicated. In back of the second-floor bar is a dark and seriously cruisy deck. There's a big late crowd here, there's no attitude, and it's easy to converse and make friends. Eleven to midnight is a fashionable time to show up. There are many special nights, such as their famous underwear parties and Sunday "Bear Blasts."

Leather Rack (1723 Connecticut Avenue NW) has tailored leather clothing and accessories, toys, pumps, lubes and condoms, video head cleaner, adult magazines and videos, and special items. You can catch a glimpse of owner Jim McGlade at leather events the likes of International Mr. Leather, International Mr. Drummer, Mid-Atlantic Leather, Mid-Atlantic Drummer, all of which he's helped judge. Despite the owner's busy schedule, you can shop at the store every day from 10am to 11pm, or browse 'round the clock for on-line discounts.

South

ATLANTA-- If you're hell-bent on leather and bear in Atlanta, get your ass to the Eagle Atlanta (306 Ponce de Leon), where guys come to hang out every night. There's a pool table, low lighting, lots of new outdoor decking, and even a dance floor.

New this year, Atlanta Leather Company (2111 Faulkner Road NE; 404-320-8989) is packed with inventory; it's easily the leather store in Atlanta now. It's located in the Faulkner Road warehouse district, where several other gay businesses do their thing, including the Eros Atlanta (2219 Faulkner Road) sex club.

While not exclusively devoted to leather, Poster Hut (2175 Cheshire Bridge Road) displays party and fetish fashion, including leather, and it's become a big part of what they do here. Other fine-quality items on display in this store include fashion jewelry, sunglasses, paraphernalia, soaps and aromas, and of course cards and posters.

FORT LAUDERDALE-- Leathermen will appreciate the choices popular Fort Lauderdale offers. There's always some action at the Fort Lauderdale Eagle (1951 Powerline Road), where it just feels cruisy. Jackhammer (1725 N. Andrews Square) draws a regular crowd, too, at its Andrews Square location where the infamous Chaps did its thing for so many years. Ramrod (1508 NE 4th Avenue) is known as a hard cruising bar. There's an in-house leather shop, and patrolled parking.

Leather Werks (1226 NE 4th Avenue) is a leather store for serious leather folks, of which there are many in Fort Lauderdale There's an on-site production facility, and the store purveys top-quality leather. Leather Werks also supplies the Ramrod's leather shop.

Among the guesthouses Inn Leather (610 SE 19th Street; 954-467-1444) is a very cool leather compound. They have slings in every room on the property, where you'll also find a Jacuzzi and a heated pool, and even a dungeon-equipped indoor playground. There's a kitchen-equipped apartment here, too. Clothing is optional, of course.

Leather men have been staying at the casual The Brigantine (2831 Vistamar Street; 954-565-6911) for years. This is a laid-back, two-story affair, with a large, private, unobstructed pool and patio area and a clothing-optional policy. This resort abuts a nature preserve and frequently hosts a clan of monkeys who are really fun to watch with their prehensile toes and their incessant chatter.

KEY WEST-- In Key West, leather guys gather nightly at One Saloon (514 Petronia). It's as cruisy as you might imagine when leather men on vacation are out looking for fun.

Leather Master (418 Appelrouth Lane; with a weekend shop inside One Saloon) serves local as well as visiting leathermen and leatherwomen. This tidy shop also carries familiar gadgets, cock rings, dildos, and videos (for sale and rental). It's a sexy place, and the guys who run it are active in Key West and national leather affairs.

NEW ORLEANS -- Rawhide (740 Burgundy Street), located in the heart of the French Quarter, is known as the late-night hot spot, Rawhide was voted the "number eight leather bar in the US" by the readers of Out & About.

The Phoenix (941 Elysian Fields) is the oldest established leather, Levi, and bear bar in the Big Easy, and is known as the late-night bar of choice among the leather set and locals. The downstairs bar is open 24/7 and the upstairs bar, The Eagle-- known for its especially cruisy atmosphere-- is open nightly until 2am or later. Several clubs, including the Lords of Leather and the Knights D'Orleans, call them home.

ORLANDO-- Calling itself a bear, leather, Levi, latex, western, and uniform bar, Full Moon Saloon (500 North Orange Blossom Trail) is an old-West style saloon. Sporting a large outdoor area, dance floor, pool and monthly full-moon parties, this is Orlando's premier hangout.

RALEIGH-- For leather in this North Carolina town, Flex (2 S. West Street; 919-832-8855) is the place.

TAMPA/ST. PETE-- If you'd like a cruisy hangout with much "getting-lucky" potential, 2606 Club (2606 North Armenia Avenue) is the spot. There are two floors, dimly lit, and a leather shop on premises, to accent the male animal. The trough in the restroom makes for a sense of community.

Tampa Bay Leather Company (3000 34 Street S.) is a large retailer for "all your leather and fetish needs" within the Suncoast Resort (3000 34 Street South, St. Petersburg) and in Atlanta at 2111 Faulkner Road NE.

Sister bar to Grand Central Station, Platform (2606 Central Avenue) is home to West Florida Growlers and the Tampa Bay Area Bear Club. Platform is quite definitively the only serious leather bar in town. Open Thursday through Sunday, their underwear night on Thursdays is incendiary.

Southwest

AUSTIN-- A tradition since 1986, Chain Drive (504 Willow Street) in Austin, is the best (and only) leather bet in town.

DALLAS--The Dallas Eagle (2515 Inwood) is Dallas's only leather bar, not only catering to the leather community but also to the bear, big-men, and the Levi crowds. They're open seven days a week with one of the friendliest staffs in town, and after-hours on Friday and Saturday.

Shades of Grey Leather (3930-A Cedar Springs Road) is the oldest operating leather shop in Texas, celebrating almost 25 years. Catering to the men and women of the leather, BDSM, and fetish communities, SOG staff believes that it's the personal touch that makes a great shop. Specializing in custom leather work, alterations, and repair, they carry a large selection of name-brand leather, PVC, and fabric clothing. And let's not forget your toy box-- SOG can more than fill it and maybe help make your fantasies come true. SOG carries the largest selection of fetish books in the Southwest.

HOUSTON--Black Hawk Leather (711 Fairview) is truly a full-service leather store. In addition to their main store, their satellite locations are inside two popular leather bars--The Ripcord (715 Fairview) and Pegasus (1402 N. Main Avenue, San Antonio). Black Hawk offers complete custom leather clothing, custom fetish items, and bondage gear.

Leather Forever (604 Westheimer) is also a choice to reckon with. Offering lots of custom-made clothing, SM gear is their specialty. Custom alterations and truly specialty items (such as different color leather wear) are part of the service.

OKLAHOMA CITY--Jungle Red (2200 NW 39th Expressway) is heaven for retail leather goodies (in addition to books, gay knickknacks, and such) right within the infamous Habana Inn-- quite the hotbed of activity.

SAN ANTONIO- Leather Masters III is within the new San Antonio Eagle (1010 North Main Avenue) and is godchild of Leather Masters of San Jose, California, and Allentown, Pennsylvania. Check them out for leather apparel and SM goodies ranging from nipple toys to slings. At their store, accessories of every kind are on display.

Midwest

CHICAGO-- A popular leather bar, Cell Block (3702 North Halsted) welcomes everyone to their front dance-floor bar. In back are two areas strictly devoted to leathermen: the Holding Cell bar (open Thursday through Sunday) and the Yard (Thursday-Saturday), a play-space with cross and cage for the adventurous. There are regular special events, such as movie nights, free pool and darts, "Hot Ash" nights, free buzz cuts, and "Porn Poker," plus drinks specials, beer busts, and weekend DJ dancing. On full moons, get your butt in here for inspection (and leather gift-certificate prizes). Rubber and other leather events are hosted too

Chicago Eagle (5015 N. Clark) is successor bar to the legendary Gold Coast, which was (with Chuck Renslow) at the heart of events crucial to the founding of International Mr. Leather. A Monday-night grand finale to those annual festivities takes place here still. Wall murals by leather artist Etienne, leather and erotic movies on the big video screen, and a friendly male leather crowd and staff make it a must-visit evening for visitors and locals. Sunday is movie night, with shows on a wide screen. Wednesdays there's free pool, and Thursdays get customers a free cigar with the first drink. On Thursdays through Saturdays, the dark, intensely leather Clubroom opens at 11pm. The Eagle is open nightly 8pm to 4am (5am on Saturdays) and there's free parking.

Chicago Eagle Leathers (5005 N. Clark Street; 773-728-7228) offers a first-rate selection of ready-to-wear jackets, vests, chaps, pants, shorts, boots, hats, and other items, plus custom tailoring, tattoos, and piercing. They also carry bondage and SM gear, novelties, and adult videos and DVDs.

International Mr. Leather (800-545-6753) brings thousands of leather, uniform, and fetish men from around the world converge here annually to party, network, and choose the new annual titleholder. Test the limits of your stamina with four days of events you'll never forget.

Leather Archives and Museum (6418 N. Greenview; 773-761-9200) offers unique window into the leather past. Collected and donated posters, magazines, clothing, artwork, and photos chronicle the history and sensibilities of the worldwide leather and bondage community from its inception.

Leather Sport (3505 N. Halsted) has leather clothing, paddles, floggers, and toys for all the big bad boys. They have the largest selection in town of cock rings, pumps, stimulators, and other devices. Also in stock are fetish videos, including those from Dick Wadd Productions.

Mephisto (3922 N. Broadway and 6410 N. Clark; 773-549-0900) is the latest retail outlet for the work of local leather-legend Sheldon, with the finest quality custom-made leather items, alterations and repairs, plus ready-to-wear clothing, toys, boots, swimwear, and accessories. Mephisto's North Clark Street location sits between the bars Jackhammer and Touché (6412 N. Clark), plus they have a small store inside Cell Block

CINCINNATI-- It's a well-loved local leather-Levi bar, and at Spurs (1121 Race) the party is nightly (4pm to 2:30am) in the spacious front bar, and spills into the darker, more intimate back-bar retreat, The Garage, on weekends. In warm weather the outdoor patio is popular. In April the Mr. Queen City Leather contest happens here, and their famous summer "Hurricane Party" is around the last Saturday in July.

Also in Cincinnati is Serpent (4042 Hamilton).

CLEVELAND-- The area's largest, deepest magazine and book selection is at Body Language (11424 Lorain Avenue, at W. 115th Street; 216-251-3330 or 888-429-7733), along with erotic videos, classic male erotica, an exotic leather department, and lots of kinky fetish items. They're open until 11pm daily (6pm on Sunday) with a contemporary, ever-changing selection of unusual merchandise, and an excellent website.

Other places to keep in mind are Law's Leather (11112 Clifton Boulevard), a retail store with leather clothing and accessories; and Tool Shed (2901 Detroit Avenue), with its basement leather bar.

COLUMBUS--Eagle in Exile (893 N. 4th Street) has a leather dress code, and the guys get into some hot bondage play. Male strippers perform Sundays as only the Exile can present them.

DETROIT-- The Detroit Eagle (1501 Holden) is the local leather bar.

INDIANAPOLIS-- Formerly Our Place-- an Indy favorite of many years, Gregs (231 East 16th Street) has country-music dancing and DJs playing HiNRG Wednesday through Sunday. Relax by the fireplace on the heated patio or in the rec area for darts, video games, pinball, and pool games.

Another spot is 501 Tavern (501 North College).

KANSAS CITY--DB Warehouse (1915 Main Street; www.dixiebelle.net) is KC's Levi, leather, dance, and cruise club, and is three floors big, with five bars, open daily from 11am until 3am. A mostly male crowd throngs the big ground-level dance floor on weekend nights and Sunday evenings. On the second floor, a video and conversation bar adjoins the Loading Dock open-air patio bar, and their leather store. The leather, denim, and bear bar is at the front.

Back Door Bar (423 SW Boulevard-- rear) is open nightly, and popular with bears and leather-Levi guys.

MILWAUKEE--Boot Camp (209 East National) is leather-focused, and Harbor Room (117 E. Greenfield Avenue) has a somewhat leather crowd, too.

ST. LOUIS--JJ's Clubhouse (3858 Market Street) is St. Louis's premier leather and bear bar, open Monday through Saturday, 4pm to 3am. They are the home of the Show Me Bears, Gateway MC, and Blue Max CC. Annual events include the "Hibernation Run," Mr. Missouri Leather, the Mr. Heartland Bear contest and "Daisy Duke's Short Shorts" parties.

At Barbdwyr (15 S. Vandeventer; 314-531-4711) Bryan Brandt does impeccable custom leather and rubber clothing, tailoring, and accessories. Drop by, or for an appointment give him a call.

Cheap Trx (3211 South Grand; 314-664-4011) offers exotic body piercing-- and now tattooing-- along with lots of imaginative and decorative jewelry. A new basement sales area offers an expanded selection of leather clothing and accessories, plus fetish items.

West

DENVER-- Home of the Front Range Bears, Wrangler (1700 Logan; 303-837-1075) is known as Denver's number-one cruising place for men. The Denver Wranglers' legendary Sunday charity beer busts happen every Sunday 4 to 7pm. Five bucks gets you all the beer, juice, or soda you want. It's wall-to-wall men on Sundays, and you'll see a line out the door if you don't get there early.

Triangle< /a> (2036 Broadway) is a popular men's leather/Levi bar with a big patio.

LOS ANGELES-- In this town, the leather scene gets serious in the Silverlake area.

If you're into leather, Levis, bears, bodybuilders, body piercing, bikers, cigars, or tattoos, you're encouraged to walk the walk, talk the talk, and strut your stuff at the Faultline (4216 Melrose Avenue, at Vermont).

There's also Gauntlet II (4219 Santa Monica Boulevard), with a tendency toward a masculine clientele that's into, leather, fetish, and uniforms.

Retail outlets are aplenty here.

Pleasure Chest (7733 Santa Monica Boulevard) is a super mall of erotica with a huge selection of leather, rubber, and pleasure toys.

665 Leather (8722 Santa Monica Boulevard) claims to be one-number short of hell, but is heaven when it comes to leather shopping for the gay community. Custom-made or off-the-rack items are at hand.

Mr. S Leather USA (4232 Melrose Avenue) turns leather fantasy into reality at this LA store, as well as at their San Francisco flagship location.

Syren (7225 Beverly Boulevard) is a beacon of latex couture design, but off-the-shelf and some bespoke leather to-do's are to be had here, too.

"Not your daddy's leather" is their tagline at Steel Blue (8350 Santa Monica Boulevard), a leather and clothing boutique that's a West Hollywood favorite.

Mineshaft (1720 East Broadway, in Long Beach) caters to men and women. Their well-received "shaft" Tuesdays, starting at 6pm, translate into $1.50 beer, and Mondays make bears real happy.

PALM SPRINGS & CATHEDRAL CITY-- The leather scene thrives in the toasty Southern California desert, and The Barracks (67-625 East Palm Canyon, in Cathedral City; formerly Wolf's Den) is the valley's premier leather bar. This place is low-key, bartenders are cool, and frequent special events draw big crowds. The Barracks is famous for its enclosed patio, with an outdoor fireplace and a barbecue pit. Sundays are huge. At the nearby Sidewinders (67-555 East Palm Canyon, Cathedral City) you'll find pool tables, a dance floor, some outdoor seating, and a manly crowd.

Among the many accommodation choices around Palm Springs, several cater to leathermen. Well-known among these is Chaps Inn (312 Camino Monte Vista; 800-445-8916), where Englishmen Stuart and Ian host. It's a party every day as guests mingle with invited friends, who stop by to soak up the ambiance. There's an enclosed outdoor sling for the daring, and most of the ten rooms are equipped with ceiling hooks for slings. The bungalow units have private patios, and the pool area gets sun all day. The new misting system here is "more like a fogging system!" Ian noted recently, helping cool down the hot action, no doubt.

The ambiance at the nearby Desert Bear (530 E. Mel Avenue; 877-Go-Growl) is quiet and relaxed. The inn's classic style, with portico walkways along either side of a central pool, give it an intimate feel.

The beautiful La Posada de las Palmas (120 West Vereda Sur; 800-411-4949) is not far from the base of the mountains which loom above Palm Springs, in Palm Springs's Las Palmas neighborhood. This is a brightly-colored, nine-room resort, with a big pool, and a whirlpool set in its own garden. The inn's La Posada East (280 E. Mel Avenue) location has been the scene of numerous leather gatherings over the past year.

In Cathedral City ("Cat City" in local parlance) the sprawling Cathedral City Boys Club (68369 Sunair Road; 800-472-0836) is legendary. "CCBC" offers hotel guests and local visitors (who buy a day pass) a fantastic environment for outdoor cruising. There are excellent mountain views, but it's the walkway next to the mini waterfalls, with secluded spaces for intimate encounters, that are getting the hottest reviews. There's a steam room, a sauna, and a xxx cinema, too, as well as a pool and a whirlpool. There's even a dungeon. And, there's a security wall around the entire complex, including the large parking area.

The leather action at the nearby Ambiente Inn/Black Palm (37112 Palo Verde Drive; 760-770-1697) is likely to happen on the Black Palm side, where the themed suites have names like "Leather Suite" and "Medical Suite"; with the exception of the "Dungeon Suite," all are kitchen-equipped.

RUSSIAN RIVER / GUERNEVILLE-- Cruising on the river doesn't get better than Russian River Eagle (16225 River Street) in Guerneville, California. Leather is, of course, the thrust at this cruisy hangout, but come Fridays, men bare their chests with gusto (which in turn earns a discount on drinks at the bar!).

SAN DIEGO-- The leather bars here are The Eagle (3040 N. Park Way), Pecs (2046 University Avenue), and Wolf's (3404 30th Street). Crypt (3847 Park) is a leather and fetish store.

SAN FRANCISCO-- The Bay Area is a vital center of the leather scene. San Francisco is also famous for the Folsom Street Fair (this year on Sunday, September 26; www.folsomstreetfair.com), which has leather leanings. The leather scene tends to be SOMA (South of Market). Useful websites are www.sanfranciscoleather.com and www.sfleatherandbear.com.

They even mud wrestle at The Eagle Tavern (398 12th Street), but their Sunday beer blast is just stellar and ultra popular with leather aficionados. Their sister bar, called Hole in the Wall Saloon (289 8th Street), also has leather leanings.

Powerhouse (1347 Folsom Street) is the San Francisco headquarters for cruising South of Market. Laid-back friendly attitude and sexy theme nights-- the original "Underwear Party," nipple-play nights, "Shirts off Fridays," and "Wrasslin'"-- heat up the atmosphere of this steamy local leather hotspot. Great music, cruisy surroundings and a smoking patio make Powerhouse a "sensory" night out.

In the very thick of the Castro, Daddy's (440 Castro Street) is going strong under new management since June. This is a bar that continues to thrive on the interplay "between boys and daddies" who don leather and Levis. Their "Underwear Night" on Mondays continues to command a crowd.

The Edge (4149 18th Street), located right in the Castro, is a happy-hour spot in the late afternoons. Their "Basket Contest" on Thursdays is a bulge!

"Forbid yourself nothing" at Stormy Leather (1158 Howard Street), a division of Eurotique boutique, that caters mainly to women.

Mr. S Leather & Fetish (310 7th Street) is the largest leather emporium in the US. Lodged in a 15,000-square-foot building, they carry the hugest variety of leather, latex clothing, and toys, and the finest bondage equipment. Quality is the main focus of their business. They even host classes in kink and fetish! Their stores in San Francisco also include Madame S (321 7th Street) and an outlet within Loading Dock (1525 Mission Street).

Taste of Leather (1285 Folsom Street) continues to specialize in sexually-oriented goods for the liberated customer, those goods of course, primarily being leather!

With nearly 180,000 members throughout the world, Blow Buddies (933 Harrison) has a strong leather following... and not only because of their monthly leather, bondage, and watersports parties. Located in San Francisco's leathery SOMA district, the club is an official charter sponsor of both the Up Your Alley and Folsom Street Fairs, and is very active in supporting leather community events. Several groups meet periodically at the club, including the Leathermen's Discussion Group, the Rubber Men of San Francisco Bay, Yahoo's Bay Area Cigar Buddies, and Boot Men.

Not to be outdone, at Mack Folsom Prison (1285 Folsom Street, at 9th) men of all proclivities and fetishes cross their "wonderful doors." Their location in the SOMA of course contributes to a good amount of leather folk; so does their proximity to the store, A Taste of Leather.

Open Wednesday through Sunday, Loading Dock (1525 Mission Street) calls itself a premier leather/Levi/fetish bar. They are host to Club Sodom every Friday.

SAN JOSE--Leather Masters I (969 Park Avenue) is for leather apparel and SM goodies ranging from nipple toys to slings. Accessories of every kind are on display. Call 408-293-7660 for their extensive catalog or shop online.

Pacific Northwest

PORTLAND-- Eagle Pdx (1300 W. Burnside) is a bar for leather and Levi guys, with dark areas and lots of playing around.

SEATTLE-- A popular men's nightclub open from 2pm to 2am daily, Cuff Complex & Restaurant (1533 13th Avenue) has after-hours till 4am on Fridays and Saturdays. The front bar is laid-back, with games, a pool table (free on Wednesdays), and more bear and leather guys. The dance club plays dance hits Friday through Sunday and opens onto a big outdoor patio bar that attracts a diverse crowd. Weekends and Sunday-night "Beer Bust" are especially popular, but there are events and specials all week-- such as free games on Mondays and karaoke on Thursdays. There's a halloween party in October with big prizes for best costumes, plus big leather events and the "Black and Blue Bash" New Year's eve party.

The other leather club is Eagle (314 E. Pike).

Canada

Leathermen will love Canada's active leather scene.

MONTREAL-- Leather is a big part of the scene in Montreal. Leather types hang out at Le Stud (1812 Ste-Catherine est), one of the city's most heavily cruised locations. There's a smallish dance floor, two pool tables (always in use), and a upstairs bar for overflow, weekends. In season, they open the windows onto Ste-Catherine and Papineau, and there's a sidewalk terrace on the Papineau side.

In a similar vein, Black Eagle (1315 Ste-Catherine est), also known as L'Aigle Noir, offers up a warm, cruisy ambiance and an upstairs with catwalks. They do "Wet Underwear," "Big Dick," and other parties. As at Le Stud, the low light and fuck videos add to things.

Le Parking (1296 Amherst, corner of Ste-Catherine) caters to leather guys, too, though it's a mixed format at this huge club, one of Montreal's biggest draws for the past several years.

Other places making up the Le Parking complex on Amherst include Pub P (1295 Amherst, formerly the Vox Pub), offering the quiet, cozy ambiance typical of Montreal's taverns (though it's mostly jeans and leather you'll find here), and next door at the Le Donjon (1285 Amherst), at the former location of the U-Bahn fetish shop.

Priape's (1311 Ste-Catherine est) main store is located on one of the gayest blocks in Montreal's Gay Village. Its entire basement level is devoted to leather production and sales. There's tons of traffic, and the fun team here will treat you right!

Cuir Northbound (1323 Ste-Catherine est) is Northbound Leather's Montreal incarnation. It's a must-visit for those into serious fetish.

Other Montreal leather stores include Joe Blo (1412 de la Visitation), doing high-end fashion leather and accessories; Cuir Mont-Royal (826-A Mont-Royal est) and Screaming Eagle (1424 Boulevard St-Laurent), both stocking large selections of leather and fetish gear.

GI Joe (1166 Ste-Catherine est) is the Montreal sauna where leathermen do their thing. This location is the former home to both Le Bronx and Sauna Millennium, but a fire in late spring this year temporarily knocked them both out of commission. GI Joe is the name of the new facility now partially re-opened.

TORONTO-- In Toronto, leather predominates at the hugely popular Black Eagle (457 Church), famous for its sexy vibe and active calendar. It's situated on two floors, and there's a huge rooftop terrace where they do a Sunday evening barbecue with a line-up.

The city's other leather bar, The Toolbox (508 Eastern Avenue), is a Toronto original where customers enjoy drinks and barbecues on the secluded back patio. Muther's Guesthouse is upstairs. The big news here is their upcoming September closing.

One of the city's best-known leather shops, Priape (465 Church), offers great selection of sportswear, leather and rubber, sex toys and accessories, plus mags and videos, and there's always someone to cruise!

Toronto's Northbound Leather (586 Yonge Street-- rear entrance at 7 St. Nicholas Street) is known the world over. Northbound is a purveyor of fetish fashion for both men and women. The goods are exquisite, the scene is fun, and the staff is adorable. Northbound is also the prime mover behind what's been called "the world's biggest annual fetish fashion show and party," on for October 23 this year in Toronto.

The scene is so much a part of life here that at least one of the city's saunas, the St-Marc Spa (543 Yonge Street, top floor), runs a leather special. The house requires a minimum of three pieces of leather if you're planning on taking advantage of the price break. This busy sauna boasts a new steam room (with an expanded dry sauna coming soon), plus lots of playrooms (including a sling room). It's active day and night.

As for accommodations, bears and leathermen meet at the Bearfoot Inn (30A Dundonald Street; 416-922-1658), a comfortable den just steps from the Church and Wellesley Street action in the center of Gay Toronto. All rooms come with private bath at this four-level guesthouse where Glen and Jerry, along with Oliver the pooch, host.

Bent Inn (107 Gloucester Street; 416-925-4499) is a leather man's playground with several units that can be re-configured depending on your group's size. There's a dungeon/playroom in the cellar.

VANCOUVER-- Pump Jack (1167 Davie; 604-685-3417) is Vancouver's hotspot catering to a leather/Levi crowd. PumpJack starts the afternoon with a laid-back pub atmosphere that develops into a brisk after-work crowd, followed by a hot and cruisy night scene. Special-event nights feature underwear, uniform, and rubber, the BC Bears, WESA baseball, Cutting Edges hockey, as well as "Men of PumpJack Calendar" contests. The Border Riders also gather here each month.