Libidex Blog 2023 Pt2: Highlights from months July-December

Libidex Blog 2023 Pt2: An image from July’s Role-Play article featuring our Phantasm Inflatable Breast Catsuit and Curve-Line Corset

LIBIDEX BLOG 2023 PT2: HIGHLIGHTS FROM MONTHS JULY–DECEMBER

Happy New Year, and welcome to Libidex Blog 2023 Pt2: the second, concluding part of our look-back at Libidex Blog articles of the past year. For each of the six months July to December 2023, we have chosen one highlight of the month, which is also pictured. In addition, we mention all the other stories we published in that month. Each mention is directly linked to its original blog article, so you can easily visit (or revisit) it to view the original content in full.

July 2023: role-play scenarios, safety and cosplay costume choices

For July 2023’s highlight we chose our longer-than-usual blog piece about role-play — scenarios, safety and cosplay costume choices. In considerable depth, it begins by discussing and offering advice on safety and precautions, covering latex care and maintenance, latex allergies, and communication and consent in scenarios. Then, considering role-play scenarios with latex costumes, it covers dominance and submission, medical fetish, superhero and villain, and fantasy and sci fi themes. The article depicts numerous outfits from the massive range of Libidex latex suitable for such costuming needs — including the Phantasm Inflatable Breast Catsuit and Curve-Line Corset shown above.

Also in July, we reported on another sudden ‘cull’ by Meta that left fetish folk and kink organisations de-platformed from Instagram — and the powerful protest against it spearheaded by activist Blogger On Pole. We previewed the return of Kinky Cretan weekend Pleasure Bay, co-hosted by Marquis magazine and SubRosaDictum. And we celebrated the return of Evilyn13 for a second latex-clad appearance as one of our Libidex Blog Celebrities.

August 2023: Barbie The Movie prompts boom in pink latex sales

Release of Barbie The Movie saw celebs in pink latex at the premières, and pink latex popping up in other shoots, such as with Bella Thorne (left) wearing Vex, and Kylie Jenner in pink Blacklickorish latex with pal Stassie Karanikolaou in matching powder blue

August’s highlight is the massive boost to pink latex sales created by the previous month’s premières of Barbie The Movie. Among celebs taking a rubbery cue from the movie — or otherwise rocking pink hotness — were Munroe Bergdorf, Sammi Jefcoate, Bella Thorne (above left) and Kylie Jenner (above right with Stassie Karanikolaou). We also found several latex labels who were offering cheeky outfits complete with Barbie logos. The article ended with some of the numerous Libidex styles that could also make you look pretty in pink — without the risk of potential trademark infringements!

Also in August, we reported on the return of our Libidex Rapid Service (offering a ten-day production turnaround on orders), along with the reinstatement of our Top Pick 50%-off daily deals. Meanwhile in Denmark, Copenhagen’s ManiFest organisation had confirmed the continuation of its annual Fetish Fashion Party as a full weekend, so we previewed it with those looking to wear latex in less familiar locations very much in mind. August also brought a survey of the vast selection of latex lingerie at Libidex, plus news of a free offer on Rapid Service and a LatexEXPRESS sale.

September 2023: Avantgardista rebrands for Motorworld Munich

The rope-art talents (above) of Fred Kyrel were set to display at Avantgardista, which moved venue to Motorworld Munich in 2023

September brought the chance to preview another newsworthy European event in the form of Munich’s Avantgardista Weekend, which was expanding its mid-October programme to coincide with relocation to a magnificent new venue — Motorworld Munich. Avantgardista, launched a few years ago by the party hosts behind SubRosaDictum events, is keen to attract the kind of Munich fashionistas who like fetish decorative style — such as the exotic rope creations (above) of Fred Kyrel — without necessarily wanting to embrace the full lifestyle package. Accordingly, the event at the new venue was rebranded as Avantgardista Kink Couture Days.

Also in September, our Blog brought news of the opening of O Boutique, Seoul the first shop in Korea to stock fetish clothing, including latex. Among its lines are several UK, US and European brands including Dead Lotus Couture, whose owner/designer Nange Magro was, coincidentally, profiled in another September blog piece. London-based Nange launched at Torture Garden, but has now successfully cracked the exclusive Hollywood celebrity latex market. In September, we also celebrated the first birthday of Liberation-X, our new fetish/BDSM toys and accessories onine store — well worth a visit any time you want to refresh your toy box!

October 2023: How to tell real latex from other shiny, stretchy stuff

Real latex clothing – such as this Libidex Princess Catsuit worn by Lydia Black – often gets misdescribed in the media. Our top October story explains how to distinguish the real thing from the rest

In the spirit of earlier blog articles offering advice and guidance on aspects of latex, fetish and BDSM, our October choice is a piece aimed at helping readers (especially those relatively new to latex) to recognise real latex when they see it. This is because garments shown in the media are often mistakenly not described as latex when they are latex — or vice versa. It is also not unknown for less scrupulous online sellers to attach a desirable buzz word such as latex or leather to something that actually has no real rubber or leather content at all. The article shows examples of real latex such as Libidex’s Princess Catsuit (above), as well as media photo captioning errors, and also gives tips on the telltale signs to look for in shiny garments that may look like — but may not be — the real thing.

Fetish Halloween parties were the focus of another October blog story. There are not as many genuine fetish Halloween celebrations as there used to be, but we were able to recommend a selection in the UK, Europe, the US, Canada and Australia! Also in October, we featured a new latex collection from Miami-based label Maggie Delena, and made a virtual visit to the London dungeon space of photographer Peter Felix Kurtz, which can be hired for private play or fetish/BDSM photo/video shoots.

November 2023: Festive fetish events: the nightlife before Christmas

Torture Garden traditionally hosts two pre-Christmas parties in London every year; this image (by noone studio) shows TG’s XXXMas event

With the party season in full swing, it seemed appropriate to look ahead to festive fetish parties scheduled around the globe in the run-up to Christmas, so this provided our November highlight. As with Halloween in 2023, we found fewer dedicated festive fetish events than in pre-covid times. But nevertheless our round-up, tagged ‘The Nightlife Before Christmas’ (geddit?) listed parties (including Torture Garden, above) and pre-Xmas fetish markets in London and elsewhere in the UK, plus festive events in Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin, Nuremberg, Stockholm, Zurich, Florida and New York.

Also in November, we profiled Britain’s dark surrealist fetish filmmaker Matthias Von Braun; featured the new Best Sellers category launched on the Libidex website with 10% discount on all the category’s items; and outlined our Black Friday promotions, comprising a Libidex website sale with up to 30% off, a sale at our Covent Garden Liberation store with up to 50% off; and discounts at our Liberation-X online store of 40%, with automatic entry into a prize draw with every Liberation-X order placed.

December 2023: London Fetish Film Festival offers Xmas alternative

Evil Woman is one of the prodommes talking about her work in Tomek Rusecki’s documentary Polish Kink, screened at the London Fetish Film Festival in December

Our December highlight was a preview of the London Fetish Film Festival, a late addition to the month’s fetish events on the weekend immediately before Christmas. Its two evening programmes were set to screen a broad selection of kink and kink-adjacent movies, ranging on the first night from music videos and other arty video shorts in its Kink Art category, to Documentary submissions such as Tomek Rustecki’s Polish Kink featuring Evil Woman (above). The second night offered a selection tagged Inside Fetish depicting various BDSM practices, followed by Kink Narratives, including two shorts by Marc Blackie featuring Tessa Kuragi. It closed with Fun Fetish, a category reserved for short films that ought to see you leaving with a smile on your face.

Also helping to see out the first year of our revived Libidex Blog was the last of the year’s global events round-ups, focusing on New Year’s fetish parties scheduled for between December 30 and  January 1. It listed kink events in London, Berlin, Köln, Nuremberg, Zurich, Montreal, Vancouver and Florida. We also reported on the kinksters’ collaboration behind the planned reissue of legendary Playboy photographer Suze Randall’s notorious 1977 tell-all memoir; some seasonal stardust sprinkled by a variety of latex-loving celebs and celebrity latex designers; and the first part of our two-part look-back at our 2023 blog stories — of which this is the second!

The first part of this look back at 2023’s Libidex Blog stories, published on Friday December 29, can be found here!