German Fetish Ball: underground fetish in Berlin

Underground fetish in Berlin

Not long after we've visited some big events in London (Rubber Ball) and Essen (Fetish Evolution) we felt that 'party-itch' again. This time we had set our eyes on Berlin on another three days weekend event. Our piggy bank was almost empty, but what could be more fun than a city trip combined with a deep breathe of Berlin's fetish party life. So we took the plunge and departed the Thursday before Whitsun for the German Fetish Ball 2008.

The first party that weekend would take place on Friday, which allowed us time enough to get ourselves installed in the hotel, freshen up a bit en unpack our suitcases and bags. This, however, took some time. Before leaving, we had been standing in front of our wardrobe quite some time, hesitating what outfits to take with us. As a result of this we took care not to take too less and thus ended up with enough party clothes to party for two full weeks. But... it's a reassuring thought that you haven't left that one item you specifically needed at home. Never the less, enough time remained to enjoy Berlin's 'Mitte', the great weather and a visit to some fetish shops. We planned to call in at Schwarze Mode and Savage Store. Well shortly, the first shop was closed and, as we discovered peeking through the windows, empty also! Only to be visited online nowadays. We were more lucky by visiting Savage Store, a new, smart-looking shop. The beautiful, young owner had equipped her shop with gothic clothing,(black/green) hairpieces, patent leather outfits, shoes, accessories and a rack of latex wear from her own atelier. Most of it two-pieced suits, that could be purchased separately also.

After an agreeable afternoon in a sun-drenched city, we started preparations for our first party on Friday evening. We had a choice of two: Bohème Bizarre at the KitKatClub and Friday's Finest at Club Insomnia. The first one appealed to us mostly. A strict dresscode would be applied and the fact that the location was situated on walking distance from our hotel. At the entrance we remarked that the club looked much bigger and prettier than the year before (when it was called Club Sage) and also the interior had been metamorphosed. The centre consisted of a dance floor, surrounded by a bar, a low stage that also served as a lounge-spot and the DJ-booth. The floor was covered by some sort of white confetti that would light-up in the blacklight. Very funny sight. The furniture was mainly made of red pluche and leather and the walls were decorated with graffiti-like art which gave the whole location an undergroundish atmosphere. Behind the dance floor an SM-playroom had been equipped with all the usual stuff. Furthermore two more lounges, one with a more lightly ambience because of the pink and white colours that had been used there.

It wasn't very crowded when we arrived and so we could easily spot one of our party friends standing there. The only one we knew at all that moment, so a good reason for a drink together, a chat and enjoying the trance, electro and club music that was coming from the DJ-booth. After a while it became more busy, livelier and the feeling of 'something in the air tonight' was almost tangible. This must have been the reason that our friend showed up a little later, telling us that his wallet had probably slipped from his pants (which he had opened for some reason...) and that he had a vast financial problem at the time. But...'that's what friends are for' and so a financial rescue plan was quickly made.

From our last visit to this venue we remembered a balcony above, and we wanted to climb over there again and have a look from up there. After some searching it seemed the stairs were not only hidden, but were barricaded also. So far for that attempt, but then a crew member draw our attention to a kind of black hole, alongside the SM playroom, and reassured us that he would personally take care that we wouldn't be disturbed. Oh well...we smiled and decided to reject his offer and proceeded on our way. It didn't become very crowded that evening and that might have been the reason that the strict dresscode from the beginning of that evening loosened up a bit. But even so we had had a real good time and it was quite late when we, after having discussed the rescue plan with our friend, walked back to the hotel, already surrounded by the fresh morning light.

On Saturday we expected a friendly couple from Holland, who would also put up in 'our' hotel. This made our stay even more enjoyable as it turned out to be later on. But... first of all we called our friend in financial needs. And look here, his lost wallet obviously had lead a life of it's own that evening before and had suddenly fallen out of his gear before he went to bed. Not at all from the same place he had hidden it in before indeed, but who cares! So, all that's well ended up being well and we left for the German Fetish Fair with our minds at ease. The fair took place in the 'Arena' (that formerly used to serve as an omnibus garage) and is situated at the small river the Spree. It took a little figuring out how to get to Treptower Park by U- and S-Bahn, after which we had to walk another ten minutes to the Arena. In case you would be lost over there, just follow the colourful, fetish-dressed parade. They're all going there. After we said hello to René (the organizer of the German Fetish Ball) we just followed our noses and had an easy-does-it stroll along the stalls. What did we see? Some funny and burlesque little hats and other lovely and arty decorations to wear on one's head, corsets, loads of latex clothing, masks, SM-play gear, high heeled footwear and lots of accessories, such as jewellery, stockings and cosmetics. Our attention was specifically drawn by Bondinage with it's typical design and Bodycult, which features exclusive 50's dresses in 'different' colours.

Photo below left: model in front of the stall of AMF korsets.
Photo below right: Miss Mirjana, also wearing a corset from AMF korsets.

As we visited lots of fairs in our fetish history, there wasn't really very much new for us to discover. But we spent some enjoyable hours there though and purchased another piece for the fetish wardrobe. After a while, we decided that sore feet are a legitimate excuse for crashing in the small café in the corner and have a glass of cool, bubbling sekt (German champagne). So, that's what we did and we spent the rest of our time at the fair observing all those present. Watching everybody walking by is almost as entertaining as visiting the fair itself.

Back at the hotel our friends had just arrived, which called for another occasion to uncork one more bottle of champagne that we had brought ourselves this time. We planned to visit Fetish Guerilla party together that evening and we would therefore pay another visit to the KitKatClub. But before that we had to discuss all kinds of very important details, like how to put on false eyelashes. We decided to call in the master of false eyelash-fixer himself: Martin. He has become a real experience in that field in the past few years. After that it was time for our beauty-nap and putting together the outfit for the evening. Anita's outfit consisted of black latex pants and matching (freshly bought) high-necked and long-sleeved top, with a zip in front. Combined with a black and white corset, it would serve as a catsuit but could also be worn apart. High heeled, black patent leather boots were the finishing touch. Martin also dressed in black latex pants, but this time combined with a sleeveless, gold/bronze coloured shirt, black latex officer's cap and black riding boots. The lady friend wore a short, black patent leather, flared skirt, hold-up stockings, very high-heeled boots and a stunning top. Her male companion wore a stylish (and real men-worthy) black leather outfit with matching footwear.

Foto rechts: Designer Heidi from Savage-Wear and Miss OMEGA.

An so fitted out, wearing only a thin overcoat, we strolled to the KitKatClub again. In spite of the fact that it was a lot more busy already than the day before, it turned out that the floor hadn't been cleaned at all. The confetti of the day before was all still laying there... But a lot more to be seen now than the day before, even thought the dresscode was less strict this time. More area's were available now, amongst which a swimming pool with seats and lounge benches around it. A good place to cool down or take a refreshing dive into the water. A pity though that we didn't hear any matching lounge music around to imprison the atmosphere of the party inside also. But what a treat, 'cause it was literally hot inside the club. After some time our friend became aware of that and decided to go back to the hotel to change into something less warm. When you didn't count at that, it's really very convenient to have your wardrobe in the hotel just around the corner.

Normally the two of us always start out the evening by exploring the premises and discover all that's to be seen and heard. But the four of us decided it would be more fun to flop into some comfy chairs and exchange stories about our adventures of the days before. So we ended-up in a café-like area and looked at and listened to all that was happening around us. We heard several languages, spotted party peeps in great outfits and enjoyed the relaxed and flirtatious atmosphere. Of course we didn't spend the whole evening there and after some time we celebrated party life. We found out that the former SM-room was now transformed into a dancing area where alternate dance music could be heard. Here we met Mistress Amrita, which we also met before during our last fetish weekend and who, seated on a swing, caught our attention with her green eyelashes and nail polish that lightened up in the blacklight. Together with her special characteristic, green 'Amrita' wig it formed an interesting ensemble.

Photo left: Dante Posh (on the right).
Photo right: Mistress Amrita.

A little later we were treated to a few shows of which Hell Sindustries, which we also enjoyed the year before, was performed as dynamic and (literally) full of fire as ever. These ladies may not look like catwalk models, but they obviously have great fun and their challenging act surely makes it worth while looking at. We decided to stop over at the areas where we used to dance on Rock&Roll and 30's music the year before, but it was still very quit there. Alas, we do like some Rock&Roll dancing, but when nobody's watching... naah. So the four of us crashed again into one of the niches alongside the dance floor. At that time we saw a physically handicapped guy in a wheelchair in front of us, who practised body painting in his own way. He made a special effort to handle the brush and he succeeded into providing several ladies with a beautiful paint. In the mean time our ladies footwear hadn't escaped a foot-fetishist's attention and well, we won't make things hard for someone and quite honestly, they urgently needed to be cleaned. We enjoyed a delightful evening that flew by very quickly and after some time we decided to call it a night, and in the early morning the four of us walked back to our hotel.

After a late breakfast at the hotel room, where we reviewed the night before in detail, our friends invited us to have a glass of rosé and a bite at Hackescher Markt. A lively spot with lots of restaurants and cafés in 'Mitte' situated in the eastern part of Berlin. After we made our choice where to sit, it already became much to enjoyable. One rosé followed after the other and the small bite changed into some plates of pasta, because the time until the party was growing shorter and shorter. But because we did want to shut our eyes for a short time, we called a cab and zoomed back to the hotel. But, within an hour or so we attended to a matter of great importance: what to wear on the most important party of the weekend!

Our girl friend picked for this party a sensational black latex top that exposed her breasts (which would cast many covetous eyes upon), a latex skirt and matching trousers and high heels. On her neck she wore a silver coloured collar. Her male companion had a leather skirt on with a matching smock and belt with a silver fitting. On this occasion Anita wore her red and black DeMask corset with a matching red officers cap, black latex pants and high heeled patent leather boots. On her belt she wore a whip with long red leather strings. And Martin chose this time for his transparent black latex trousers with suspenders, his riding boots, his black latex officers cap and matching transparent black latex sleeves.

Photo below right: NastyLara.

Just as the previous years the party venue was the Matrix, the catacombs situated underneath the U-bahn near the Warschauer Platz. And situated mainly subterranean. Inside it's decorated with wide brick arcades and dance floors everywhere. Once we were inside we quickly disposed of our excess luggage and directly headed for the area where the (fashion)shows would be held. It was already so crowded over there, that we had to stand on tiptoe to see any of them. After some time Rubberdoll, the mistress of ceremonies that evening, appeared on stage. She introduced the shows that then followed one after another. There where a lot of them, but as it would take much time to see them all and as we were eager to experience the rest of the party, we didn't see them all. The ones that attracted our attention was 'Burlesque Couture' showing some lovely, burlesque clothing and, a little later, an act by a lady that 'wore' a suitcase. After a while she opened the suitcase showing the her body inside and, together with two men, she did an amusing performance. A little later we witnessed ProVoqué's fashion show, that showed creations of little less common materials, for instance a corset with a tail, stockings and gloves of woolly, leopard-printed fabric. This was followed by two girls that, dressed in transparent, red latex, showed us an extraordinary dynamic bondage-dance. It turned out they had a lot more stamina to their disposal than their audience. It took a little too long, we thought, but what a show anyway! Last but not least, we saw Tatjana Warnecke's show, whose style is very well recognizable from the 'corrugated PVC' designs she creates. Her collection is getting larger and larger.

But, as said before, we were curious about what more was going on here and went on a discovery tour. After we had inhaled all the fetish atmospheres everywhere, our eye fell on a hideaway spot with a good view. We gazed around and regularly jumped out of our chairs to chat or dance with some 'old' acquaintances of ours. We moved from time to time and then enjoyed other conversations and other company. And the moment we heard DJ Allen from Torture Garden, we had to get up again and dance, dance, dance. After that, Anita took care of the slave who appealed to her dominant talents, the girlfriend enjoyed the may admiring looks on her boobies that were thrown her way, her friend saw his wet dream, Miss Kate, passing by and Martin was caught by a girl, that had been instructed to ask him to dance with her, by her Domina. It really kept us busy. But ok, we're not hard to please.

Although it was not as busy as last year, the atmosphere was great. We remarked two things: no playroom being available and the 70's image-projection on the walls. But, after some time the party started to become more quit and all the people present were invited to move to one left-over area, where we would enjoyed about one more hour of the ball. But, as the party really ended, we didn't feel like going home at all. And we weren't the only ones. After some consultation we decided to call one of the few taxi's available and, even though daylight was already showing outside, we happily jumped onto the night again at Club Insomnia. Not many people inside the club, but the atmosphere was super and we met some party friends that we hadn't talked to yet. We had to set that right off course. So we also got the opportunity to meet Dominique, owner of the club, in person and complimented her on staying open especially for our small bunch of people, that came over so late (or rather early). After that we enjoyed dancing, chatting and acting like complete fools until no party vibe inside of us was still alive. Time to shut down and that's what Dominique was thinking also. And so ourselves and some party friends found themselves on the street, waiting for a taxi again. It must have been almost surrealistic: some scantily dressed people, waiting on a, still very quite street in Berlin, lit by the morning sun rays that emerged hesitantly, waiting to go home.

It won't have escaped your notice that we had a lovely weekend. A good organized weekend with nice parties and nice people. Even though our schedule had generally been the same as last year, this year was very different though. And so it turns out that an event like this is only a frame and that you have to complete it and put in the details yourself. And if your are in a circumstance to share this with some good friends, you haven't got far to look.