Random Announcements
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On the train to the Spencer Hart opening bash. Our first central London retailer and we are super excited:
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Excellent!
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Random Announcement
Over on Superfuture we have the Heavyweight Denim contest, which some of you may be aware of. Anyway, in January we reach (sort of) our mid point of the contest and we're planning a little meet up in Berlin. So far I think that me, Minitron, Beatle, Finn666, Maxpower and possibly Beautiful_freak will be there, along with a few others. All are welcome, competing or not.
If you are interested, please let me know in the next few weeks, I want to get some arrangements made by around November time (hotel/ hostels, flights etc…).
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On the train back fron the Spencer Hart opening bash.
Paula's claim to fame was telling Robbie Williams that she was short and fat. He did not disagree - the bastard…..
Mine was telling, Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) that our Alex would have given his right bollock to be me for the first time in his life....
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Though EVERYBODY knows this I still wanted to bring it out.
The Hanky Code
The hanky code is a signaling system used by gay men and members of the fetish and BDSM communities to indicate sexual preference. Signals in the hanky code are conveyed by wearing a handkerchief of a specific color or pattern in either the right or left back pocket, conveying preference to anyone in the vicinity who is familiar with the concept of the hanky code. While wearing a hanky, someone is said to be “flagging,” and the hanky code is known as flagging, the bandanna code, or the handkerchief code.Some people have suggested that the basics of the hanky code may go as far back to the 1800s, when men in isolated regions of the American West would wear red handkerchiefs to indicate that they were willing to take a woman's role in a dance. However, this is probably apocryphal, and has never been verified. More solidly, the seeds for the hanky code appear to have been sown in the 1970s, when gay men first started wearing handkerchiefs according to guidelines published in The Village Voice, a newspaper in New York City.
There are a number of advantages to the hanky code which explain why it endures to this day. In the 1970s, when the gay community was less outspoken, the hanky code allowed gay men to communicate with each other without attracting attention, and allowed men to more easily scope out potential dates. In communities where the hanky code was prevalent, men knew that pursuing men who weren't flagging could be risky, and they could seek out partners on the basis of preference by checking their back pockets.
This code also turned out to be handy in crowded environments like gay bars, where the noise and crowd could make it hard to establish a connection with someone. As the hanky code spread in the gay community, it began to be picked up more generally in the fetish and BDSM communities, and complex permutations of colors, patterns, and placements began to proliferate.
As a general rule, someone who flags in the left pocket indicates that he or she is a top, while someone who flags in the right pocket is a bottom. Bottoms prefer to participate as recipients in sexual and fetish encounters, while tops prefer just the opposite.
Knowing about the hanky code can be useful if you are traveling to an area with a large queer or fetish-oriented population, as you might unwittingly send out a signal if you leave a handkerchief in your back pocket. However, many people rely on other social cues beyond the hanky code; if you happen to have, for example, a gray handkerchief in your right pocket while innocently riding the subway, you are unlikely to be ravaged by eager bondage tops, although someone might approach with a courteous introduction.
so, next time think carefully which pocket and which color….
