The History of Dressing For Pleasure
"I had been expanding my interest, curiosity and knowledge of the fetish "scene" for a few years during the early eighties. I was between jobs in 1985 and took a trip to London to sort out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, and whether or not I wanted to make a career change."
"One night I went to a London club and found myself in conversation with a prior acquaintance named Tim Woodward. He informed me that he had started to publish a magazine called Skin Two , and had many inquiries from the United States. "Would I be interested in becoming his U.S. Distributor?" So I agreed. I placed ads for the magazine, and went to meetings of TES in New York, and got people to give me the money for a year's subscription, as well as for individual issues of the magazine. The first two issues were only a few pages, from 6-10, but Tim informed me that he would be publishing quarterly, and that the issues would be much larger."
"After getting their magazines, people would then phone me about a piece of clothing, or some other item they would see in an ad, and ask if we were able to get it for them. Unfortunately, what I discovered was that the sizing in Europe was different than ours in the U.S. People would send the item back since it didn't fit. So John and I decided to open a little showroom in Upper Montclair, N.J. where people could try on their choice before paying for it."
"What I also discovered was that people were hungry for a venue to be able to wear their fetish outfits to. We discussed having a fashion show and dinner dance. It was to be a one-day event. I invited the European designers to come to the event and have their garments in the fashion show. When I knew that I had support for my event, I had to find a hotel that would agree to the type of attire that all attendees would be dressed in. That was no easy job!"
"Remember that this was in 1987. Everything was quite underground at that time. I brought a copy of Skin Two with me to the hotel sales managers. Hotel after hotel, looked at the pictures in the magazine and practically laughed me out of their offices. I finally found myself at my last hope, the Penta Hotel, opposite Madison Square Garden. I was greeted with open arms, and the information that they were the fashion show hotel of N.Y.C. and they would be delighted to host our event. The event was to be called Dressing for Pleasure , the first of its' kind in the U.S. It was dedicated to the memory of John Sutcliffe of England, who published the magazine Atomage , and believed that people should be able to dress for their own pleasure. He had fought diligently with the English authorities about the right to publish his magazine, which instructed people on safety measures when experiencing their fetishes. His battle was endless, and he finally succumbed one Sunday while working at his office desk."
"We had approximately 100 people at that first event, in 1987. We opened our small showroom in 1989 and also named it Dressing for Pleasure . As more and more people learned of us and the availability of items they had been unable to purchase before, we developed a stock of varied merchandise from clothing to an assortment of collars and cuffs. We started to look for a much larger space. Many times we found what we were looking for, but the landlord would turn us down after discovering the nature of our business. One day our existing landlord told us he had three suites that he was expecting to have available shortly. We accepted his offer and tore down walls, blocked off entrances and made the three suites into one Dressing for Pleasure Boutique ."
"People were grateful that they could now purchase items that had not been available to them anywhere else. As we sold one item, we purchased two to replace it. When we sold two, we replaced them with five. The racks became more and more crowded. John even attempted making latex clothing since there were no manufacturers in the U.S. at that time. Ultimately, we decided that it was less costly to purchase the finished goods directly from overseas."
"We finally received the ultimate compliment. Magazines started to refer to us as the Nieman Marcus of the fetish world."
And so it began. Constance and John operated Dressing for Pleasure together, and it grew and prospered for almost a decade. Then, in early 1998, John died. A year later Constance decided to retire and sell her beloved Dressing for Pleasure .
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Mary Ellen and Peter first visited Dressing for Pleasure as customers in early 1993. They had shopped there often over the years. They had gotten to know Constance well and always stopped in her office to "visit" with her whenever they were in the store. One day in early 1999 they went shopping at Dressing for Pleasure . As usual, they stopped in to visit with Constance while they were there. During the conversation she told them of her desire to sell the store and retire. Mary Ellen had recently retired from the nursing profession, and after 37 years as an engineer, Peter was also ready to retire. Thus, they were looking for a business to run. Having been in the "scene" for many years and knowing Dressing for Pleasure and its reputation, it seemed a perfect match. Imagine, suddenly owning the largest and finest Fetish store in the country, and having the opportunity to make it even better.
The logistics of the sale took several months, but all the legal work was completed in time for a September 1st, 1999 transfer. They hired Constance as a consultant for their first two months of ownership and kept the existing employees on.
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In 2003, Peter and Mary Ellen lost their lease. Dressing for Pleasure closed while they searched for a new location. Due to various problems, they never found one that worked out. Instead, in 2005 Peter and Mary Ellen were approached by 2 of their former customers, Master Ed and his wife/slave Karen, who were interested in re-opening their favorite store. After a few weeks of negotiations Master Ed completed a deal that would re-open Dressing for Pleasure . They soon found a new location in Montclair just a few miles from the original Valley Road store. The new store is bigger, easier to find, and has ample free parking available. Master Ed and Karen had ambitious goals for their new Dressing for Pleasure :
- Greatly improved customer service
- Improved selection and quality of merchandise
- Make the store inviting and comfortable for everyone
- Carry unique items not available anywhere else
- Make Dressing for Pleasure a center of the Fetish/BDSM community
All of Dressing for Pleasure's team are committed to these goals. Everyone associated with the store is an experienced participant in the BDSM lifestyle. We all strive to make Dressing for Pleasure not only the best place to shop for all of your fetish/BDSM needs, but also a central part of the community we serve. To this end, we've worked hard to find the best products at the best prices, designed and commissioned unique merchandise, provided regular play parties and other events, and reached out to groups throughout the Northeast to bring people in the lifestyle together. We all want Dressing For Pleasure to be way more than just a fetish & BDSM store - we want it to be the center of a thriving community of kinky people, from nervous beginners to the most experienced lifestylers.
Our plans for the future include a much bigger online store, more unique and exciting products for every aspect of the fetish/BDSM lifestyle, and more frequent (and bigger) themed play parties in our newly expanded private dungeon. We're also planning a variety of exotic events like the fetish cruise, fetish BBQ and possibly the return of the legendary Dressing For Pleasure gala fashion show/dinner/seminar events. Check our website often for details and updates.
Taking over a business like Dressing for Pleasure has been both challenging and fun. We've been given the unique opportunity to meet some of the finest people we've ever known - our customers. And we intend to keep Dressing for Pleasure , as Constance said, "the Nieman Marcus of the fetish world."
Dressing for Pleasure
220 Bloomfield Ave
Montclair, NJ 07042
973.233.1193