2008

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Once again my idea came to my while wandering through a novelty shop. The same store in San Francisco where I'd bought my candy jockstrap was the source for 2008. The store no longer exists--they closed it down in favor of a separate large location they operate.

The plastic 'chain link' necklace I'd worn for the past five years was finished. The rainbow colored paint was chipping off it in many places. But when I saw a bunch of these necklaces in that store the idea suddenly sprung into my head to make a loincloth out of them. So I bought four of them. One became the waistband, and three were taken apart to link to the waistband in strips.

However I knew that I'd stick right through all the time if they were just dangling there, so I bought a tube of clear silicone sealant and ran three beads of it horizontally across on the inside. That held the strings together in one unified piece.

This was another extremely simple costume that took moments to put on. The only catch with it was that when I sat down on the curb for the parade I had two choices: plant myself carefully or the entire costume would flip up leaving me completely naked to the world. Not that I really cared, but a bit of decorum is good, so every time I sat down I'd think about how I was doing it.

Two ladies and the 7-year-old son of one of them parked themselves right beside me and it was an absolute blast spending the parade with them. The kid was a great boy, very well behaved. So it was a pleasure collecting chachka for him as they handed it out. That is an advantage of my outfits: I get the attention to always be given whatever the handout is--sometimes an extra 'special' one they've got tucked away.

2009 Epilogue: I recycled this costume and used it again in Toronto! I was there for Pride 2009 in June. I was naked for the parade because I had been invited to join the Totally Naked Toronto group so was actually in the parade. But when the parade ended I had this costume with me and wore it for the rest of the day while enjoying the festivities on Church Street. Check it out at EvanPride.com.

I found that links were barely holding, and the beads of silicone I'd put on were starting to give: the thing was finished. So at the end of the day I took it off again and tossed it in a trash can. Then naked once again I walked a couple of blocks to the end of the party area before slipping on a pair of tiny, thin nylon shorts I had tucked in my cap for the 10-12 block walk back to my apartment.