Eyes Wide Open
12 Key Westers Reveal Their Favorite Fantasies and Fetishes
For this special Fantasy Fest issue we once again enlisted the help of body painter Joanne Gair to fulfill one of our own fantasies: the perfect cover. Gair, who created last year’s Fantasy Fest 2006 cover, worked for more than 14 hours to create and photograph this painted illusion of lingerie on our nude cover model. photograph by joanne gair
MOST OF US HAVE private dreams of living in a place where we can bend the rules of acceptable behavior to fit our personal fantasies; a place where we can play with the people our parents warned us against and not worry about the consequences. That’s what’s so captivating about the event known as Fantasy Fest. It’s all that, and more: part Crazy Horse Saloon, part Carnival in Rio and part Cirque du Soleil.
During the final days of October in Key West every year, when Fantasy Fest takes over the city, “adults—only” fun and games become the norm. There’s the bizarre—when leather lovers and feather fanciers hook up at the kinky Headdress Ball. There’s the elegant—when choreographers and divas team up to try for the $10,000 prize at the Pretenders costume competition.
And of course, there’s the erotic—when the city overflows with provocative parties like Hog’s Breath Saloon’s skimpy bikini contest, Captain Tony’s naughty—in—plaid party and two nude body—painting competitions. All told, this year Key Westers have organized more than 30 events for locals and visitors to enjoy. And many locals do enjoy them: bartenders, real estate brokers, bankers, charter boat captains, shop clerks, doctors by day, and by night, pirates, painted bodies, dominatrices, drag queens and fantastically tricked out singers, dancers and paraders.
Which got us thinking. Last year, some of us at Key West Magazine watched the Saturday night Fantasy Fest Parade comfortably perched at the top of La Concha Hotel, while others opted to spend the night right in the midst of the parade, riding on a float and tossing beads into the crowds lining Duval Street. Afterwards we wondered: “What do all these people do when they aren’t dressed in a bikini made of umbrellas, dancing on a float, or flaunting their leather thongs and feathered headdresses?”
So we decided to track down some of the regulars who have made Fantasy Fest a big part of their lives and find out who they are and what makes them embrace it so. You’ll find the answers on the following pages. And yes, it’s all about the fantasies . . .