On the sofa with Gael - Part 2
Mister leather Belgium 2020, Gael, interviews some of the MSC Belgium members! Read the story of Tom!
Gael: Welcome in the sofa, Tom. Tell us something about yourself.
Tom: Online, I am mostly known as Tom in Pelt. I’m 41 years old and live with my husband in the small village Pelt. I work as a project manager and take care of a hotel, a guesthouse and a co-working space with business center. I’m running the businesses for my boss who owns the properties. My job goes from HR Management, Finance, accounting, … This year I participated at the election of Mister Leather Belgium and became second runner up.
Gael: We know your love for leather, but do you have other fetishes you’d like to share with us?
Tom: My main fetish is leather, but I also like puppy-play and I like to wear rubber, neoprene, sportswear,… I’m not so long in the fetish scene yet and I keep exploring. It’s about two years ago that I discovered the fetish scene and I really love it.
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“It’s about two years ago that I discovered the fetish scene and I really love it!”
Gael: Can you tell me more about puppy play? How and when did you first get in touch with a pup?
Tom: I didn’t hear about puppy play until last year. At the Brussels Pride I met Simba Xetal, Mr Puppy Belgium 2019-2020 and immediately felt attracted to him. During the whole Pride, he gave me his leash and we’ve been walking with pride in the parade. The pride ended with a kiss for us. We switched phone numbers and kept in touch. From then on, we’ve been daily sending messages to each other and not long after that we met again. He introduced me into puppy play. At this moment I am the handler of another puppy Tembo and during the lock-down I started to discover my puppy side as Stitch In Pelt.
Gael: When did you become an active MSC Belgium member? And how did you find out about this fetish club?
Tom: You wanna know the whole story? I did not know anything about fetish and its scene until end of 2018. I always liked leather but didn’t realize it was a fetish at that point.
I came in contact with a Dutch couple through Scruff. It is when they went to the elections of mister leather Netherlands and sent me pictures of themselves in full leather, that we started chatting about their leather fetish. From the moment that I saw their pictures I knew that I wanted to gear up that way too. Shortly after, I went to Mister B Antwerp to buy my first full leather outfit. I talked to one of the owners Steve about where to find places to wear our outfits and he proposed to go to the fetish socials of MSC Belgium. A week after I bought my outfit, my husband also wanted to buy his.
Together we went to our first fetish social at Santos Café. Initially, we felt a bit nervous, as we realized that we were not going to know anyone. But we were immediately welcomed by everybody and decided to become members of MSC Belgium shortly after. From that point on I didn’t want to miss any of the events.
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“My husband and I were nervous when going to our first fetish social! But we were immediately welcomed and decided to become members of MSC Belgium shortly after! I hardly skip any events of MSC Belgium since then.”
“As contestant, the period before the election was very intense, the lock-down after was going from one extreme to the other.
I really look forward to meet all my fetish friends again and to have a drink and chat together. I hope we shortly can reunite again”
Gael: How are you experiencing the Corona crisis? What do you miss the most and what are you looking forward to pick up again?
Tom: Shortly after the election of Mister Leather Belgium 2020, Belgium went in lock-down. As contestant, the period before the elections was very intense, so the lock-down meant going from one extreme to the other. When I heard about the loss of Daniel Dumont and Daniel De Fokkert, I had a very hard time! I was present at the dinner that Daniel Dumont had organized for his birthday and only one week later he wasn’t with us anymore.
Next, it was very hard to miss all the social contacts, all the events and the friendship within the fetish scene. Online meetings or sending messages is not the same as meeting up in real life. I really look forward to meet all my fetish friends again and to have a drink and chat together. I hope we shortly can reunite again.
Gael: Major Fetish events and prides are cancelled. Did you plan to go to some of them?
Tom: I definitely planned to go to the Belgian prides. Beside that, as I didn’t really make a final schedule before the election of mister Belgium, nothing was decided yet. I wanted to plan my holidays and events the week after Darklands and the rest is history.
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Gael: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
“I hope to play a role in making lots of new people feel welcome to our community and help them overcome their fears to be a fetish man/woman”
Tom: I can’t take a look in the future but I hope to play a major role in making lots of new members feel welcome to our community. I hope to help them overcome their fears to be a fetish man/woman. Together we can become a close group of friends all over the world. Let’s not forget our brothers who paved the way towards this point and build it further with unity.
Gael: How can people get in touch with you?
Tom: I am active on Facebook as “Tom In Pelt” & “Stitch In Pelt”. And you can also find me on Instagram as “tominpelt”.
