BLUF (Breeches and Leather Uniform Fanclub) is an international fraternal organization of

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

men and MSM sharing a fetishistic interest in leather

breeches Breeches ( ) are an article of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles. Formerly a standard item of Western men's c ...

and

uniform A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, ...

s. The leather breeches are worn inside tall leather

boots A boot is a type of footwear. Boot or Boots may also refer to: Businesses * Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England * Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom * The Boot, Cromer St ...

known as jackboots. BLUF is a part of a larger

leather subculture Leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around sexual activities that involve leather garments, such as leather jackets, vests, boots, chaps, harnesses, or other items. Wearing leather garments is one way that pa ...

and the sexual aesthetic is similar to the exaggerated masculinity seen in the work of

Tom of Finland Touko Valio Laaksonen (8 May 1920 – 7 November 1991), pseudonym Tom of Finland, was a Finnish artist who made stylized highly masculinized homoerotic art, and influenced late 20th-century gay culture. He has been called the "most influential ...

. Members share interest in leather fetishism,

boot fetishism A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearly ...

, and

uniform fetishism Uniform fetishism is a particular type of clothing fetishism in which an individual is sexually aroused by uniforms. It is a form of sexual fetishism. Uniform fetishism has been associated with a variety of different uniforms, including schoolgirl ...

. Some wear

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

uniforms reminiscent of German

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

era uniforms, but without the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

regalia or embracing of

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

politics. The other common uniforms worn are those of American style

police The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: Long-distance ...

patrol and German police.

Dress code and guidelines

Membership is open to men of all races and nationalities above the age of consent in members' home countries. In order to join the club, the applicants are required to respect a strict dress code and a set of guidelines explained on the club's official website: BLUF Dresscode. Any breach of the requirements listed will result in a rejection of the photo and therefore of the application. Once the application is accepted, the member is assigned a random number that identifies him among the other members.

History

BLUF began as an Internet site in 1997 from Montreal, Canada but has evolved to a series of in-person meets and events regularly scheduled in European and North American cities. Members frequently plan vacation time around, and travel to, international meetings. A majority of members live in northern Europe, primarily Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Sweden, but members are found in North America, Asia, Central America, South America and Africa. BLUF started in October 1997 as a simple HTML-based website for men into full leather uniforms. According to the founder,

I was living in Montreal then and I had just discovered the joys of Internet. I joined Leather Navigator, which at that time was the only internet platform for leather men. Being disappointed with the absence of any kind of dress code, I started BLUF. I contacted a few friends by email, sent postcards to others (not everybody had a computer in those days), and informed them about the new club. Some of them joined. At the beginning, almost all new members were American. I had met quite a few at parties in Canada and the U.S. Not many Europeans had internet access then. The site consisted in those days of a picture gallery, a list of members, a list of admirers (for those that couldn't meet the dress code requirements), an online magazine and (a little later) a forum. Access was free. The cost of the server was covered by me. I was the webmaster and maintained the site. In September 1998, the first BLUF party was held during Folsom Weekend at the Loading Dock in San Francisco. Although we only had about 150 members then, the party became a huge success and is still remembered as one of the best in BLUF history. Around November 1998, the first in a series of BLUF parties was held in London. Many guys from the UK joined as a result. In 1999 I moved back to Amsterdam, and in autumn, closed down the site because of financial problems. Some of the members got together and convinced me to re-open the site and give members the opportunity to donate money to keep the site running. Around the same time, I restricted access to the BLUF public picture galleries through an age verification system (AdultCheck, now ManCheck). This brought in enough money to pay the bills and for a while even provided some pocket money. More Europeans joined the club. Slowly, the emphasis shifted from North America to Europe.

In 2008, BLUF received the Large Club of the Year award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards. BLUF 3 went online in December 2009, with the ability to send messages between members and upload photos directly. In 2012, during the 15th anniversary year. the organization reached 3,000 members. On Sunday, 20 January 2013, during Belgium's Leather Pride, BLUF won the X Award for Fetish Organisation 2013.

References

* Hooven, F, Valentine. ''

, His Life and Times.'' St. Martin's Griffin, Stonewall Inn Editions: 1994. . * Ramakers, Micha. ''

: The Art of Pleasure.'' Taschen: 2002. .

External links

The BLUF website
{{DEFAULTSORT:BLUF - The Breeches and Leather Uniform Fan Club BDSM organizations Gay male BDSM International LGBT organizations Fetish subculture Fetish clothing Leather subculture Uniforms