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A few dozen lucky souls may have already been exposed to my Rubber Gladiator outfit on the Web Drifters show. Okay, so maybe it's in the thousands!! And indeed, these photos actually date from 2006. To our left is one photo that has been seen neither place, but does show the mammoth rubber creation well.
The photo at right was featured on the cover of this year's Rubber Card. We're talking five motorcycle inner tubes, and a pound of copper rivets! The broad stanced photo was my favorite of the set. |
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It's rough work carrying six or eight pounds of rubber and copper swinging from a man's hips! A rest stop, and it gives a great view of the natural drape of the rubber leaves. The outer leaves were cut from the outer edge of the inner tube, which gives them a natural, inward curl.
The obligatory profile view: You can just make out the inner kilt leaves, cut you guessed it, from the inner edge of the tubes! With their curvature turned out, the two sets combine to give a dense look, that is still very comfortable to wear. Oh, I should mention, the waders are unlined, with the uppers cut from rubber pond liner! It's a very gnarly looking rubber, making a great contrast to the glossier butyl of the inner tubes. |
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The Red (and Black} Rubber Section Section
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Black rubber is all very well, but not that festive. So when this Orca Apex wetsuit showed up, I knew it would have to get some card time. At this remove, I have no idea why I chose such a strange pose. Was I trying to cover my ears to ignore the clamor of complaints?
Ah, this is a much better! That's my French "Abdominal Belt" adding some leather class to the scene. I think the Gates Century 2000 waders set the outfit off just right. |
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The Silver Swimmer Section
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A few makers of triathlon suits have bravely tried to move folks out of pure black. Often, it's just by applying sometimes rather gaudy designs, or blatantly commercial messages. But H2O decided that water looks a lot more like silver than it does black. Hence this suit, that I've actually contrived to get wet for the occasion.
Water tends to hide a lot of details, so the first published photo on the card was actually this one, with the caption, Merry Christmas!
Happy New Year! !
and Many more to Come! ! !" |
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I guess H2O's chooice of silver versus black arrangement makes a lot of sense. Most swimmers spend a whole lot of time face down, so why not put lots of silver neoprene on their back?
Here's another web-only bonus! I've already said how much fun it's been wearing my Rubber Gladiator outfit. It doesn't look bad against tanned skin, but I couldn't help wondering how it would work over a wetsuit. The silver neoprene really sets it off, don't you think?
Those rugged-looking waders are Bekina, a Belgian make. |
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The BeaverTail Brief Bonus Section
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Former visitors to my site will already be aware of my interest in reusing old ideas in a new way. The "beavertail" bottom of most older style wetsuits always invites experimentation. Here I've added side panels to create a very generous bikini brief.
The final photo on the card was quite tiny, but here the size is more generous, as is the prediction:May I say with resonant refrain that the future of
Rubber is in Neoprene! |
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