The Passion of Bootblacking

By Amelia Horo

The Passion of Bootblacking is a product of Amelia Horo's journey to find a place in the LGBTQI+ community that sings to their soul. In the book, she discusses the history of bootblacking both in the LGBTQI+ community, as well as in the general public, including laws within the US and globally addressing the work of a bootblack or shoe shin

• Language: English
• Publisher: Agar Publishing
• Release date: Jul 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781956096057

Amelia Horo

Amelia Horo, AKA Girl Amelia, is a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. Pronouns are she/her and they/them. They are genderfluid and queer, spanning the spectrum from femme to drag king to she-wolf in the pup community. She has been a member of the Leather community for over a decade as a bootblack and is the Mid-Atlantc Community Bootblack 2013. They have written articles in Baltimore OutLoud magazine concerning immigration law and the impact of the Trump administration on noncitizens seeking lawful status in the United States of America.

Book preview

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The Passion of

Bootblacking

Linda A. Dominguez

Copyright © 2021 by Linda A. Dominguez

ISBN:           Paperback         978-1-956096-04-0

                    eBook                978-1-956096-05-7

LCCN:        2021913346

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Printed in the United States of America

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to Sir Tatsujin Paris, the person to whom I am bound in three different ways: (1) handfasting; (2) civil wedding; and (3) collaring. He answered my complaint about there not being any reference books on how to be a bootblack with the order, Then write a book and there will be one. So, here is the result of my compliance to his order. I hope I have made you proud with my work on this book.

CONTENTS

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1:    What is bootblacking and when did it start?

Chapter 2:    What does it mean to be Leather?

Chapter 3:    What role does a bootblack play in the Leather community?

Chapter 4:    What does love or sex have to do with it?

Chapter 5:    Who becomes a bootblack?

Chapter 6:    Practical advice

Chapter 7:    Bootblacks and the Master/slave or Sir/boy Dynamic

Chapter 8:    Running for a title—should you or shouldn’t you?

Chapter 9:    Tales from the Bootblack stand

Chapter 10:    Final Thoughts

Appendices

FOREWORD

I’ve known Amelia for some years. In that time, I’ve come to respect her, been frequently astonished by and regularly laughed long and hard in her company. I’ve known her best as girl Amelia to Sir Tatsujin Paris and watched the carefully balanced dance they maintained between their deeply felt leather life and the more public one of girl Amelia, Bootblack and Title holder.

Girl Amelia, the Bootblack, brings out the best in people; the ones who sit in her chair and ones she mentors. With considerable skill and a healthy dose of elbow grease she brings boots and leather garments back to life while openly engaging with the people she serves. Knowledgeable, she sets forth to give a foundation on the history of Bootblacking before moving into the care and upkeep of boots and garments. She touches on the Leather Lifestyle that she holds most precious and discusses the contest system where a Bootblack can choose to be recognized by their peers and the Leather Community.

She does this with charm and wit so without further commentary, I give you the writings of girl Amelia, the Bootblack.

Boy Darren Amerson-Holt

Boy Darren is my brother from another mother, Leather brother, and dearest friend. He died on June 24, 2020 of bone cancer after years of living with pain. I love you!

INTRODUCTION

I am Amelia, an owned and collared girl, and a bootblack who identifies as femme in the Leather community. I have been a bootblack since November 2009, when Boy Andersen (Mid-Atlantic Community Bootblack 2010) and Brandon (Mid-Atlantic Community Bootblack 2009) agreed to teach me about being a bootblack. I wish there had been more chances to have actual learning sessions, but our calendars never seemed to coincide. However, I learned by searching the Internet and attending the Blackout Intensive at South East Leather Fest (S.E.L.F.) in 2010, as well as working on boots, chaps, pants, vests, jackets, and corsets.¹

It was at S.E.L.F. that I plunged into the deep end of the pool, learning from David Hawks, Q, and others what it means to be a bootblack, as well as tips and techniques. David Hawks taught me that something as simple as laying out the products I will use during a shift can be a way to center my attention and energy so that my focus is on the person sitting in my chair and the leather gear they are wearing. Q taught me that gender has no meaning for a bootblack; whether it is the person in the chair or the bootblack working on the leather. Q helped me find the permission inside me to accept the fact that I am genderfluid. Each bootblack that I have encountered has taught me something valuable; whether it was a new product, a new process, or a new perspective on things. Positive or negative, I learn and value each lesson.

Eager to give back to the Leather community and expand on my skills, I joined the Bootblack Brigade in February 2010 as a pledge on probation. After working on some projects and demonstrating that I really meant it when I said I had a passion for being a bootblack, Brandon Riley, President and Founder of the Bootblack Brigade, presented me with a full member back patch on May 8, 2010. Tatsujin Paris, the Sir who collared me on December 31, 2008, presented me with a brown leather vest on May 17, 2010, with the Brigade patch sewn on it; proof that I had earned not just the patch, but also my first piece of leather. In November 2010, I became the Treasurer for the Brigade and a member of the Board of Directors. In October 2012, I became the President of the Brigade. I used my skills as an attorney to register the organization as a 501(c)(4) tax exempt organization. The Brigade no longer exists in the United States, having succumbed to the diverging goals of various members.

After searching throughout the Internet and reading various websites about the craft and skills of being a bootblack, I learned two things: (1) there are very few actual books about it, and (2) there are very few older bootblacks left in the Leather community after the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s took its toll on the Leather community. I spoke to Sir Tatsujin Paris about this situation and he assigned me the task of writing a comprehensive book about it, with the hope that more people would decide to become bootblacks if there was a resource that was easily accessible.

I decided that part of my community service is mentoring people who wish to become bootblacks. To my great and pleasant surprise, my first apprentice, Leo Mason, became a titleholder in 2011, Mid-Atlantic Community Bootblack. He went on to compete for International Community Bootblack in San Francisco, California and did well for someone who had spent very little time prior to the contest working as a bootblack. I was so proud of him. My personal view of being a mentor is this: I will give you a foundation of information and techniques to use in the care of leather. After that, it is your job as a bootblack to use that foundation and spend a lifetime learning and expanding your own knowledge into a house built with pride and passion.

Since 2010, I have had other apprentices, who are in various stages of growth as bootblacks. I am proud of them all and, to my mind, there is no mandate for an individual bootblack to work in public unless they feel comfortable doing so. After all, it is told that the original bootblacks in the gay Leather community cared only for the leather of the persons in their households. The bootblacks who worked in gay bars were, for the most part, not members of a household. They were expected to not just care for leather gear but also engaged in sexual conduct with their customers. Often, the bootblack was hopeful that a good scene would be enough to prompt a customer to take them into service in that household. As a result, the community or bar bootblacks were subjected to several strains of the HIV virus during the pandemic, when the use of cocktails of medicines was not yet established and they died in large numbers.

My First Public Client as a Bootblack

At the Playhouse Studios New Year’s Eve party in 2009, I overheard a Top commenting that he needed to have his boots worked on and he was disappointed that no bootblack had shown up as advertised. After consulting with Sir Tatsujin Paris, I approached him and said that I was a bootblack in training and that I would work on his boots if he wished. He agreed to let me work on his boots, stating that he had never had them done by anyone and was curious to try it. I was a bit nervous since Sir was watching me, as well as the Top’s girl; I did not want to mess up my first client’s boots! Then I realized that I was wearing a party dress and that Sir Tatsujin Paris would not be pleased if I messed it up with polish. So, I asked for permission to remove my clothes and asked the Top if he minded if I worked on his boots naked. The Top indicated he had no problem with me being naked and I went to work.²

I rehearsed in my mind the steps I needed to take: inspect the boots, clean them, and then work in polish and

Reviews for The Passion of Bootblacking

[MissDM Divine · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

That was a delightful read! Enjoyable stories about interactions over the years.