SilkSoles.com system updates

Hi Everyone

SilkSoles.com is running AT RISK over the next few days. We are upgrading the server’s systems and testing, and while we don’t expect any service outages, it’s just possible that some changes we make may have unexpected consequences. So please bear with us if the site is flaky until the maintenance is done. Thanks!

UPDATE: Login script fixed

News update script fixed

Still working on the Model index bug – the list of sets for each model on the members’ area stops after the first video gallery. Works on the non-members area which is frankly a bit bizarre. We are working on it.

We’re still working on these this week, so the site is still running at risk. If you experience any problems let me know.

Hywel

New email address

Hi Everyone

Over the years my work email address (webmaster @ restrainedelegance.com) has got more and more unreliable, with more and more emails not getting through to me. I believe this is because of shadowbanning with some mail routers just swallowing any emails to “porny” domains. It’s annoying to say the least, and came to a head this morning when MY OWN WIFE couldn’t send me an email of her appearance on Irish TV to my work address and had to resend to my personal one.

It’s clearly got out of hand, so I have set up a new secure email system using protonmail and a custom domain.
So from now on if you need to email me, please send to webmaster@restrainedelegance.help.

Hopefully that will prove more reliable!

The old email address will still work as well or as badly as it is right now, and it’ll take me a while to change all the “contact us” links and so forth. But hopefully the new address will be more reliable.

Hywel

Restrained Elegance is 22 years old!

Hi everyone,

1st April marks Restrained Elegance’s 22nd birthday! I didn’t choose to launch the site on April Fool’s day – it had been intended to launch a few days later on or around 4th April. But the billing had already gone live, and such was the fierce interest in fetish sites in the early days of mass internet access, I got my first member before I even knew the site was open for business.

So here we are, stuck with April Fool’s Day. Let’s celebrate!

For RE members, I’ve opened up the site so the updates and archives go back a whole year. If you missed out before, take the chance to catch up this weekend. I can’t keep this much material on the site for long, the bandwidth bills would be crippling, so don’t miss out!

And if you are not a member today is the day to join – you’ll get 112,493 photos and 277 video clips (total duration 67 hours, 38 minutes) but the offer lasts for THIS WEEKEND ONLY! Now’s your chance to get double the bondage for your money!

If you prefer to purchase clips and sets individually I am also running a 50% off SALE on our eStore, THIS WEEKEND ONLY.

That includes all our Elegance Studios films like Scarlett’s First and Second Sessions, Slave Auction, all our D&D Feature Films, the Pony Girl trilogy plus all our updates from the last five-plus years!

I won’t be running another sale like this this year, so don’t miss out!

March already!

Hello friends,

It’s March already, how did that happen? I’m very much looking forward to this week for three reasons. First, because I have a two day shoot with two stunning models for some creative custom videos. Second, because that shoot is the last in my mega-hectic run of shoots catching up on content since the pandemic. And third because that means I get to switch gears a bit and head into the editing suite to work on a lot of the 3 years’ and more worth of content I’ve shot in the last twelve months… not least to finally deliver a few outstanding customs which haven’t been edited yet.

In retrospect I took on too many customs in the last six months given that I was also shooting three times as much as I do in a normal year (to replace the “stock” of stuff on disc that I put otu during lockdowns when it was forbidden to shoot with external models). It’s been fine keeping up with the editing for the 20 minute straightforward ones, but some of the outstanding ones are cinematic films with lots of camera angles, multiple scenes, multiple models, visual effects work needed, which will benefit from careful sound design and grading scene-by-scene or shot-by-shot. So apologies once again to the three customers who are still waiting on their grandest and most cinematic commissions from me – I should have the time in the next couple of months to spend the multiple days your films deserve!

The same applies to my own more cinematic projects – Lucy’s D&D film shot just before lockdown still has all its complicated and thrilling outdoor sequences to come, there are full-day or full-weekend location films with multiple models that will take a week to edit, more in the Horror-film inspired pipeline of work, five hundred unedited photosets, a hundred a twenty unedited video projects – some of which are two hour long “proper” films or multi-part storylines.









Normal production for the rest of this year is going to feel relaxed after twelve months of crunch. I have four one-week location shoots booked which form the spine of the year’s filming, and I’m just starting to book in the shorter shoots now. My aim is to work with many new-to-RE models, get more of established RE favourites and do a bit more trade shooting (where I film for the model’s productions as well as shooting them for RE). I love shooting for RE and Silk Soles, but it is super-interesting to have a few days where I shoot different fetishes and work in different styles – stops me getting stale. Very often the model will say “well I’d like it to look like an alien operating theatre” and I’ll think – I have some props and stuff I can pull out of the kit room to make that happen. I love creative collaboration!

If there are any UK based models you’d like to see on RE drop me a line to suggest them. (I’ll work with non-UK models too if they are travelling here but it’s easier to schedule with British models).

I’ve got pet projects of my own. More Horror-film inspired stuff (I’m toying with giving this it’s own little mini-site at BrideOfDarkness.com . Working more with the anamorphic lenses. More in the “visit to the pro dom as a treat” series that I’ve shot with Lucy Lauren and Faerie Willow so far – got a few models in interested in that, you’ll see the first scenes on RE next month. I want to shoot some more gothic or baroque sets with overblown storylines. I want to shoot more polaroid sets – got an idea for a “found footage” storyline where we see what’s happening through the eyes of the heroine’s polaroid camera, Blair Witch but for bondage.

If there are themes, styles, storylines and stuff you’d like to see me do more of this year, let me know! And if you want any customs, I’ll be opening custom requests once I’ve got shoot dates booked in with models. There will not be anything like as many slots this year though as I want to avoid the editing logjam this time around.

Silk Soles has a bunch of shoot ideas bubbling around too – I very much enjoyed last year’s trade shoot with Faye Taylor, I’ve got a bunch of ideas to shoot with Ariel, I’ll be grabbing more stuff on location throughout the year, and I’ve even shot some foot fetish horror sets with Scarlet Foxett to treat you to as soon as I get into the editing flow. I’d be up for shooting more Silk Soles videos this year but they’d need to be customs, for some reason the Silk Soles videos never sell as well for me on Clips4Sale as the RE bondage ones do, so I’d need a bit of help to make sure the production costs are covered. Please drop me a line to webmaster@restrainedelegance.com if you are interested!

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Bamboo Silk Rope

I have been selfish in keeping this to myself. But OMG bamboo silk rope! I’ve been buying from Reborn Ropes on Etsy. The rope has a bit of bite (less than hemp, more than nylon) and does have quite a bit of elasticity, so not for suspension. But the colours! And it is so soft!

I find it an absolute pleasure to tie with. Even with tied rather than whipped ends and having to hide the tassels. I may get around to whipping all the ends someday (yeh, right). It’s displaced nylon in every colour I own it in. Hemp’s only staying for load bearing purposes.

I’ve just put in an order for another four standard Hywel sets in the few remaining common colours that I didn’t have. So once I’ve selfishly got that order you can all bombard them with sales
It’s honestly the nicest stuff to tie with I’ve tried in 25+ years of rigging.

If you wonder what a standard Hywel set is, it comes from measuring and cutting ropes in “Hywel arm spans”, which turn out to be 1.3m. We use 2’ers (=2.6 m) for wrists and ankles, 3’ers for frogties, 4’ers for chest & crotchropes, 6’ers for decorative stuff/ropes to ceiling etc.. Their standard length is 8m, which is just exactly wrong for that – it cuts down to 4m (not quite a 3’er) and 2m (definitely too short for a 2’er). But they kindly made me custom 10m lengths, which cut down into a 2’er and a slightly over-length 4’er (which is fine) or 2x3ers.

So 7 x 10 m lengths make 4 x 2 ers, 2 x 3 ers, 4 x 4 ers, 2 x 6’ers, with the longer lengths running a tiny bit long rather than short (which was REALLY ANNOYING cutting down the 8m ropes).
It’s not cheap but I’ve absolutely fallen in love with tying with it.

I may have a go at whipping ends or maybe dipping or taping. It’s not the knots I mind so much as the tassels, which can spoil the look of a really neat rope rig a bit. So I might try taping past the knots and see how that works. Trouble is with 12 ropes in each standard set, 2 ends per rope, and 20 or so colours, we get up to 500 or so rope ends needing treatment! So I’ll have to be sure I’m doing the right thing because it’ll probably take me a full work day to do them all.