Hi
Biggest turn off for me, by a long way is if there is a man in the picture. In second place are those awfull shoes with the very thick clear soles. Also the secretary in bondage allways has to have glasses, why is that?

:soapbox

Greetings from Texas,
Bondage turnoffs. I guess my first topic for the soap box is if your going to tie a girl up Tie*Her*Up! Be it rope, straps, chain or cuffs or single glove she should be restrained. Nothing against the Pet line but I would handel and train my pet differently. Her wrist would always be restrained at the very least. But that’s me.
In the same line I would list sloppy ropework and ineffective, or phoney, bondage. I list it only because it bugs me. I am delighted to say there is none of that here.
Collars in public. These days they are almost a fashion item and some of the girls that wear them freak at the suggestion of being tied up. Unless the girl is bound and leashed the collar seems to be a nonissue.
Fettish clothing is a good change of pace but can get old quick. One of the things I love about this site is the virity of custome. I hope that never changes.
You mentioned gasmask. Some years ago it was a big thing for Harmony to bind and gag some really beautiful girls then cover their entire heads with a pair of panties, or several. WHY?! I am a member here because I can see stunning ladies like Ariel, Jenny May and now Kobe bound and looking wonderful. A gag adds drama. A blindfold adds mystery. I don’t want these girls faces hidden.
While on the subject, over large ball gags are a turn off in my case.
Personally, just me, about the only place I have any use for tape in bondage is as a gag.
I can’t tell you how delighted I am there has never been a nose hook on this site, and pray there never will. Again, why bother?
I’m sure I will be adding things as this thread grows but like Ariel that’s all I can think of at the moment.

I’m afraid I like girls in glasses, I find it sexy, so that one is going to stay… but totally agree that the secretary in glasses is and awful cliche so we’ll stop shooting that for a bit 🙂 🙂 🙂

Men in the shot is something I’m aware that a lot of people hate. I can see why, but on the flipside I find a lot of girl-dominating-girl stuff can be pretty lame unless you have someone with the strength of personality to carry it off (like Chanta does, of course!) That’s particularly true for videos for me, where I like there to be some actual story and acting and dialogue and a real dynamic.

Tricky. Maybe we should do more POV stuff to experiment? (POV = point of view, where the camera is taking the place of one of the characters).

Hywel.

My own personal turn-offs and leaves-me-cold would include

– Drool. (ick)

– Bound while wearing shoes or boots of any sort (or even stockings, to a lesser extent – “If the model isn’t barefoot, she isn’t in bondage, she’s just… tied up.)

– Reverse prayer tie. Somehow that one strikes me as being cruel in an unarousing way.

– Photos where the model is badly distorted or foreshortened due to the camera coming too close.

– Photos that “crop off” hands, feet, and other bits of the model around the edges.

(Not that either of the last two have been a problem on RE)

– Gags I can take or leave, but other people like them so much that they get way overused from my POV.

WRT some of the stuff that other people have posted:

– Needles. Yep, ick.
– Fetishy clothing. not ick, but just leaves me cold
– Vibrators & forced orgasms. Nope, don’t mind that at all. (Sorry, Ariel)

– Guy in the picture: Not really a problem for me. If anything, I’m left colder by Fem/fem domination.

– Glasses I wouldn’t at all mind seeing more of. What leaves me feeling “eh, so what” about secretary sets are that they’re stereotyped in other ways. And especially that they cater to the hose & heels audience. (How about a glasses-wearing librarian or schoolteacher who starts out in an old-fashioned long skirt?)

“Excretory bodily functions and other stuff that I personally find a little unsanitary or off-putting rather than erotic (e.g. smoking).” and “Emphasis on genitals and gynaecology rather than the person, eyes, face, emotions.” Yes, and yes again! (Hywel and I seem to agree on a lot of things.)

– Sloppy, ineffectual bondage. Yep.

This is a fun thread 🙂

* sea-sickness – that terrible feeling I get when the camera cannot hold still for more than 3 seconds, and wiggles, shifts around when ever the zoom changes, and everything keeps going out of focus.

It tends to give me a headache, and totally kills the mood

* bored models – you get this a lot in certain classes of movies. That “dead” look in their eyes, where they clearly have no interest or involvement in events, are just there so you can stare at their tits, and are waiting for the check to turn up

* outfits and presentation… doing this wrong is not so much of a turn off, as a generally bad sign. I take it as an early clue that I am probably not going to see much here.

* passive models – here is a lovely lady, all tied up, but she hardly moves a muscle. Why bother to tie her up? She is just going to lie there, just the same, and not move at all.

This overlaps quite heavily with the points about ineffective bondage. I want to see evidence that the bondage is effective, I love the sight of the model trying to get free, but being unable to do so.

* lack of respect / excessive pain / mistreatment – this is a fuzzy area, without easy and clear definitions. Basically I am on the “soft, romantic” end of the bondage scale. So things that are not soft, gentle and romantic are often things I do not like and want.

However sometimes, if it is done well, if there is a plot, an explanation for events, a good reason, then I can relax into it and really enjoy it.

A good example of this would be seeing Ariel misbehave, and then get punished for her actions. A clear justification is given, plus we know this is what Ariel wants and enjoys.

* anything that looks dangerous – this is really an extension of my last point, but when I spend most of my time wondering about the safety precautions then I am not enjoying what is being done. Anything involving sticking a bound womans head under the water is an easy example of what I mean here.

Different people of course have different tastes, and I am not here to judge anyone. Respect my views and I will respect your views 🙂

There are many kinds of fetish clothing, you have to be specific here.

I hate: nipple clamps, gas masks, nose hooks, chastity belts and torture scenarios. And I double hate a plastic bag on a model’s head & pretend asphyxiation.

Greetings from Texas,
I would agree with several others that a lot of my turnoffs have already been listed. Tattoos are a mixed bag for me. My preference would be no tattoos, and excisive tattooing is a real downer.
On the other hand I have built a data base of tattoos, crossed by type, location and model and have been able to identify several models I didn’t recongise by matching the body art up. I know, shades of FBI and Scottland yard. Saddly these folks also used body art for identification. On occassion it is a sad and scarie world.
Studds, rings and other ‘implanted metal’ are another turnoff for me. Bellie button rings and pierced nipples are kinda like collars, it seems everyone has one or the other…or all three. It that’s the models wish no problem. But when a girl has several pounds of metal punched through every part of the body you can imagine – and a few I never would have thought of – Why?!
Glad to see one or other folks like heels.

Tattoos are a neutral-to-negative thing for me. I prefer to see the model without any, but even big ones don’t bother me as much as some other things do.

Piercings are another ick for me, but I’m even more extreme than Fogane and Fid533. For me it’s earings OK, anything else I’d rather not see.

Nipple clamps, turnoff. Nose-hooks, big turnoff. In general, any “if the captive struggles, she will hurt herself” scene is a big turnoff for me.

Yeah, I don’t envy you. We audience members are a fickle and ungrateful bunch :devil “Give us more of the same, only different, only not too different, but don’t fall into a rut.” “Give us more of this, and less of that.” “No, more of that and less of this.”

I don’t mind you occasionally doing something that leaves me going “eh” or even “ick!” – not when I like most of your stuff, and when there’s a chance of you doing something I find “hot hot hot!” What I’m paranoid about is the possibility of you drifting from your past and current “center of gravity” wrt site content, because I really do like where the past & current center of gravity of site content sits.

It helps that you and I do like (and dislike) a lot of the same things.

Hi all;

Before I get underway with my list (which in typical CD posting behavior will bear a striking similarity to a lot of those who have posted before – owing to my coming to this thread so very late) can I just ask if poor Ariel is sleeping any better? It seems to me that this whole thread is the responsibility of the poor dear having a bad night. I do hope it is not a guilty conscience that has been keeping her up, if Hywel has any suspicion that she is keeping something from him who knows what he might do?

Alas, back to the list, and I have to admit I am a little confused as to the exact topic here, so have gone for what turns me off when looking at bondage photography on a site like this (I figured this to be of more value to you than what turns me off in general). Is this any different to real life? Well I guess there are things on bondage websites that are going to just irritate you (crappy photography for example) to such an extent that it might become difficult to see beyond it and thus to properly appreciate the model/situation and so I have included things that irritate me about bondage websites as well as general no no’s.

– Absolutely anything to do with bodily fluids or solids come to that. I guess you shouldn’t knock things until you try them but please? What are these people thinking? Oh and put blood and piercing on the list – oh and people threading tings through existing piercings!
– Messed up models. No not as in models with personal issues, rather models that though may have started the set looking like the girl next door/secretary/business boss… have over the course of the set had their clothes all messed up and the make-up smudged. Not, perhaps, a hard and fast rule but I do like the ‘elegance’ that keeps me coming back to this site.
– Animal play. Whilst this includes dog training (I exclude the recent Ariel punishment – as there was some context to this and it was quite clear that this was Ariel – a human – being punished) I particularly mean pony play – this is another one I really can not get my head around.
– Men in shot. Am making an exception for Hywel – appearing as a rigger or a Dom (to some extent) is fine. Definitely no male nudity (that does include Hywel – sorry old chum!) and no male subs.
– As a foot-guy you might have expected me to include models with shoes on on this list and whilst I stand by my oft stated belief that you can not be truly submissive with shoes on I accept that they are a necessary evil on occasion though lets be absolutely sure about this – there is a huge gulf between a nice leather boot or sandal and those damn ugg boots). Manky feet however I can well live without and these I would definitely list as a turn-off both photographically and in ‘real life’. There are definitely occasional good reasons for stockings and/or shoes.
– Dodgy acting. There are a whole raft of crimes here. Often a model asked to take a dominant role in a video will, I have noticed, just start randomly swearing in a really unconvincing way. I am not a huge fan of swearing but have been known to utter the odd swear-word and have generally meant it but when the ‘dom’ is just saying it for her perception of effect it really grates. Putting on a false laugh when tickled – it’s just irritating stop it. Noises associated with the physical exertion of fighting against the bondage is fine and authentic – whining and whimpering noises for effect are just irritating.
– Rubbish bondage. If the person you are tying up can easily get out why bother? This includes overly loose handcuffs (I don’t need to see a models circulation cut off but daylight = too loose) people with no idea of what to do with rope (never a problem on RE – at least when Hywel or Chanta are rigging) and (this is something that Hywel does) putting cuffs on wrists and ankles, locking them in place, and then neglecting to fasten them together.
– Whilst not a turn-off particularly, I share many of your concerns regarding dildos and forced orgasms. Bondage = good, gynecology lesson = not so good. I have seen some of the stuff on Chanta’s site and think she incorporates it well – she is clearly very skilled at rigging, shoots a little harder than RE and the dildo-play sort of fits into the context of things. More off-putting is where it seems to be used just for effect, kind of “what else shall we do? Let’s reach for the dildo!â€

I forgot – large navel jewellery are a major turn off imho – a simple ring can be fine but something looking like a large earring is bad – not better in the ear by the way…
The dungeon sets have been full of them lately…

I agree that anything on the feet is a big turn off! A barefoot model is a MUST everytime!

Needles, Masks, etc – Why oh Why? Certain no nos!

I wouldn’t mind a few more hogties either! Theres been a lack of these recently!?!?

Keep up the good work!

I know its a bit boring to keep saying the same things as everyone else, but I too hate gas masks, men in shot (excluding Hywel as rigger or dom) & facial piercings (apart from ears).

But I also do not like anything that disfigures the models, blood or excessive abuse. Those kind of things just don’t do it for me at all. Shoes and boots go without saying, and I hate over the top make-up!

Now bondage has to be secure so the girls can’t get free, but there are various other websites that have the girls tied up REALLY tight with rope so you can see the arms and legs going bright red & blue with the lack of blood flow. To me, that’s not elegant and I don’t find that attractive at all.

Other more unusual fetishes that completely turn me off are things like, necrophilia, asphyxiation, catheter play, adult babies, bodily fluids etc, but that sort of list can go on for ages!

To be honest, everything that R.E offers ticks all my boxes as far as beautiful models, excellent bondage & stunning photography is concerned, so well done Hywel, Kate and all the models!

Steve

@hywel wrote:

This thread is faintly terrifying, as it shows what a tightrope-walk it is appealing more than one person’s tastes.

Invert your perspective, and look for the common thread here 🙂

Sooner or later most / all of the answers end up saying “we like elegant, sexy and well done”.

In a sense this is no surprise, since this seems to be the core theme and goal of this site. Keep your eye on this, while feeling free to experiment a little with other things.

Experimentation and variety is good, it keeps things fresh and interesting.

Fid533’s comment about the silk soles sets is actually interesting in this perspective, since I like many of these sets since they are such good examples of elegant and sexy models looking “nice”.

That is something that seems far to hard to find on other sites.

Interesting question, interesting responses.

There seems to be quite a bit of variance, but also quite a bit of overlap.

My suggestion would be to poll the entire member-base (or forum base) systematically in the form of a survey, then run a PCA over the results.

Given similar studies on taste-space measures, I would expect there to be several distinct clusters in the resulting space.

Afterwards, you could deliberately aim particular videos/sets/scenarios at specific clusters, maybe matching the frequency by the number of people in the cluster, of course within the constraints given by the “Restrained Elegance” spirit.

That would be quite an interesting project, actually.