As the annual Excelsior Motorcycle Club Lust for Life Leather Weekend and the Mr. Fire Island Leather contest kick the Cherry Grove season off before Memorial Day, so did Mr. Fire Island Leather 2012 Mark Nayden and Ice Palace Manager John Doyle come up with a post-Labor Day event to anchor the season, a multi-faceted Leather Tea at the Palace on September 22. Mark and singer and comic Lavinia Draper hosted, DJ RDK, Mark’s partner Richard Kennedy, was responsible for music, sound, and lights, and Cirrtone, of the Leather Man, the shop at 111 Christopher Street, in Greenwich Village, brought a variety of current leather fashions, which were modeled by some of our best-looking colleagues, friends and neighbors.
Lavinia entertained us by singing “Let’s Stay Together;” Lady Gaga’s “Yoü and I;” “Honky Tonk Woman;” Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie;” “Let’s Hear it for the Boys,” sung as she danced on the bar; and “Rocket Man,” revised as “Leather Man,” to introduce the fashion show. This writer, Mr. Fire Island Leather 2001—the first ever—sang “I Am What I Am,” from “La Cage aux Folles,” and, later, “Impossible Dream,” from “The Man of La Mancha.”
Modeling fashions from the Leather Man, beside Lavinia, Mark, and Richard, were Jimmy, Lavinia’s boyfriend, in black leather gladiator skirt; Tommy, Robby Ranger, and Mark Fleurimont, fetching in harnesses; Ben Ryan, from Mark and Richard’s Excelsior Bar, in Park Slope, Brooklyn, in dress leather; Sonny, who brought his dog to the stage, prompting Lavinia to bring her canine friends up, too; lifeguard Gabriel, in form-fitting Neoprene; DJ Chuck McTague, in leather shorts; and Kevin, in full-length, backless leather apron.
Lavinia continued with “When a Man Loves a Woman,” sung as “When a Man Loves a Man;” “Hanky Panky;” and “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” from “Jesus Christ Superstar,” sung to a crucified DJ Richard, wearing his ‘Lavinia’s Bitch’ tank top. Porsche and Lavinia joined forces to sing “Two Little Girls from Little Rock,” from “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” and “Get Happy,” with Porsche as Judy Garland, and “Happy Days,” with Lavinia as Barbra Streisand.
With ABBA’s “Dancing Queen,” Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All,” Donna Summer’s “Last Dance,” and Queen’s “Somebody to Love,” Lavinia turned the remainder of the afternoon into a genuine leather tea dance.