Materials & dress glossary

Explore each term in this topic, then open its full explanation for context, sources and related reading.

Footwear and boot fetish
An attraction to shoes or boots, sometimes focused on a specific shape, material, heel, wear pattern or cultural association. It may overlap with foot fetishism but can centre primarily on the object.
Glove fetish
An attraction to gloves as objects, materials or symbols of formality, cleanliness, authority or concealment. The focus may be on leather, latex, satin or another particular texture.
Hosiery fetish
A focus on stockings, tights, socks or related garments. Attention may involve texture, sheen, pattern, the act of dressing or the way hosiery frames the legs and feet.
Latex and rubber fetish
An attraction to the appearance, feel, scent, sound or ritual of wearing latex or rubber. Interest may centre on fashion, transformation, uniformity, compression or the material itself.
Leather fetish
An attraction to leather’s visual, tactile or olfactory qualities, or to the identities and subcultures associated with leather clothing. Leather culture also has distinct social histories, particularly within LGBTQ+ communities.
Lingerie fetish
An attraction to intimate apparel as an object, aesthetic or part of dressing and role expression. It can involve particular fabrics, construction, styles or the contrast between concealment and display.
Masks and hoods
An interest in facial concealment, anonymity, transformation or the visual language of masks and hoods. Designs vary from decorative masks to close-fitting garments, with very different implications for communication, heat and breathing.
PVC and wetlook fetish
An attraction to glossy synthetic garments and their reflective, fitted or uniform-like appearance. PVC, polyurethane-coated fabrics and other ‘wetlook’ textiles may look similar but differ in flexibility, breathability and care.
Uniform fetish
An attraction to standardised dress and the roles, authority, belonging or transformation it represents. In consensual role-play, uniforms are symbolic costumes and do not confer real institutional power.
Wet-clothing fetish
An attraction to clothing made wet, including its weight, cling, sheen, temperature, sound or transformation from an ordinary garment.