HotelChatter

Unprepared as we were, we had only our iPhone to document the next few hours of fun, so excuse the grainy pictures, the least risque of which are used here. As one of the only females inside of the International Mister Leather party, which really did take over the entire hotel (the largest hotel in Chicago), we spent the next few hours easily making friends with gladiators, wrestlers, latex-clad state troopers, hockey players (in honor of the Chicago Blackhawks' championship game), and men who couldn't be bothered to wear anything more than a loincloth made of chain maille.

Everyone seemed to be having an excellent time, and no one thought twice about playfully lobbing chew toys at the guys who adopted the personalities of puppies or taking pictures of the statuesque men who looked as thought they had walked right out of a Tom of Finland illustration.

Then we got to thinking about the really amusing side of all this: other events like Bar Mitzvahs and high school proms are held in the very same convention rooms where Mister Leather Akron 2009 and Mister Leather Bavaria 2010 shake their speedos on go-go platforms.

As it turns out, International Mister Leather used to be held at the Palmer House Hilton, but for this thirty-second convention, the Hyatt was chosen for its larger size.

Although we highly caution you against going next year out of curiosity, the IML convention does offer some of the best people-watching, along with the realization that yes—everyone has a kinky side. We only wish we could have stayed for the International Mister Bootblack competition.