A Field Guide To Jade Vixen

It's Jade Vixen's birthday today and she's going to be hosting the Fleshbot Friday Burlesque Show at Headquarters Gentlemen's Club this Friday, so it very much behooves us to submit our words of admiration to her now. You don't know who Jade is? That's no good. Learn about her.

Jade Vixen was born in New York City on September 25, 1982 (although we've also seen 1981 and 1983 on various sites, so we could be wrong). Her discovered her affinity for fetish gear when she was in high school. As she explains to The Fetishistas...

"It all started with a pink rubber Playtex girdle I found in a thrift shop," she explains. "I soon collected other vintage undergarments, nylons, and gloves. Later that year, I bought my first modern latex piece, a spikey black latex skirt from Craig Morrison that I still have!"

Jade's love for fetish grew with every piece of clothing and media that she consumed, and as her knowledge of latex, rubber, and corsetry grew, she learned more about herself and what she wanted to become. "The idealised woman with long thin limbs and a curvy figure with nipped-in waist, wearing extreme heels, was my early vision of a fetish goddess that I strive to emulate." She chose the name Jade because she had been using it around the fetish clubs, and she added Vixen as a surname because "there were so many girls named 'Jade' on the fetish scene, I had to make my name somewhat unique."

One of the coolest things about Jade (besides the way she looks and acts) is the way she talks about her passion for fetish; she says, "I am a fetishist first, model second" and you have to believe her. She does what she does because her body cries out for it, as she mentioned in an interview with Lust Love Latex, "I love dressing in latex, whether I am at home, attending events, or doing a photo shoot. The smell, look, and sensation of slippery shiny latex on my skin is a true aphrodisiac."

Her modeling career sort of started out around 2005, but at that point, she was only doing it as a hobby and as a way to catalog her extensive fetish wardrobe. By 2007, she started taking her modeling more seriously, and she began to amass a portfolio of sexy pics across a wide network of alt and fetish websites. In 2009, she got her own website, JadeVixen.com, but it's currently in need of repairs. (Jade mentions that she dabbled in commercial print modeling when she was younger, but she doesn't count that as part of her current gig.)

Jade was also a well-known figure--a dominatrix, really--in the New York S&M scene, but she left that world behind in the late '00s and has been devoting her energies to fetish work. Certainly, there are many facets of fetish that demand her energy and attention, especially given how detail-oriented Jade is: "These days, I am a serious latex fashion fetishist. I am meticulous and obsessive about minor details and fit. I tend to favour designers that pay close attention to minutiae, possess superb pattern drafting skills, and create nicely seamed and durable garments."

Even though she loves what she does, Jade knows that she may not be able to stick with her fantastic elastic lifestyle forever:

"One should always have a plan for the day that dressing in sexy outfits is no longer a valid vocational choice. I did pursue an advanced degree in engineering, but realised it was not the career path for me. Perhaps I will return to it some day."

Oh yeah, did we mention that Jade had a double science major as an undergrad and was pursuing a Ph.D in materials science at Penn? We can't even begin to comprehend the mysteries that must be in this woman's brain, and we're not even done talking about the magic she makes with her body.

Jade has been shot by some of the biggest fetish photographers, appeared in countless magazines, and worked hands-on with the world's top latex designers. We can't help but gawk at the girl, and we're damn excited to get a chance to do so this Friday (you should come, too, if you're free).

Happy birthday, Jade Vixen!

Be sure to check out...
· Her blog (blog.jadevixen.com)
· Her Model Mayhem profile (modelmayhem.com)
· Her Facebook Fan page (facebook.com)
· And her Twitter (twitter.com)