JT's Stockroom - Collar w/ Red Scalloped Edge

Rating: 4.5/5
Impressions: Sturdy, well-made and just feminine enough.
Price: $34.50 from JT's Stockroom

Technically, a submissive isn't supposed to choose their own collar, but I'm not your typical submissive and all of my collars have been chosen by me and this one was no exception. I'm stubborn, can you tell? I already had (or should I say have) a collar that I adore - a stainless steel kitten collar with a mirror shine - but that was missing two features I wanted in a collar: (1) an option of locking it and (2) an attachment point for a leash, cuffs or anything else that might get clipped to a collar.

So I turned to JT's Stockroom, which is, if you ask me, one of the best places to go for a simple, sturdy and aesthetically pleasing bondage restraint without paying an arm and a leg in the process. While this collar is a bit more femme than I would normally go for (my current kitten collar notwithstanding, I don't tend to choose girly pieces - I'm far more unisex) with its delicate red leather scalloped edge, it jumped out at me for two reasons - one practical and the other purely aesthetic: (1) it met both my criteria for a new collar: it accepted a lock but didn't need one to stay closed and it had a D-ring on the front for attaching a leash/cuffs to and (2) it looked gorgeous on the girl modelling it (who is, also, I might add, gorgeous) and made me want to look gorgeous in my collar, too. What can I say? I may not be a girly girl, but I do like to feel beautiful.

Fast forward to my eagerly awaited collar arriving in the mail and my opening the box and thinking "My God, this thing is huge...there's no way this is going to fit around my neck..." and then confirming that by trying it on, measuring it, finding it measures in at 17" instead of 12" fully closed and wondering how it could have been mislabeled as a Small, all the while planning to send it back to JT's and exchange it for a real Small. And sulking. I was disappointed, okay?

Fast forward again to two days later, when I'm getting ready to package the collar back up and send it off to JT's to be exchanged when my husband asks to see it. Just like me, he looks at it, tries it on himself and sees that it's huge, after which I'm doubly sure that it's not just me being an idiot.

Fast forward one more time to 5 minutes later when we're trying out my brand new red leather wrist cuffs (which, incidentally, close the same way as the collar, but apparently that never crossed my mind - and you'll see why that's important in a minute). After looking at the cuff, putting it on my wrist the wrong way (they're a bit fidgety), comparing it to the other still-buckled-by-JT's cuff, and managing to get it on properly, he looks at the collar and tells me to bring it over again.

And what happened? You guessed it. I was fastening the collar wrong, which is why it was a full 5" bigger than it should have been at the tightest setting. Normally I'm good with seeing spatial relationships, but this collar (and the cuffs) aren't exactly intuitively styled (at least not in my opinion). There's quite a bit of "Insert Tab A into Slot B..." involved that ends with the collar wrapping twice around the neck with one end inserted through the other, which makes for a very secure collar that acts almost as a posture collar, due to its width and stiffness.

Which brings me to the collar itself. This is a wide one at 2.25" wide (not quite a posture collar, but certainly not a thinner kitten collar, either) and the black leather that makes up the body of the collar is a bit on the stiff side, which is, in my book, a good thing and a bad thing. It's a good thing because it makes it sturdy and reminds you that you're wearing a collar, but bad because it can be a bit uncomfortable when you first start wearing it. The red scalloped trim, on the other hand, is soft and supple and doesn't irritate the delicate skin of my neck by rubbing against it.

I did find that the buckling portion of the collar (where the holes are for the tongue of the buckle - which also serves as the insertion point for the lock) was shedding bits of leather both while the collar was being put on and while I was wearing it, but I'm sure that that will eventually stop once the collar gets worn in a bit.

And a note to those who don't like asymmetry in their collars: the buckle on this one is actually on the side of the collar rather than in the back. An odd place for it, but it does keep the lock and buckle from getting tangled in your hair. Personally, I like the asymmetry, but some people like things to be symmetrical and might be bothered by the unusual placement.

Since there aren't any instructions included with the collar and since it's shipped flat rather than fastened like the cuffs, I thought it might be a good idea to give a tutorial of how to fasten the collar for anyone like me who's planning on buying one. My husband saved me from sending it back to JT's complaining that it was too big, so maybe I can save someone else from doing the same. Maybe. Or maybe I was just having one of those moments where the hamster wheels in my brain weren't quite spinning properly and it'll be painfully obvious to any other person who buys one of these collars. Either one is possible.

So cast your eyes downward if you need a hand with figuring out how to work the doodads and thingies on the collar (there are, after all, a lot of holes and slots and possible ways of buckling this thing):

1) Take the end with the small round holes and slide it through one of the slits in the other end of the collar (I use the one closest to the ring in the center because I have a small neck, but which one you use will depend on the size of your neck).

2) Slide the end with the small round holes through the ring in the front of the collar and wrap it around the back towards the buckle.

3) Buckle the collar - this part should be obvious when you get there. It'll only go through one way.

4) If you want (and if you have enough of a "tail" left to do it), you can then slide the tail of the collar through one of the slits to tuck the end inside and keep it from poking out. I can do it with my collar cinched all the way down, but I have a small neck. You may or may not be able to do it.

I've also put together a Flash slideshow of the different positions if you're a visual learner: Collar Instructions Slideshow.

(Buy a Scalloped Edge Collar from JT's Stockroom)