This was my second visit to Subversion, the first as the guest of Mistress Elegance in September 2006, when it was held at the über sleek bar Abacus, by the Bank of England.

Beloved of City hotshots, Abacus is sybaritic sophistication, with its smoked mirrors, plush leather sofas, deep pile carpets, no expense spared sound system and bar prices to match.
It was a fabulous evening.

Fast forward a year to the polar opposite, down to earth, does what it says on the tin, London Metropolitan University Student Union bar, that is HUB Club.

Housed in a nondescript office block in Aldgate, it’s a spacious venue set over two floors, with separate dance and chill out areas on the ground floor. The music is a mixture of hard dance anthems and funky tunes with some unexpected blasts from the charts of the past thrown in. The volume is perfectly pitched to get the adrenalin going, and still have a conversation without sign language.


The HUB Club has nice, clean, bright loos on both floors and is very airy and well ventilated, a welcome change from many venues.
Fag enthusiasts, ahem, had to make do with a drag in the street. (enough tranny jokes, thank you. Ed.)
The upper floor houses the bar which is not only dirt cheap, but had very friendly and pretty efficient staff. Adjacent to the bar were more sofas and tables, and if you totter round in high heels as I do, it’s nice to know you can get a seat fairly easily if you want one.

At the other end of this floor is a large play area with a splendid array of deliciously naughty dungeon equipment, supplied and monitored by David and Annie of Playpenz www.playpenz.co.uk Although these two look scary, they are in fact leading lights of the Colchester Rotary Club, and North Essex Jam Making Champions for the third year running, but don’t let on I told you!


The crowd is an allsorts mixture, very friendly and chatty and not prone to cliques, gawpers or gropers as some clubs are. As with most fetish clubs, Subversion has a strict dress code to ensure that everyone has made an effort. Be it burlesque style corsets, latex or lace, soldiers or sailors, naughty nurses, French maids, cross dressers or near naked slaves, you will be most welcome (but do remember to keep your “privates” covered, even if only with tape!).

Subversion is the perfect place to come and see the fetish scene at its best, to look, to learn, to try if the fancy takes you, to dress to the nines, meet nice people and above all to have a guaranteed great night out.

Frankly, Subversion would be outstanding in a workmen’s hut, because it always has a fabulous atmosphere, and that is down to the consummate professionalism, attention to detail and hard work of the promoters, Mistress Absolute and Bobette. After all, where else do you get such stylish touches as complimentary platters of fresh melon, strawberries and pineapple served through the night to nourish the inner party animal?

Go, enjoy, tell your friends, and kick yourself for not having been before.
©HIRH Princess Natascha of Belgravia & Mistress Elegance
Pictures curtesy of Bobette