Sub Rosa celebrates year seven!
It’s hard to believe we brought this wild ride to life SEVEN years ago this month. Seven whole years of whipping y’all into shape, subduing eager submissives, encouraging & training new dominants, renting dungeon space, and hosting deliciously strange kink events. We’ve survived shutting down entirely during the height of the pandemic, we’ve survived this Trump administration and the one before it, and we don’t plan on going anywhere. We are grateful to be here after seven years of Sub Rosa, still kicking the patriarchy’s tender balls, supported by this amazing network of sex positive BDSM enthusiasts.
Our humble beginnings
When we both connected in 2017, we quickly discovered that we shared a similar vision and aesthetic for our ideal space, one where we would not only have our private sessions and coaching, but where we could prioritize education and community. We set about acquiring dungeon furniture and looking for the perfect commercial space that would fit our needs. Our first space fell through less than a month before we moved in. After that we spent longer than we expected looking, rejected several times by spaces we’d fallen in love with (due to sexism and discrimination related to our industry).
Eventually we circled back to a unit we had previously passed on (it’s not ADA accessible and that is still an issue for us and many others). But, it was what we could afford and it was available! It was un ugly, dusty, empty white box. It had zero charm. But we loved the discretion of the location and knew we could transform it with the perfect shade of burgundy velvet, with spit & glitter, with a dominatrixes’ touch.
The vision started to take shape. We painted the floors and accent walls, installed new lighting, hard points, and put up new interior walls to break up the space.
We started to bring in erotic art, black leather furniture, accents of deep red, turquoise, warm grey tones, and colored accent lights. We got lucky when we purchased a unit full of bondage furniture that had been sitting in Seattle storage for years. We bought it sight unseen from a retiring dominatrix friend who we knew had impeccable taste. Some of our most iconic pieces come from that collection! Opening up that storage unit when we were finally ready to move the gear in was like kinky christmas.
Eventually the build-out was finished and the Sub Rosa playspace emerged, not all that different from the space it is now. Our very first event was a SW-centered book reading of Road Map for Revolutionaries: Resistance, Activism, and Advocacy for All by Elisa Camahort Page. It meant so much to us to finally bring our passion for community to our own physical space.
Since opening, we have hosted over 130 events/classes for more than 3400 attendees! Sub Rosa has grown and changed over these seven years, and we know we will keep evolving and learning. We also know that would not be here without your support. Booking private rentals, attending our classes, and scheduling coaching sessions are foundational ways to keep Sub Rosa up and running.
Celebrate seven years of Sub Rosa during our birthday month
We do our best to give back to the community with our energy, donations, and mutual aid efforts. The outpouring of gratitude and appreciation we receive when we do always means so much. Now at seven years in, with ever-rising operating costs — we are open to receiving gifts!
We’ve made it easy for you with an Amazon wishlist loaded up with essentials for our space. Click below to send Sub Rosa a gift!
You can also buy us giftcards to Etsy, Ikea or Wayfair! Send giftcards to info@subrosapdx.com.
Join our Patreon
If you’d like to celebrate Sub Rosa all year long, our Patreon is a lovely way to do so. Patreon supporters help with all the unseen operating costs of running a kinky small business, from supplementing our community discounts to special projects and upgrades to the space.
Click below to learn more and become a monthly Patreon member!
Thank you for celebrating Sub Rosa with us, and for keeping us going for many years to come.
Natasha & Viola
