I originally met Tara Emory in Las Vegas at one of the adult expos. There was no missing her in her pink and black polka dotted miniskirt ensemble and thigh-high pink boots. I have since bumped into her at a wide assortment of fetish events, where she always impresses everyone with her amazing outfits and even more amazing talent to amuse. Tara took some time between trips to the west coast to have a few words with Eros Zine.
Eros Zine: Tell me a little bit about your background. When did you initially begin crossdressing?
Tara Emory: If you want to call it "crossdressing," I guess I started doing that in high school. I was fairly girlish as a kid, not particularly butch either, so it wasn't like I was traveling very far down the gender divide. Like most transgendered people, it wasn't until puberty that I realized I was different sexually. I had girlfriends, but even then it was almost like I was engaging in lesbian relationships.
When I was in college, I actually thought I was alone in feeling this way. Those were the days when the internet was in its infancy, so there wasn't the TG network there is today. Once I discovered the online community, everything fit into place, and it was like, "Yeah, that's me."
EZ: Are you involved in your local TVTS community?
TE: Locally? Not really. I'm finding that the community I am part of is more global than local. I'm involved in my local fetish club, but even then, I find my career has taken me around the world.
EZ: Your costumes are amazing. Do you make them all yourself?
TE: Well, not ALL of them. I did model a couple of Versatile Fashions designs recently, but even then I added my own touches. But for the most part, yes, I do make my own outfits, and I have made many corsets and even have dipped into customizing my own footwear, turning high heeled shoes into thigh-high boots to match an outfit I designed.
EZ: What are your inspirations?
TE: I find inspirations in the strangest places. Sometimes they come from anime, even places as strange as early-80's Dr. Who! I think the thing that got me going originally is seeing a movie called The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover back in the early 90's. I was struck by its fetish design, which was something I had never seen before. Recently I have been researching 30's-50's pinup illustration and getting a lot of inspiration. Though retro-40's pinup is very popular right now, I like to portray more of a 20's or 30's look, evident in my little Louise Brooks haircut. I've always had a thing for short hair.
EZ: Do you work with one photographer or many?
TE: I have had several photographers, and some work better than others. Since I am a control freak, I'd like to be behind the camera as well. So a lot of my pictures are, in fact, self-shot, using a digital camera with features like remote controls and flip out screens. I'm able to pose my own shots that way, and take enough shots to pick a fair amount of good ones. So it's true, I make my own outfits and take my own pictures!
EZ: You mentioned that you travel quite a bit. Where have your travels taken you?
TE: I find myself traveling a lot, attending fetish events, promoting myself and looking for great locations for my photo sets and videos. Recently I shot some exhibitionist footage in Amsterdam for my first Delucious video. I've traveled to London a few times for the Skin Two Rubber Ball, and Jamaica for Kink in the Caribbean this past November. Occasionally I can be seen at Allanah Starr's Shemale parties in Manhattan.
EZ: What are your personal interests? What about personal fetishes?
TE: It's funny, because my own personal fetishes are very much wrapped up in my career. My interests in period clothing and costuming is a counterpart to my own fetishes of doing something like having sex in period costumes or high-gloss fetish outfits (Woo Hoo!). Since I am an exhibitionist at heart, I wouldn't just want to do something like that behind closed doors. I either want to have an audience or share my fantasies with the world, by taking an image like that and turning it into an epic porn film. I'm in the planning stages of an 18th century costume sex film that I will shoot this spring and summer.
EZ: I noticed a few new photo sets of you with a dominatrix. What was that like?
TE: What I find strange about being a "dominatrix" is that sometimes you end up doing ALL the work, while the partner who is supposedly "sub" gets to sit back and be pleasured. Hmmm. That's not as dominant as you'd think it is. Though some people believe my outfits to be submissive, one would have a hard time saying that when I wear one at a sex club and command the attention of everyone in the room, sit back and get people to do things TO and FOR me. Looking like I do and getting people to worship me, yeah, that's really what I consider "dominant" to be about.
EZ: You run your own site, www.tara-ts.com. What do you have in development?
TE: My website will continue much as it is. I'm concentrating more on DVD releases and some longer "feature" films. I have released two videos in the last year, Delucious and Delucious2, which feature vignettes of me having lots of pervy fun in some of my most drool-inducing fetish outfits. I also may be dipping more into the mainstream video business, as (much to my surprise) AVN's Transsexual video of the Year was SheMale Strokers #6, which featured a scene I was in. I have a few concepts for films in the works, including the previously mentioned 18th century French epic and a sexy retro sci-fi flight of fantasy.
EZ: What are your fans like? Talk about genre of TVTS girls.
TE: Well, I find that there are two types of shemale fans. Either they are guys who like regular girls and then wonder what they would be like if they had penises. They tend to gravitate towards what is coming out of Brazil these days. Then there are the ones who are crossdressers and transgendered themselves, who are interested in the costuming aspects. Where those two fandoms meet is pretty much where I have found my niche. And since I tend to change my image frequently (a la Madonna) some people find a membership to my site is like getting a membership to a site with lots of girls on it.
EZ: Last year I attended a party where you displayed a pretty impressive skill. Tell me about your special talents!
TE: Hmm, I think you're referring to my "watersporting" athletic ability. Blame Bisexual Britni for that! I met her at AVN in '03 and she got me turned on to that particular fetish. I take it a little further as I have learned to turn on the flow-with an erection. The secret is to drink a lot of water. I mean gallons! And if you stay horny you'll have to go eventually, regardless of the erection. The result is that you can make a pretty impressive fountain!Check out Tara's website to see all her delicious ensembles. Perhaps you'll see her at a fetish party near you-or in one of her exciting upcoming films!
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