I'm going to be honest with you all out there in Edenfantasys-land. The Tie Me Up Rose Vine from Ruff Doggie Styles appealed to me because it was beautiful, so I figured if I hated it at least I could hang it over my collection of exotic energy drink cans and bottles, right? (My collection is on a shelf and includes everything from Cocaine Energy to Caballo Negro "Black Horse" Energia.) Well, as we speak it hangs there, but not because I didn't like this as a rope, but because it's so damn pretty and nondescript that you can hang it out in the open when you're not using it. Yep. Pretty much awesome, right? One less thing you have to hide if you're worried about guests being weirded out about the contents of your boudoir.

Anyway.

The Tie Me Up Rose Vine is a fantastically interesting piece of bondage equipment, unlike anything I've ever seen before. In spite of the fact that roses grow on bushes, not vines*, this is most certainly a nearly 6 feet long rope or "vine" of aforementioned bossoms. It is made from chipper kelly green (in spite of the turquoise look of it in the picture) and is accented with beautiful, black leather flowers. The vine is a sturdy cylindrical, helically wound rope of individual leather fibers that, like a Chinese Finger Puzzle, become more tightly engaged when pulled on. This makes it a highly practical weave for a restraint, but it also has a really striking and unique look to it as well. It's a really nice departure from regular ol' nylon rope, which while it serves its function, can be a little...well...unromantic? Some might find that rose-studded ropes are a little incongruous with the kind of BDSM they practice, but for me? BDSM and romance not mutually exclusive! So roses with my bondage? Why the heck not?

The leather leaves and flowers are woven into the rope itself fairly snugly. As I said earlier, the more tension placed on the rope, the more it contracts. For this reason, the flowers and leaves are most vulnerable to being yanked out when they aren't in use. But as long as you don't go playing tug of war with these accents? They aren't going anywhere. Both the leaves and the petals are finished with a kind of leather paint on one side, and "raw" or unfinished on the other side. This prevents the rope from taking on a cartoonish affect; the variance in color and texture give the form some depth and dimension. Each rose is about an inch and a half in length, excepting the "bookend" roses that demarcate the rope's ends, which are a bit over two inches from top to bottom.

Overall I was really impressed with the appearance of this rope. Actually, I couldn't have been happier with it. Even if it were completely useless for bondage (note: it isn't!) I'd still be stoked to have it decorating my room. The coolest thing about it? Lifting a black rose to your nose and inhaling the smokey, slightly sour scent of cowhide. A.ma.zing. Everyone needs to experience this. I feel like some eccentric billionaire that orders her meals carried out with odd specifications, such as a bouquet of peacock feathers and a leather floral arrangement.

The one thing that really bummed me out, however, was that this beautiful restraint comes in some pretty lackluster packaging. A flimsy plastic bag (not even a nice zip-up one like ASLAN does!) stapled shut with a Pacman-pixelated tab that simply states the name of the product and the company? Meh. For such a lovely looking product, this packaging significantly downgraded the whole aesthetic. If you give this as a gift, I recommend ditching the packaging altogether and improvising your own; it will probably look better.

*Rose "vines" are actually manually manipulated through tying and posturing to grow vertically around structures like gates and fences. Naturally they grow in bush forms!

I will say right now that this rope is not for heavy bondage, although I think most serious players can tell that just from the pictures. The rope itself would be sturdy enough to withstand some pretty rough play, but the roses are a bit more delicate. Additionally, they make tying this rope very impractical. At any given point along the vine, there are 3-6 inches between one rose and the next, meaning it is very difficult to secure a knot without crushing a flower. The best way that I've been able to do it is to simply tie over-under, as if tying my shoe, at the base of a flower. This knot is generally loose and a bit sloppy, but won't come undone and will effectively restrict your partner.

If you love showing off your Japanese tying tricks with your partners or lacing up rope corsets and the like during your BDSM adventures, you'll be sorely disappointed with this one. The purpose of this rope is not so much to accomplish complex ties or withstand serious wear, but to entertain and excite with its novelty. Although don't think this is a flimsy restaint; by no means will this fail you when it comes to being tugged upon or exposed to tension. Its flowers and leaves, however, force a user to be more gentle. This is not what I will reach for when I want to get down and dirty and smack someone around, but I will use it to tie a partner down to slowly torment them for several hours while they struggle.

And the sensation of flowers being pulled across your ankles, over your back and back around your wrists? Hmm. Yeah. Can't really be beat. Novelty is a word that tends to be used with scorn, but there is something to be said for the novel. The newness and strangeness of being restrained by something that looks like it fell off a bridal display is nothing to scoff at. Keeping things new is sometimes half the battle when it comes to having fulfilling sex, and me? I appreciated the unfamiliarity of these roses.

This rose rope is by far one of the best random assignments I've ever received, if not the best. I did not anticipate actually having any practical use for this Ruff Doggie Styles restraint but I actually ended up pulling it out more than I thought I would. I have used it primarily in conjunction with other restraints if I actually want to keep my partner in place, and it always adds a pretty and slightly evil touch to the standard leather cuffs and that. Not to mention I am still getting comments on it from people that come into my room and see it hanging. I actually do think that certain more worldly folks suspect what it's real function might be, but they could never prove it ;)