Sex toys come out of the closet

The policeman, my landlord, some neighbours with their 11-year-old daughter and I surveyed the disarray in my burgled bedroom. I wondered if anybody's else's eye was going straight to the sex toy lying amidst the underwear that had been pulled out of drawers and tossed onto the floor.

If they were, nobody commented.

The colleague who'd driven me home took me straight out for a drink, and everyone else dispersed - no harm done, just a minor mess to clear up.

But the image of the plain old dildo plucked from its hiding-place and lying on the floor in plain sight all those years ago sometimes recurs to make me chuckle, as when I read today about Prickle scarves, which brings sex toys out of the closet in a charming new way.

These are scarves made from prints created by layering and arranging sex toys until the devices themselves are no longer visible: in their place are floral arrangements and eye-catching patterns that explore the contradiction between the toys' secretiveness and aesthetic. Check out the 'Pink Banana':

Prickle has a special limited edition design for International Women's Day 2020, with creator Clara Rapple donating proceeds to Ireland's National Women's Council.

To mark March 8th this year, I'd intended to write something about beauty business tycoon Elizabeth Arden ('It's every woman's birthright to be beautiful') or philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts, who dedicated her life and considerable wealth to helping the poor, including 'fallen women', and had given away some £3 million by the time she died in 1906.

But the artistry of Prickle distracted my attention.

Of course, sex toys themselves are looking very different these days, with purveyors such as Elvie and LELO changing the game:

Keywords: Sex toys, Prickle scarves, female sexual pleasure, women's sexuality