I guess it depends on the format of the specific male strip club that you are visiting, but I always enjoy male strippers who go the extra mile and wear sexy costumes.
There are two main goals for which each male stripper should aim. First, make money. Second, entertain the customers. In order to do both, you have to be noticed. Wearing a costume is an easy way to capture the attention of an audience. Which costumes trigger a customer to tip a male stripper? Let's find out.
Freedom For Fantasies
Everything about a male strip club is built on a fantasy. The customer visits a male strip club to see sexy men wearing little or no clothing. Imagine you own a large mansion with a large swimming pool. You keep the pool filled with sexy men who look great in speedos.
A male strip club is the customer's large swimming pool for the night. It is their playground. And after a cocktail or two, they are ready to dive in and have fun.
And even for those who have a significant other, a male strip club is a place where flirting is not wrong. And if they happen to 'cop a feel', it isn't cheating.
My partner and I allow fun to be had at male strip clubs. We give each other freedom to enjoy ourselves. We are not the jealous types in that environment so we go and have a good time. We share our experiences with each other afterwards or on the ride back to our hotel. To us it is simply a night of fun.
When a male stripper plays into our fantasies, it makes for a fun evening and most importantly, it makes us want to tip them. And where available, that male stripper is going to be the one we want to spend time with for a private lap dance.
Costumes are a great way to play into the fantasies of the customer. The value of a cowboy hat, baseball cap, leather harness or other small pieces of clothing or props should never be ignored. These items will push the buttons for some customers. Full costumes can do the same but often with even more results.
Tipping Triggers
When we go to a male strip club we first like to get a drink. I like dirty martinis and he likes a gin and tonic. We then sit and check out the club and the male dancers. It is during this time that we determine which dancers hold an attraction for us and decide which ones we want to tip.
Many studies have been performed to determine why people find others attractive. I have not personally performed any of these studies in relation to male strippers but I would think that desirability and sexual attraction would be among the top considerations.
One thing that is perfectly clear and has been proven to me over and over through the years, is that there are 'different strokes for different folks'. Different customers find different types of male strippers attractive. They respond accordingly when triggered.
Customers can be triggered to tip by many different things. It could be the look of the male stripper which might involve his facial appearance or body shape. Is he hung? Does he have a bubble butt? Is the customer attracted to a particular ethnicity? It could even be as simple as the style of underwear he is wearing, or a specific color.
My favorite color is orange, and I'll admit, I have tipped a male stripper because he was wearing an orange pair of underwear. I have also had male strippers that I know specifically wear orange underwear in one of their performances, because they know it is my favorite color. This indicates that the color orange is one of my triggers.
Another one of my triggers for tipping is the cowboy look. I grew up in an area where cowboys were common. I developed my teenage fantasies around them. When I see a male stripper who is wearing a cowboy hat and/or boots, my interest is immediately captured. I will consider tipping a male stripper dressed as a cowboy before others. I don't really think about it. It is automatic.
Other customers will have other triggers. Some may like the color red or be attracted to different looks or costumes. Other popular costume themes are sports, firemen, police, superheroes, and many more.
What might be triggers for you? Think about celebrities that have captured your attention. Ask yourself why? This is a good place to start in determining a costume that might work well for you. But that is only the starting place, it is more important to find out what the customer likes.
Warning: Egos Will Be Busted
If making money and entertaining the customers are your primary goals, then selecting a costume for a performance is not about you! It is about what attracts the customer. It doesn't matter how hot you think you look in a certain costume. What does matter is how the customers think you look.
I suggested to a male stripper one time that they should try a cowboy look because I thought they would make an excellent cowboy. Their response was, "I'm not really into cowboys." At that time, I just said ok and walked away. Today, as the Male Stripper Guru, I would tell them that it doesn't matter what they are into. And I would have explained if they were wanting to make money, they need to listen to the customers.
If you are truly wanting to make more in tips, then it should be obvious that you would follow the suggestions of those who will be tipping. Since the suggestions will vary for different customers, I recommend that you have several different costumes in order to obtain triggered responses from more of the audience.
One word of caution here. In asking customers what costumes they like, be aware that some customers will have small crushes on a male dancer. To them the male dancer looks great in anything as long as they are near them.
Ask someone who can be objective. Feel free to ask me. Go to our Contact Us page and get my email address. Or go to the About Us page and message me on social media. Then send me a pic of you in a costume you are considering. Let me know you are sending it to receive my opinion. I will respond and tell you truthfully what I think.
Keeping Your Performance Fresh
Several years ago you could find me at a favorite club every weekend. This club was known as the drag bar or the club where they had drag shows every week. There was a period of time for me where the drag shows became stale and repeats. I knew the song a certain drag queen would perform and I knew what the routine would be like including specific dance moves, etc. I got bored and started going to this club less and less on the weekend.
I tell this story only to say that male stripper performances can also become stale and boring. We live in a world of instant gratification where the internet constantly provides us with new stimuli in text, pics and videos. A male stripper needs to keep their performance fresh and interesting to keep the customers coming out.
Stripping out of street clothes every performance gets old. Find ways to mix it up. And vary the color of your underwear. But if you can, take it a step further and build a wardrobe of costumes.
Costumes are a way to keep a performance fresh and interesting. Some costumes can be rather expensive but there are ways to create your own costumes for less. However, that is a topic for another blog. If you are in need of ideas and haven't yet found any others in my blogs, contact me and I'll give you some ideas to start with. But remember find out the fantasies and desires of your fans/customers first.
Final Thoughts
Building a costume inventory can be fun. Add something new as your budget allows. After you have worn a particular costume for a while, sell it to another male stripper so they can continue to build their inventory. Use the money from this sale to reinvest in a new costume.
I personally like the classic costumes such as cowboy, police, fireman, football player, baseball player, Tarzan, James Bond, construction worker, etc.
If I can assist with ideas, tips or suggestions for male stripper costumes, please let me know.
You might also like these costume related how-to blogs:
Sexy Easy Cowboy Costume For Male Strippers