Zentai is a skintight suit that covers the whole body from head to toe, usually made from spandex, Lycra or another stretch fabric. Some suits come with attached hoods or mittens, or zips that allow access to parts of the body. Within kink they are used for fetish wear, anonymity, sensory deprivation and body worship, smoothing the wearer into a sleek, uniform shape that people find arousing, comforting or dehumanising.
The name is a shortening of the Japanese zenshin taitsu (全身タイツ), meaning full-body tights, and it came into use for these suits in Japan during the 1990s as they began to appear as fetish wear.
Much of the appeal is physical. Wearers often describe the suit as a second skin that filters sensation and sight, and some find the compression soothing, like being held, while others experience the tight fabric as a kind of restraint. Full coverage also offers anonymity, letting people set aside their usual identity and appearance and explore new characters or sides of themselves. In power exchange, a Dominant may use the suit to turn the wearer into a faceless, nameless figure, an object to display or a body that only receives whatever sensation is allowed. The suit can also be used to withhold touch, or to tease with the promise of eventually being unwrapped. It overlaps with spandex and Lycra fetishes, objectification and sensory deprivation play.
