The first collar I put around belle's neck, I had custom made. I tend to put an extreme amount of thought and consideration into the meaning of every aspect of something I make/have made, and so the first collar I put on her had to be just right, and every facet of it had to be meaningful. This is, of course, after she earned it in the first place. The place I found to make the collar executed it perfectly, and I would recommend it to anyone looking to have a custom collar made. (Am I allowed to post a link to the site, or name the site in my post, or are both of those things against posting rules?)

The next three I bought were not custom, but still suited the purposes for which I intended them. She has one that's subtle (a thin leather thong with a reversable, heart-shaped padlock) for use at work or in some public situations, a more flowery, pretty one for when she's been extra good, and a larger, more uncomfortable one for when I want her to know that she's bordering on disappointing me. She's collared all the time, though. Only once did she disappoint me to the point where she had to be uncollared for a few hours (she didn't lose them, just wasn't allowed to wear it for a while). She figured out very quickly how to attone for her mistake, though. I could tell that every minute without it was pretty hard on her. I almost even felt bad for assigning that punishment.

For me, it will be pretty easy to spend thousands of dollars on collars for every occasion for my belle. It's one of the more important aspects of our relationship to me that crosses the physical/emotional boundary. Besides that, she just looks damned good with my collar on her throat.