Stiletto's (Inkster, Michigan Lesbian Club/1994-2014)

Stilettos — Inkster, Michigan Lesbian Nightclub Tee (1994–2014)

From 1994 to 2014, Stilettos was one of southeastern Michigan's great lesbian nightlife destinations, drawing women from Detroit and the surrounding suburbs for two decades of music, performances, and occasionally questionable romantic decisions.

Founded by Alana Marie Faulk, better known as DaBoss, Stilettos was created to fill a very real gap in Detroit's gay nightlife. Most LGBTQ+ bars in the area catered primarily to men, and Faulk wanted something different: a club owned by a woman, run by women, and designed with women in mind.

The location had previously operated as a gay bar called the Cruise Club, but Stilettos gave the space an entirely new personality.

And this wasn't just a little neighborhood watering hole. The club featured two separate rooms, with a showbar and stage on one side and a dance club on the other. Patrons could catch a performance, grab a drink, and then head next door to dance until their feet gave out.

The entertainment was wonderfully varied. Drag kings, drag queens, local lesbian and gay bands, singers, and comedians all found a stage at Stilettos. Saturday nights could attract hundreds of women, making it one of the area's most popular places to meet friends, find a girlfriend, or run into an ex-girlfriend. Possibly several.

While the club welcomed the broader LGBTQ+ community, it was unapologetically a space for women. Straight men who showed up thinking a lesbian nightclub was an invitation to hit on the customers could expect a rather quick introduction to the exit.

Stilettos was also part of a larger effort to create nightlife specifically for Detroit-area lesbians. Faulk later opened Pink's, an Eastside lesbian bar project featuring themed evenings like Old School and Rumba nights.

Over its twenty-year run, Stilettos provided something increasingly rare: a dedicated lesbian nightclub where women could take center stage, both literally and figuratively. When it closed in 2014, the community lost more than another bar. It lost a place where friendships, relationships, performances, and countless Saturday nights had unfolded.