Yearly Archives: 2013

On Surviving Family Gatherings During The Holidays

Posted on December, 2013 by Lady of the Manners

This may be a surprise, but the Lady of the Manners is quite fond of the winter holiday season. All the twinkly lights, the giving and receiving of gifts and tokens of affection, sugary treats, and people trying to be a little more considerate of each other are all wonderful things, even if the theoretical ideal of them sometimes gets lost in the real world practice. But the holidays can also be difficult, especially for people who are striding along to a darker drum than the rest of their family and friends. So! The Lady of the Manners is going to pull up a previous Gothic Charm School post about dealing with the holidays, because (in the Lady of the Manners’ opinion) it is just as useful now as when she wrote it a few years ago. But now, that advice is dressed up with some additional new suggestions for coping with the holidays: Continue reading →

Posted in Holidays & Special Occasions | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Nocturnal House: Interview With The Vampire: Claudia’s Story

Posted on October, 2013 by Lady of the Manners

The setting: a dimly lit room, with a wingback chair upholstered in black and white striped fabric, next to it a small table holding a silver tea pot and a delicate china cup with a pattern of black lace and roses painted on it. The silence is broken by the sound of a door creaking open, and the Lady of the Manners walks into view, carrying a candelabra full of flickering candles. Even though she is wearing a floor-length, high-collared, and extravagantly ruffled white Victorian-style nightgown, her black eyeliner and burgundy lipstick are impeccable.

Goodness, it has been ages since I’ve visited the Nocturnal House, hasn’t it? It was so quiet and peaceful in the crypt that I must have dozed off for ”¦ much longer than I had planned. But no matter, I’ve returned to the library of vampire books just in time for Halloween to talk about one of my favorite books of the past year: Interview With The Vampire: Claudia’s Story, adapted and illustrated by Ashley Marie Witter. Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Nocturnal House | 13 Comments

Of Being Who You Want to Be, and Not Knowing What the Future Holds.

Posted on October, 2013 by Lady of the Manners

Snarklings, it appears it’s again time for a discussion of how to continue being the person you want to be. There are so many letters from you darling odd creatures out there fretting about how to stay true to your gothy inclinations! Continue reading →

Posted in Growing Pains, Serious Matters | 12 Comments

Gothic Charm School + Gloomth Giveaway on Tumblr!

Posted on October, 2013 by Lady of the Manners

Hey pumpkin! Do you want a chance to win a pair of Gloomth’s “Pumpkin Rump” bloomers? Of course you do, don’t be silly. So quick! Scamper over to this post on the Gothic Charm School Tumblr to enter!

Posted in Being Fashionable | Leave a comment

Of Dealing With School Dress Codes

Posted on September, 2013 by Lady of the Manners

It’s that time of year again, Snarklings. Autumn! Which brings not just cooler weather (very important with regard to a typical Goth wardrobe), but a flurry of letters, much like drifts of falling leaves, from young Goths heading back to school. Dress codes! How, oh how can they cope with their school’s dress code and still proudly show their ties to the Goth subculture? (This post lists previous lessons on school dress codes.)

Thing the First: The Lady of the Manners is going to reassure all of you (as she’s done before) that you don’t have to dress in a goth style to be a goth. No, no you don’t. Ignore those people who say you aren’t a Real Goth â„¢ unless you are draped in black fabric and spend every minute of your life, awake or asleep, looking as spooky and undead as possible. Continue reading →

Posted in Growing Pains | 24 Comments

Of Fashion Choices and of Feeling Like A Fake

Posted on June, 2013 by Lady of the Manners

Hello Snarklings! Eventually the Lady of the Manners will get her bewildering array of projects under some sort of control and get back to writing new lessons for Gothic Charm School in a more frequent, regularly-scheduled fashion. Eventually. But let’s not dwell on the months that have passed since the last post, let’s jump into questions from readers! For this installment of Gothic Charm School, the Lady of the Manners decided to feature letters from readers that have questions and qualms about how they present themselves. The first letter is from Mistet Dreamer, with a question about proper attire: Continue reading →

Posted in Being Fashionable, General, Growing Pains | 22 Comments

Of Dealing With Your Parents

Posted on March, 2013 by Lady of the Manners

Snarklings, this it. This is the post in which the Lady of the Manners is going to attempt to address THE question that arrives in the Gothic Charm School mailbox the most often. Now, the Lady of the Manners has indeed addressed this question before, in various ways, but this is going to be the comprehensive answer to this dilemma that so many of you young Snarklings are facing.

The dilemma? Parents not approving of or letting you be a Goth.

First things first: if you are attracted to finding beauty in darkness, if you are fascinated by the macabre, the grotesque, and the morbid, if the music, literature, and aesthetics of Goth have wrapped their inky black tendrils around your heart, mind, and soul, then no one can change that or take that away from you. (Unless, of course, your tastes change, as sometimes they do, and that’s fine too.) If you have found a home in the Goth subculture, your parents expressing their disapproval or dismay at what appeals to you isn’t going to change that. No really, it isn’t. You may have to downplay your interest in the culture and its trappings, you may have to wait until you are off at school or have moved out on your own, but Goth isn’t going anywhere. It’s an artistic movement that has been around, in one form or another, for centuries. Continue reading →

Posted in General, Growing Pains, Serious Matters | Tagged , , | 92 Comments

Nocturnal House: Wicked As They Come and God Save The Queen

Posted on February, 2013 by Lady of the Manners

Hello Snarklings, and welcome back to the Nocturnal House! I know, I know, it’s been a long time between visits. But to make it up to you, I’m talking about two different vampire books! As Wicked As They Come by Delilah L. Dawson, and God Save The Queen by Kate Locke.

First, a disclaimer to get out of the way: both of these books were sent to me for review. But I would not be burbling about them here if I didn’t like them, and oh, I liked them very much. Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Nocturnal House, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 23 Comments

Of Assorted Questions From Younger Readers

Posted on January, 2013 by Lady of the Manners

Hello Snarklings! Oh gracious, it’s 2013. The Lady of the Manners apologizes for the break in updates here at Gothic Charm School, and is starting to suspect that perhaps she should just schedule an Official Late Autumn/Early Winter Break -type thing, because she is fairly certain she has had this sort of lapse before.

Anyway! All sorts of things are in the works here at Gothic Charm School — plans for interviews, reviews of music, clothing, cosmetics, books, dolls, and of course, answering reader letters! There are some rather serious topics that are going to be featured in upcoming posts, but the Lady of the Manners decided that the first post of 2013 should be more of a mixed assortment of questions from some of the younger readers of Gothic Charm School. (As always, the Lady of the Manners will do her utmost to not respond to queries from younger readers with coos of “Oh my goodness, you’re adorable!”, because she remembers what it was like to be a youngster with goth tendencies and wanting to be taken seriously.) Continue reading →

Posted in General, Growing Pains | Tagged , , | Leave a comment