This is a rather quick update this time, Snarklings. An upcoming event, a new video, and a clarification about one of the clothing stores mentioned in the previous update.
Firstly, an event! If you find yourself in the Seattle area on Sunday, November 15th, then you absolutely must scamper down to the Elliot Bay Book Company at 4:30 that afternoon. Why? Because Elliot Bay is very kindly hosting an afternoon of gothy conversation with the Lady of the Manners and Clint Catalyst! The Lady of the Manners has admired Mr. Catalyst for his razor-sharp writing, snarky wit, and fondly wry take on Goth culture for years and years, and is thrilled to the tips of her boots that she will finally get to spend time with him in person, instead of the usual flurry of emails. What happens when two ElderGoths meet up? Oh, you know, the usual: snark-laden nostalgia and hijinks. You really don’t want to miss this, Snarklings!
Next on the agenda is, oh goodness, a new Gothic Charm School video on YouTube! Filmed on location at the October 16th Mourning Market and Gargoyles Statuary! Go watch it and learn about why there’s more reasons to support dark artists, designers, and stores other than just the obvious “Ooooh, shiny things!” reason.
The final bit of this update to Gothic Charm School was prompted by a reply a reader sent about the previous update about shopping for Goth clothing:
Dear Lady of the Manners,
I recently found your site and purchased your book, and have been enjoying it and your website quite a bit. I read the recent post “Of Goth Fashion, With Clicky-Links!” and just wanted to point something out. I checked out the links you provided and upon looking through the Retroscope website I noticed that all of their men’s clothes (and some of the women’s as well) are the clothes made by the Chinese eBay seller FanPlusFriend. However, when purchased from the eBay seller or through their website you can have many of the items custom-sized and they are significantly less expensive to boot.
I wasn’t sure if you were aware, so I just wanted to let you know. Thanks very much!
Sincerely,
Jason
Oh goodness, this is a rather common misconception, and the Lady of the Manners really should have addressed it when she made the “Of Goth Fashion, With Clicky-Links!” post. You see, the lovely people behind Retroscope fashions found FanPlusFriend and decided to turn to them for their manufacturing needs. But with the ways that intellectual property and copyright laws work (or rather, don’t work) where FanPlusFriend is located, they were able to to turn around and offer Retroscope’s designs through their own store. (This would also be why FanPlusFriend offers items that resemble garments from certain “brand name” EGL designers.)
In the interest of full disclosure, the Lady of the Manners does own items from FanPlusFriend, and is quite happy with them. But the Lady of the Manners will always see what Retroscope Fashions has to offer first.
—
With that, the Lady of the Manners is going to go nibble on a cupcake and work a bit more on the answer for the next update here at Gothic Charm School, in which a Snarkling asks for help in dealing with some medical professionals who seem to think that Goth is dangerous. (The Lady of the Manners is sure the doctors mean well, but strongly feels they’re misguided.) But more of that next time! Until then, Snarklings, feel free to write!