Being “Too Goth”

Posted on January, 2002 by Lady of the Manners

Hello Faithful Readers, and welcome to Gothic Charm School in 2002! This month, the Lady of the Manners is going to hold forth on a topic she’s been thinking about off and on for a couple of months now. (Besides goth club etiquette and her annoyance at people and LiveJournals, she means. Club Etiquette was part of last month’s column, and etiquette concerning LiveJournals will have to wait until the Lady of the Manners’ temper cools a bit.) No, this month the Lady of the Manners will talk about being too goth.

That’s a broad topic, isn’t it? Don’t worry, the Lady of the Manners is really going to natter on about a small portion of it: clothing. Every now and then while skimming newsgroups and mailing lists, the Lady of the Manners comes across comments such as “but that’s too much for going grocery shopping” or other “that’s just over the top”-statements. Continue reading →

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Mobbing the Newly Single, Club Behaviour, and Holiday Gift Guide

Posted on December, 2001 by Lady of the Manners

Hello Faithful Readers, and welcome to the December edition of Gothic Charm School. This month, the Lady of the Manners is presenting you with a sort of hodgepodge column; a couple of different questions to be answered, a quick restating of one of the Lady of the Manners’ pet peeves, and then! A handy Holiday Gift Guide for all of you to try to get your nearest and dearest to read, in the hopes that the enticingly-wrapped box you receive isn’t filled with a pastel green fuzzy sweater. Clip and Save! (Well, more like Copy, Paste, Print, and Save, but you get the idea.)

The first question up for answering is a simple one: what should a person do when someone in their social circle is throwing a “if so-and-so is going to be there, I WON’T be!” tantrum? (The Lady of the Manners was quite surprised to hear that people above the age of 12 were still using this tactic, but there it is).

The answer is simple. Continue reading →

Posted in Clubbing & Concerts, Holidays & Special Occasions, Love & Romance | Leave a comment

Public Displays of Unbridled Passion

Posted on November, 2001 by Lady of the Manners

Hello, Faithful Readers, and welcome to the November rantings . . . er, musings at Gothic Charm School. The very first thing the Lady of the Manners wants to do is thank ALL of you, every single one, for being a Faithful Reader of her column. The Lady of the Manners used that handy “Top 5” link on the Gothic.Net home page and was pleasantly shocked to discover that she WAS in the Top 5. So thank you, all of you.

Secondly, the Lady of the Manners would like to offer an apology to William and Scott (sweet boys that they are) ”” yes darlings, the Lady of the Manners will indeed answer the question you posed to her in a future column. However, the Lady of the Manners felt that she had to, simply HAD to try to help the poor distracted creature who turned to the Lady of the Manners with the following desperate plea:

Dear Gothic Charm School,
Two of my friends, who I’ve known for about five and ten years respectively, got together eighteen months ago. Separately they are the same delightful people they always were. Together, they are the Two-Headed Couple Beast From Hell. Continue reading →

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More Halloween Do’s and Don’t’s

Posted on October, 2001 by Lady of the Manners

Hello Faithful Readers, and welcome to another month of ranti . . . lectures about etiquette at Gothic Charm School. A quick glance at the calendar shows it’s October; a quick list of important things about October are:

* The weather FINALLY starts behaving itself, allowing more velvet clothes to be taken out of storage.
* Halloween!!

Which means of course, the annual Gothic Charm School rules for Halloween! Now those of you who have been reading this column for years and years may recognize some of this advice from Octobers past. But tucked in amongst the familiar Do’s and Don’ts there are bits of new advice. With that gentle nudge, on to What to Do (and NOT to Do) at Halloween time for the denizens of GothyLand! Continue reading →

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Being Nice To People You Don’t Like

Posted on September, 2001 by Lady of the Manners

Hello, Faithful Readers, and welcome to September’s edition of Gothic Charm School. This month, the Lady of the Manners has something very very important to talk to all of you about, something the Lady of the Manners believes is a basic idea that frequently gets ignored in the gothic communities (and in the “real world,” but she’s not going to try to fix that). “What,” you may be asking yourself, “is she harping on about this time?” Well, it’s very simple, really. Are you ready?

You should strive to be polite to people, even if you don’t like them.

(The Lady of the Manners told you it was a simple idea.) Continue reading →

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Breaking Up Isn’t Hard To Do

Posted on August, 2001 by Lady of the Manners

Hello Faithful Readers, and welcome to August’s edition of Gothic Charm School. This month, the Lady of theManners is going to address a problem that seems to be happening more and more these days ”” romantic break-ups. Now before you think the Lady of the Manners is poaching on Miss Lonely Hearts’ territory, rest assured that the Lady of the Manners isn’t going to try and give all of you advice on how to heal your lovelorn heart. Nope, not even going to try. Instead the Lady of the Manners is going to expound upon the etiquette of break-ups; specifically, how to gracefully deal with a break-up in this digital age. Continue reading →

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Fashion Police and Copycats

Posted on July, 2001 by Lady of the Manners

Hello Faithful Readers, and welcome to July at Gothic Charm School. This month, the Lady of the Manners is going to write about a topic near and dear to her heart – and no, it isn’t the usual “summer is here and it’s too warm to do anything but lay about and eat ice cream” topic. No no, this month the Lady of the Manners is going to talk about Goths and Style.

This came about because the Lady of the Manners has been hearing all sorts of grumbles lately about “so and so stole my style!” or “someone accused me of ripping off their look!” Gothic Charm Schoolhas been so bombarded by this topic it that the Lady of the Manners felt compelled to say something about it, which is this:

No one in this scene has an original look, kidlings. Get over yourselves. Continue reading →

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Hats, Lipstick, and “Poseurs”

Posted on June, 2001 by Lady of the Manners

Helllllllloooooo Faithful Readers, and welcome to June! Ahh, June; the time of year for picnics, tea parties, trips to the zoo, and the start of the annual “The Lady of the Manners whines about the summer heat” festival. The Lady of the Manners will gratefully accept presents of fans, parasols, or ice cream; send them all to her care of gothic.net (well, maybe not the ice cream. That would melt and get all sticky, and Darren the gothic.net Overlord would get annoyed).

This month, the Lady of the Manners is going to answer a hodgepodge of questions from her Faithful Readers. You see, the weather in Gothic Charm School’s area is being lovely and balmy right now, and the Lady of the Manners is finding it . . . difficult to not run away from her computer and go have tea on the lawn. Which is why there isn’t a unifying theme to this month’s column, but rather a charming assortment of topics. Starting off with a question from Noah, who emailed the Lady of the Manners the very day the May column went up: Continue reading →

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Let’s Go To The Show

Posted on May, 2001 by Lady of the Manners

Hello Faithful Readers, and welcome to a brand new column at Gothic Charm School. This column proved to the Lady of the Manners that divine intervention actually happens. Why, you ask? Because the Lady of the Manners had a very specific topic she wanted to rant . . . er, hold forth about, and Hey Presto! A faithful reader sent in a question about that very topic!

dear gothic charm school,

I was just curious what you believe is the proper concert going etiquette. I never know what to do, should I stand, sit, mosh… and so on, depending on the type of music. Should I dance, move around, nod? I just wanted some advice.

Akward Listener

Continue reading →

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A Hodgepodge of Questions

Posted on March, 2001 by Lady of the Manners

Hello Faithful Readers, and welcome to the March edition of Gothic Charm School. This month, the Lady of the Manners answers a hodge-podge of questions and marvels at some misconceptions that are floating around out there in Internet-land.

The first question of the month comes from someone going by “Draven”:

my companions tell me that i am not talking the “talk” could you email me and give me some tips they are constantly bugging me about this

The “talk”? There is some sort of Official Gothick Vocabulary List now? Goodness gracious and Deary Me, the Lady of the Manners IS behind the times, isn’t she? Continue reading →

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