How I spent my weekend with gothy-goths

[cupcake_goth]

(Yes, minim_calibre, a trip report.)


I spent Saturday afternoon on the train to Portland with alexiarnps, djeternaldarkne, and audiblecell, all of whom are lovely traveling companions. The train delivered us without incident to the Portland station, where we caught a cab to William's place (William being the very charming sweetie of themorgan. William has a *gorgeous* apartment, and a very sweet, enormous cat who answers to Lou-Lou. (Apparently Lou-Lou's real name is Lucifer, but turned into a very round, very sweet cat, so calling him Lucifer just didn't work.)

We divested ourselves of our assorted bags (including my GIANT suitcase, because my Skirts O' Doooooom wouldn't fit into anything smaller), then walked to a nearby Ethiopian resturant, which was low on atmosphere, but had nummy, nummy food. We then trundled back to the apartment, at which point Morgan and William took off for Morgan's place, leaving the four of us to laze around a bit and then start getting ready to go to the event.

Think about that. Two of the most notorious clothing fiends in the Seattle scene, trying to share mirror space with two other fond-of-makeup-and-clothes goths. Go ahead, laugh.

Alexia treated us all to a fashion show as she dithered between six different outfits, while I tried to fulfill my Best Friend duties and give helpful advice and make gently-teasing comments. Once we were all dressed^*, we had a bit of excitement as Lou-Lou decided to explore the enticing Outside World (not an outdoor cat, is Lou-Lou the Carpet Whale) right when we were all scampering downstairs to catch our cab. Lou-Lou was returned to the apartment, we all managed to get into the cab (all three women corseted, Rhonda with giant dread falls and towering platform shoes, Alexia with a foofy crinoline, and me in an enormous hoop skirt; Doug sat up front with the driver).

Ah yes, the cabbie. He popped in a shouty German industrial-rock CD, and then drove like an absolute madman. I have *never* been so terrified during a car ride in my life. But we got to the Scarlett Ballroom in one piece, and walked into the Vampire Ball (dum-dum-duuuuuuum!).

You had to walk through the vendor space to get to the ballroom, which meant we got to say hi to archel and her sweetie and look at shiny things. (Buying shiny things came later.)

The event itself was fun. The DJ played 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' waaaaaaaaaaaay too early, and the lighting was not the best it could have been for the burlesque performances, but it was very nice to be at a goth event and see that almost everyone dressed up as I would prefer. There were a couple of guys in black slacks and black button-down shirts, but for the most part, everyone went all-out.

All the tables had promotional cards for two different books: Wounds, and Fiend. I picked them up to discover that they were by Jemiah Jefferson; I had read her first novel (Voice of the Blood) and enjoyed it a lot, so I was happy to find out she had other novels for me to go search for. And then I caught sight of a young woman who looked an awful lot like the author photo I remembered from the back of Voice of the Blood ... I went and found one of the event organizers and asked; why yes indeed, Ms. Jefferson was at the event! Because I am a silly fan-girl, I went and grabbed two of the book cards, tracked down the author, and confessed that I had recognized her from her author photo, I really enjoyed her first novel, and, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, would she please autograph the cards for me? She was very gracious about it, and didn't seem too unnerved that a random goth girl recognized her from her author photo.

The four of us ended up back at the apartment by about 1:30. I am apparently very odd for washing my makeup off before I go to bed, but I don't care. I refuse to sleep in eyeliner. Of course, because I was sleeping in a strange bed with no stroppy_baggage next to me, the Insomnia Fairy visited. You would think a muscle relaxer (for cramps) would ward the evil creature off, but noooooo. I fell asleep sometime after 3AM.

The next morning involved Hijinks with Coffeemakers, and watching Doug & Rhonda scramble to get packed up so they could go catch their train. Alexia & I went to brunch with Morgan, William, and the Glitzkrieg girls who had come down for the event, and then it was off for shopping! Ah, Lush. How I can't wait until the Bel Square store opens. I managed to be fairly restrained in Powells (only six books, and I didn't even go near the Rare Books room), found a nice chocolate perfume oil from Escential (and watched Alexia discover that they had changed the formula to her beloved Dragons' Blood oil, which was heartbreaking), and bought pointy-toe shoes at Buffalo Exchange. (Yes, I needed more pointy-toe shoes. I *did*. Trust me.)

After that, it was back to the apartment to pack up, then off to the train station. Alexia cleverly managed to get our seats upgraded to Business Class for a very reasonable price (yay, more space! Yay, less people in the car with us!), and we spent the trip home talking about the differences between the Seattle and the Portland goth scenes (which are striking and very interesting, but that will be a post for a later time), and how we should start helping plot/host gothy events to try and gently lead our local scene in the direction that would make us happy.

All in all, a lovely weekend. Now if I could just stop feeling so *tired* ...








^*Yes, I made you scroll all the way down here for the Shallow Fashion Details. What I wore to the Vampire Ball:

• Huge, fluffy, ruffled ball skirt in black chiffon with sparkly bats, worn over my red hoop skirt


• Dark Garden Sweetheart Victorian overbust corset


• Black princess-seamed jacket with a batwing-point hem, mandarin collar, and oval 'keyhole' opening over my cleavage


• Black ringlet falls, a mini top hat trimmed with black ribbon and roses, and a black beaded mask


• (and black stockings and my usual dancing boots, as no one could see my feet under all the skirts)

Comments

[orthoepy.livejournal.com]

That sounds like so much fun!

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

Le sigh. It sounds fabulous. I read the Shallow Fashion Details thinking, 'I hope she sells that someday. That too.'

[trystbat.livejournal.com]

*pout* I wish I had nifty events like that to dress up for. Sounds like lotsa fun!

[oldhalloween.livejournal.com]

and we spent the trip home talking about the differences between the Seattle and the Portland goth scenes

The disclaimer of not being considered a Goth scene person aside, my take is that Seattle wins hands down for fashion and interesting events. You could have knocked me down with a feather when I read about this event in Portland!

[domestinatrix.livejournal.com]

Red hoop skirt?
How does one find oneself in posession of non-white hoop skirt?