It is no longer January! We made it! As per our prior correspondence, there will be no romance from us in the coming weeks, only bar nights and bootblacking. Speaking of – we would like to reiterate that bootblacking is available at our events. Most of the admin team are also bootblacks, so come ask us at the makeshift front desk if you are interested and no one is already at the stand. Tips are expected (£5 for ankle shoes / clean and condition; £15 for mid-calf boots / mirror shine; in between for something in between – use your judgement!) so bring cash or set up PayPal if you want your boots done.

At any rate, on with the usual stuff…

Upcoming Events…

Bar Night

Our next usual bar night will be this Wednesday 4th February, at Game Over on Drury Street (G2 5AA) from 7pm till 11:30pm(ish). As always, there will be no engagement from us with whatever cultural nightmare is happening around the time (Valentine’s day in this case) – no flowers, no hearts, just leather.

Buffing Workshops / Bootblack Social

Our next bootblack social is on Wednesday 18th February, at Adrian’s on Victoria Road (G42 8RW) from 7pm till late as well. This marks the start of our “Bootblack Curriculum”, which is going to be a series of workshops for new and ongoing bootblacks every month till October (see the attached poster). No experience necessary, and we have kit (plus some boots) to spare, so if you’re interested in getting that perfect mirror shine, come along. Bootblack Rowan and myself will be running this one from 7:30–8:30pm. More info in the blog section!

March Bar Night

The next next bar night will be on Wednesday 4th March, at Game Over on Drury Street (G2 5AA) from 7pm till 11:30pm(ish). Get it in your calendars!

Leatherdyke Love Letters Zine Launch

This is the zine launch for Dykehouse Press’s Leatherdyke Love Letters. It’s on Friday 6th March, at Category Is on Alison Street (G42 8NN). Our own Photographer Rowan will be giving a short talk on queer publishing from ~1980–2000, so come along for that (and for the zine, obviously).

Leatherdykes Recommend…

If not, winter: Fragments of Sappho, by Anne Carson (Photographer Rowan)

“My personal favourite translation of the complete (excepting the Brothers Poem as the volume was published in 2002) surviving work of Sappho. I’ve been spending a bit of time with a copy, which the wonderful booksellers at Cat Is kindly ordered in for me, for the first time in a few years and taking a deal of comfort in finding things in common across the better part of 3000 years. I personally like Carson’s presentational choices, although I’m sure they’re not to everyone’s taste; her commentary is helpful but doesn’t intrude on enjoying the verse.

μήτε μοι μέλι μήτε μέλισσα”

Emily Wolfe, by Emily Wolfe (Milo)

“(Yvette if I’m not allowed to tell everyone to listen to Emily Wolfe then leave a comment and I’ll pick a book or something) This album came out in 2019, right when I was dealing with a big break-up by trying to court one of the staff on my university field trip, and this album permanently impacted me as a person. I love the full tones of the guitar and the unabashed lesbianism of Medusa and Bad Behaviour. If I had to pick a highlight track it’s either Atta Blues or White Collar Whiskey. If you have any recommendations for more lesbian blues rock please hit me up, I love this shit.”

Blog

Hey! We actually did the history presentation! Thanks to everyone who attended. Thanks also to FEMME for putting on Rebel Dykes and throwing us an invite. Unfortunately, I myself couldn’t make it (thank you to my head chef for the random Thursday shift) but Milo and Bootblack Rowan assure me that it was great. And for any other organisers out there who might want to collab with us or have bootblacking at an event or anything, just hit us up on email or insta or at a bar night and we’ll see what we can do! We’ve got some more plans in the works with Glasgow Sunflowers, so keep an eye out for that.

Also, we’re starting the Bootblacking Curriculum. Let me shove the poster here so I don’t forget:

Okay! So, each of these workshops is going to focus on a different aspect of bootblacking. While they’re all interrelated, there isn’t a strict prerequisite for any class. So if you miss Buffing Methods, you can definitely still make it to Stand Management, for example. If you are totally new to bootblacking also, come along and then after the class I can give anyone who needs it the rundown of the basics. We also do this before the bar nights if you want to try bootblacking at the stand but need a tutorial or need to borrow some kit! Really hope to see some of you there. I’ve been practicing my mirror shines all week and I am running out of boots.

Zine-wise, things are coming along great! ANTI-PROTOCOL is nearing a completed second draft after being dismantled by Milo. Potentially, that will be available by the Bootblacking Social, if you’re aching for an essay on aromantic lifestyle D/s. The Glasgow Leatherzine is almost done also! (I have not run this title past the rest of the team.) [Bootblack Rowan, upon proofreading this email: “We are not calling it Glasgow Leatherzine.”] There’s only some photography to go before printing. It’s undecided whether we want to do our own zine launch for that, but either way it should be available soon.

At any rate, I love you (yes you, dear reader).

With a worrying levels of exhaustion for the second month of the year,
yr girl, yvette, for Glasgow Leatherdykes