Happy November! It’s finally November. This is my favourite month and I hope y’all are able to enjoy it too.

Firstly, Adrian’s is facing imminent closure. There’s a fundraiser page here if you have any cash going spare. Personally, I would like to be able to continue running the bootblack socials at our usual spot, so please share this around if you’re able.

Secondly, we just had the inaugural Ms Bootblack Glasgow! Massive congrats to Archer for winning the title. You (reader) may be wondering what a titleholder actually does, but that’s kind of up to them. Definitely, they’ll be representing Glasgow leatherdykery across the UK and a point of contact for anything bootblacking in Glasgow. If you want to keep track of what Archer is getting up to, they’ve got their own mailing list here.

Thirdly, Glasgow Leatherdykes Zine #2 is out now! I’ll get to getting it stocked around town once I’ve got my energy back post-contest, but it’ll be available at the next bar night and at Edinburgh Zine Fair. Did we listen to y’all and include more pornography? No. Resounding failure on that front. But we did increase the volume of polemic and snark, which I’m sure at least some of you wanted. (Seriously though, it’s good stuff.)

I’ll get to all the relevant thank you-s and everything else in the blog section, but let’s do the usual stuff first.

Upcoming Events

If you are a leatherdyke or otherwise think that leatherdykes in & around Glasgow would benefit from your event, email us at [email protected] to get advertised here.

November Bar Night

November bar night is Wednesday 4th November at Game Over on Drury Street (G2 5AA) from 7pm till 11:30pm(ish). Same deal as usual! Remember to bring cash for bootblacking tips but I can also take card payments now! (£5 for the basic stuff; £10 for more involved care.)

Edinburgh Zine Fair

We will be selling zines on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th November at St Margarets House on London Road, Edinburgh (EH7 6AE)! Thank you to EZF for inviting us.

Bootblack Social / Round Table Discussion

Our next bootblack social is on Wednesday 18th November, at Adrian’s on Victoria Road (G42 8RW) from 7pm till late. We’ve hit the end of the curriculum so I think it would be good to have a group discussion about what we want out of the bootblack socials (& Leatherdykes in general) in 2027. If you’ve been to any of the bootblack socials (even just one!) or you haven’t but are keen to learn bootblacking following the contest, it would be great to have you come along and get your input.

December Bar Night

The last bar night of the year will be on Wednesday 2nd December, usual time & place. No festive theming (as always), but this will be a special one so get it in your calendars now.

Leatherdykes Recommend…

Glasgow Leatherdykes Zine #2 (Yvette)

There’s pornography. There’s prose. There’s polemic. There’s even both sides of an argument we’re having with the Glasgow Fraternity of Leatherdykes. Leatherzine #2: available soon from all disreputable smut peddlers.

Blog

Okay! Back to the thank you-s. Ms Bootblack Glasgow has been the absolute highlight of this whole leatherdyke thing for me and I want to give massive creds to all the contestants, Archer, Beth, and Morwen, as well as our judges, Astrid, Wookie, and Raine – and Mal, who couldn’t make it last minute but had been supporting it the whole way. Also, huge shout outs to Erin for making the sash and Ca for making the back patch! Another huge shout out to Alistair for his support and guidance which actually made this thing possible at all. Also thank you so much to Adrian’s and Game Over for letting us run events there and being so supportive with this whole weird thing. Also serious thank you-s to everyone who helped the running of it on the day, including Newcastle Leathermen for doing the final scores tally, and to Antagonish, Photographer Rowan, and Bootblack Rowan who did the behind the scenes work of producing this.

So where are we now? Leatherzine #2 is done; the contest is over; the bootblack curriculum has concluded. We’ve got plans for 2027, and I am reasonably assured that there are non-Glasgow Leatherdykes brand plans in the realm of Glaswegian leather/dykery as well, but there are some things for us to work out in the meantime. The one thing I’m pretty firm on is that (unlike other [Location] Leatherdykes groups) we’re not a club, but really what that means is that there’s more room for Leather clubs in & around Glasgow. So if you ever find yourself needing promo, organisational advice, workshops, or even just someone to do some bootblacking, hit us up and we’ll find a way to help out.

At any rate, make sure to clean and condition your leather jackets as it gets darker and wetter (or bring it to a stand; bootblacks do other leathers too). I’m sure you want to glisten in the streetlights, and I know I don’t want you catching a cold. I love you.

With tired eyes and the memory of a headache,
yr girl, yvette, for Glasgow Leatherdykes