Happy late October everyone! I hope none of y’all are finding this month too hard. We’ve still got some tickets left for Ms Bootblack Glasgow (available here) and we’ve put out some info on what it entails on the insta (here). Really excited for to see y’all there!

Upcoming Events

Bootblack Social / Basic Leatherwork Workshop

Our next bootblack social is on Wednesday 21st October, at Adrian’s on Victoria Road (G42 8RW) from 7pm till late. We’ll be having a workshop on basic leatherwork (hopefully for real this time! assuming no illness at least). No prior bootblack experience or bootblacking kit is needed, and there will be a 101 afterwards for anyone who needs it.

Trans History Festival

It’s the Trans History Festival! Put together by our favourite queer historian, this is a whole week of events from the Thursday 22nd to Friday 30th October, (mostly) at Category Is on Allison Street (G42 8NN). It’s all free, but you should still book a spot in advance if you can. Link for all the events is here. Check it out to go see Jaye Hudson, Roz Kaveney, Nat Raha, and Susan Stryker (as well as, of course, Glasgow’s own Sam Rutherford). I have also been reliably informed that if anything at Cat Is is sold out then it’s still worth chancing it at the door.

Ms Bootblack Glasgow

The public day of the contest will be on Saturday 24th October, at Game Over on Drury Street (G2 5AA) from 1pm till late. Full details and tickets here. You do not need to show up to all of it and you’ll be able to go in and out as you please.

Scotland Leather Weekend

This is taking place Friday 30th October – Sunday 1st November at various spots around Glasgow. Information is available here. Both wristbands are sold out but there are a few other things in the weekend that are either open or have tickets sold separately, so do have a look through. Honestly, most of this is largely focused on men (and people who can afford more than our usual crowd), but I know all sorts follow the newsletter so no harm in pointing it out. That said couple of us dykes will be at the welcome drinks if you wanna come along from 4pm on Friday 30th November at Gallery Bar, Brunswick St, G1 1TB.

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.)

Leatherdykes Recommend…

What Happened?, by John Preston (Bootblack Rowan)

“As Glasgow Leatherdykes puts on its inaugural contest, Ms Bootblack Glasgow, it's worth looking back at how the place of contests in Leather community has changed. John Preston gives his perspective on what we lose through a shift towards aesthetics over cultural engagement that still feels relevant in the 2026.”

[Editor’s note: This is an essay in Leatherfolk, ed. Mark Thomson, available here (pg 210–220). This was also distributed as part of one of the free zines a while back but is always worth resharing & rereading, honestly.]

Blog

A couple of us have come down to London this weekend with our leathers for London Leather Weekend. (Apologies for the bafflingly redundant sentence there.) Shout out to everyone we’ve gotten to see down here and all the new leatherfolk we’ve met! We got a lot of great advice on contests, organisations, and everything Leather. And by all accounts the first mixed Hunter was a great success (though we ourselves couldn’t make it), so definitely worth the trip next year for any interested dykes.

As for our own stuff, I have seen a first draft of the zine now and it’s looking really tight! With any luck that will be available at the contest. And as for the contest itself! It’s a week away!! Less than that, even!!! The sash is looking amazing (huge shout out to Erin), we’ve got our tech boots, all the judges confirmed (including our local judge, Raine!!! Thank you Raine for judging at such short notice!!!!), so many printouts of rubrics and scoring sheets and everything else. I’m really excited, and more than anything I’m excited to have a titleholder to represent the community for the next year. See you there!

At any rate, I am sitting on the couch with my mother who still lives in London and I have to keep asking my boyfriend questions like “How much does DILF cost?” in front of her. I don’t love that, but I do love you.

With a strong air of miasmatic London-ness,
yr girl, yvette, for Glasgow Leatherdykes