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Valarie asked:

Buying alternative attire is often more like hunting than shopping! It’s not quite so easy for us as to be able to walk into a shop on the highstreet and immediately be catered for. However with the boom of online shopping there really is no reason why the hunt can’t end up being victorious. Google is your friend, and even more than that eBay! Play around with search terms and you’ll find all sorts of goodies. Sure you’ll have to scroll through pages of things you don’t want, but that’s part of the chase! Try something simple like “black top” or “velvet skirt” and you’ll get a number of results from both goth and non goth vendors. I’ve found some great treasures in the most unlikely of online nooks and crannies. For some plus size advice see my answer to Sophie here. Apart from online, I am particularly lucky in that my mother is a gifted seamstress so much of my clothing I design and she makes.

As for dressing goth all the time, I do – but to varying degrees. I work, attend family functions – do all the things any normal person would. And just as any normal person should, I dress for the occasion. (read my answer to Steph about this very point) But even walking down the street after work I have had people calling “goth” to me out car windows. I do however, for the most part, blend in well enough not to offend the more ridiculous members of society (who for some reason find goth attire damaging to their delicate sensibilities…) during the day. In my own time and when I go out, well then I’ll look like I do in my pictures. It’s then I get most of the looks and comments. Luckily in London people are more open to differences and tend to keep themselves to themselves and actually I usually get some wonderfully sweet comments. But there are obviously always those few. I’ve even had things thrown at me on occasion! In these cases the best is really just to ignore it and move on. However in a very carefully judged situation a quick comeback to a ridiculous comment can work wonders – but use this option only if you are totally sure it’s safe to do so as it could just initiate a far more unpleasant situation. With regards to people just staring – well that’s human nature. We all tend to look at things we find interesting or unusual, and you actually get used to it. I hardly notice it anymore, but on occasion I do, I turn round and smile, you’ll be surprised how many smile back (and even if they don’t you’ll sufficiently surprise them that it’ll be funny ;)

Lana asked

My first shoot was with was a lovely American photographer by the name of Nadya Lev who saw a clubbing snap of me and when she was over in London, asked if she could shoot me. I then had some friends who made and sold goth cloths and they asked if I would model for them. From there I became friends with a photographer who was also beginning to learn her trade and we had some fun making fairytale images while we both grew as artists. It was then just a matter of networking and honing my skills and wardrobe! I’ve written further advice on getting into modelling in reply to Amanda who asked a similar question.

mekesha asked

Try networking sites like modelmayhem and net-model to see if you can find someone in your area or somewhere easy to travel to. Unfortunately modelling cannot be done without a photographer (unless you are an accomplished photographer yourself to be able to set up self portraits – this is certainly an option, but can also be limiting). Therefore if there really is no one around to take photos of you or you don’t have the finance available to go out and find someone, you may have to rethink your options. In the beginning you do have to invest time, energy and even money into it so you have to decide why you want to do it. Read my reply to Amanda Arnold about motivations for modelling.