You are complete FAIL.
You aren't even wearing "gothic lolita." Where is the petti? Bloomers?
Since when did neon purple tights and a black net (looks like you stole from a fisherman) become gothic lolita?
Please......*gags.*

Where in my blog post (or anywhere in the blog) do I claim to be wearing "Gothic Lolita"?

Ha!
I bet I can guess where all these negative comments come from.... some people in the Goth scene think that they somehow have the last word on everything from the music, the fashion and the clubs. Ruin is NOT the best goth club, nor is the dj, not here in South Cali nor in USA, (New York and San Fran have awesome goth scenes!) That is not to say that they suck but the people that frequent that place take life a little too seriously. This scene has been around for a long time... and it will not be RUINED by immature gothies. HA! Permission... who are these people... THE GOTH POLICE, running around blogs charging others with internet crimes, HAHAHA!
Do what you do girl, I like Lolitas... original or not, accepted or not, "permitted" or not, looks like you are having fun!!!!!!
- Larry, the love your body Larry!!!!!!

What the shit are you talking about?

I personally think Carmen bring some GREAT things to the so-called "Lolita community". Honestly, if you don't want to read about Carmen, the events she goes to or see pictures of her, why go to HER website? This is a fashion blog. The bloggers post pics of themselves and their lives. That's the point.
Carmen doesn't claim to be the GODDESS of Lolita. Why should she? Or anybody else for that matter. Let people enjoy the fashion in the way they want, that's what it's all about. Stop making rules and guidelines and pointing out who's lolita and who's not. All you're going to get out of it is a golden cage.

"The bloggers post pics of themselves and their lives. That's the point."

the problem is she is posting pictures of other people, taken by other photographers, at events she actually did not attend.

The point with that quote was that if people don't want her to use herself as a model, maybe they shouldn't read fashion blogs. It was a comment to the posts that were calling her a social climber, attention-sick and not good enough or lolita enough for the "lolita community". I didn't comment on the copyright stuff.

Wow... I smell a lot of jealousy in these comments. Green is not a flattering color for most of you haters and lolitists out there.
I wish I lived in LA and could go to some of these events. They look quite awesome! And I'm not even a goth.

What the hell do people have to be jealous about?

Seriously, find a better reason to comment, or just don't do it at all. Saying that people are jealous is a stupid thing to fall back on.

This is to Random Tranny. First off, how original would it be to get a law degree and become a lawyer? Hmmm? Like the world needs another one of those! It seems to me like all of you guys are BITTER, how about this, why don't YOU come up with an awesome blog and get a book deal out of it AND design fashions on the side hmmm? You know what I smell? JEALOUSY. So maybe she has a bit more of an artistic and interesting life than you do. So what? And from all these comments, like who the fuck goes out of their way to be negative on something they don't even care about? What all you people need is to either break your hymens or get off the net, go out and get a good lay.

Her book deal? Not even her photographs, just her commentary. Designer? all of her jackets are based off of one pattern, which I'm sure she didn't even draft. She's a social climber and attention whore. You know why her blog is so popular? She has everything tagged as something that it's not. You search for a metamorphose skirt, LACARMINA pops up.

It isn't about jealousy.
Carmen is exiled from the Lolita community because she is fake and uses "lolita" as a means to gain attention. Jumping on stage of a fashion show she wasn't a part of? I think THAT is jealousy. As long as she keeps pretending she is something she isn't and pull her special snowflake syndrome she won't be accepted by the lolita community - the ones who matter - the ones who actually know what the fashion is about.

And, she knows it.
Her "book deals", "fashion design" and laughable "modeling" are a JOKE.
She is not talented in any of those fields, truly.

Who uses pictures of THEMSELVES as their models, anyway?
Who posts pictures of events that she DID NOT EVEN GO TO, but leaves that last part out?

Please don't bring your own Freudian issues here. And who are you to exile her from the Lolita community? I'm sorry but unless you're signing your emails in real blood than I'm sorry, but YOU'RE just not gothic enough. You know what you are? You're the type of person who spends hours of their time and energy making all the I HATE BRITNEY or I HATE (INSERT CELEBRITY HERE) websites, like why dedicate SO MUCH of your time to something that you hate. AND, since we're on the topic of YOU, what is it exactly that you do? That is, besides lurk in your parents basement and light black candles?

"YOU'RE just not gothic enough."

LMAO. Just shut up. Seriously.

Lolita isn't even about who is gothier, or goth at all. "Gothic" Lolita is a subculture of Lolita.

"YOU'RE just not gothic enough"
LMAO. It's a motherf*cking goth-off! Goth-off, goth-off, goth-off!

PS as a clarification - I generally don't remove "critical" comments, as you can see above. I only take off comments that are nothing more than name-calling (it's my prerogative to keep the vitriol down and the content on this blog PG). Have a lovely day!

Does anyone else find it hilarious that she has a law degree she did NOTHING with? She probably never even passed the bar.. Why didn't she get a degree in textiles/design if she was going to start her own fashion line? Her outfits, so called fashion line, and educational history is a complete mess.

It's not a complete mess - just a hot tranny one!

I never said hot mess. I said you look like a mess. There's nothing hot about it. Tranny, male to female (barely female, probably not post op), MESS.

Why do you feel the need to make out like you attend all these events..?

Maybe lolitas would actually want to include you in ANYTHING if you just didn't lie or make people mistrust you by randomly using other peoples images..? I mean, what else could you be lying about.

The world does not revolve around you.

It doesn't? :P

The owner of those photos never gave you permission to use them. You even left on the watermark of the person you stole them from, after editing out the watermark from the rest. Take them down. That's called copyright violation. And from someone who SUPPOSEDLY has a law degree. From Yale (yeah right). You should know that you're in violation of copyright by using these photos without permission as well as the photos from the L.A. Times. The L.A. Times has been contacted and informed that you are illegally using their copy-written photos.

Le sigh. It's LA WEEKLY, and I know several reporters who are not only completely aware of my blog coverage, but SEND ME LINKS to their articles to put up on the blog.

And we went through the copyright thing four months ago.... Do you ask Kera Magazine or Kana if you can use THEIR images on your LiveJournal? I'm guessing not.

Fair Use

U.S. copyright law sometimes allows material to be quoted without the consent of the copyright holder under the doctrine of fair use. The Copyright Act defines fair use as the use of excerpts from a work for the purpose of comment, criticism, or study. If a use meets that threshold test, then four factors must be considered in determining whether a use is fair use:

- The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.
- The nature of the copyrighted work.
- The amount and substantiality of the portion of the work used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
The effect of the use in question on the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

How much of someone else's work can I use without getting permission?

Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or percentage of a work. Whether a particular use qualifies as fair use depends on all the circumstances. See FL 102, Fair Use, and Circular 21, Reproductions of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians.

http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html

Regardless, Im not so sure the people IN the photos you...borrow and report on?...would actually want their photos to be on your blog...

That club seems like a lot of fun! Are people friendly in western goth clubs or how to they act towards newcomers in general? I read the article and it seemed positive, but what if you don't know anybody there...? I just wondered ^^;

Most of the people were friendly, the promoters especially! Funny, considering that they were wielding torture equipment... The ethereal music wasn't as much to my liking, however (I prefer EBM/80s Goth/darkwave).

lol the drink looks yummy!

Absinthe is delicious, if you like the taste of licorice... and in British Columbia, there's no thujone limit (meaning that you can buy absinthe with a high amount of the hallucinogenic element)! :P

Where in B.C are you talking about? Where I live you can buy absinthe and it tastes like licorice but there aren't any hallucinogens in it. The alcohol content is really high, but that's about it.

I'm sorry for being a flake. I can't wait to see you again.
BTW- you look super hot in your LA UNDEAD photos.

this may be my fave post thus far. the whole thing just had this dark dreamy feel to it that I liked. or ..was that just me 0-o

Agreed - and the photoshoots and parties keep getting better! Stay tuned... :)