Cathy Hay

[sporkspeaks]

Truly, what super special information is behind the locked doors of FR that will magically turn someone into a superb individual with world-class skills? There are now decades of free archived and new sources outside FR covering everything you'd want to know about sewing and costuming.

I can't help but think of Cathy laughing and rolling around in piles of money.

[andipales]

De-lurking to say Foundations Revealed membership is open for a whopping three and a half days. At $27USD per month for peasant-class or $57 for all the content.

Plus VAT in the EU.

Oof.

I mean, I thought my ~$10 a month subscription to Royal Black's patreon was extravagant but dayuuuuum.


Editing to add: Also, the "replies" to the FAQs on the sign up page *dry heaving*. Here's the answer to "I'm not sure I can really justify it". Eff off, Cathy. Yeah, you might be broke two years into a global pandemic with Christmas right around the corner, but sometimes you just have to spend $800 a year believing in yourself.


I used to take offence when people said this. But then I realised - it's not that you think Foundations Revealed isn't worth the investment - far from it. You get the value. What you're having trouble justifying is... spending money on yourself. On something that's not "essential". On something that seems "frivolous". An "optional extra".

I want you to know something: your sewing matters. You have a unique voice that is waiting for you to unlock it. We are all born creative, but few realize their creative dream: the dream of one day stepping out with relaxed confidence into a world that's starving for something different.

To realise that dream we have to cultivate that creativity, and water it with practice. Because practice strengthens skill, and skill beats "talent".

Lots of people want to sew well, but not that many are willing to take the time to develop their skills - to develop a practice. But that doesn’t mean finding your way alone. There’s a path from where you are right now to the maker you want to be, one that’s clearly marked, step by step, from beginner to advanced.

Foundations Revealed is a place for sewists who want to learn the language of this art, to focus on practice, and to find and craft your own voice and style.

You can get there from wherever you’re starting if you’re willing to do the work. The world needs your gifts. And you DO have what it takes.

If you feel that Foundations Revealed is the key to giving yourself permission to be creative, this is your chance to make it happen. We have SO much trouble giving to ourselves. Give yourself a break, my friend. Come and fill yourself up again.

That whole spiel infuriates me honestly. There are so many things wrong it it, it's hard to know where to start but I think the main one that gets me is the concept that obviously the only reason you're not shelling out for her is that you can't justify spending money on yourself. Couldn't possibly be that her overpriced tat is available for free elsewhere, not of use to you, or even just that you don't feel the need to line her coffers, no, it's because you feel guilt spending money on yourself. The concept that you can't do any of the things she lists without needing her patronising bloody emails is laughable at the best of times, the fact that she's using this nonsense to peddle her wares in the middle of a global pandemic when people are desperately trying to find some joy in an exceedingly difficult world just adds to the low key revulsion I feel when I see her sales tactics.

[Snezhinka13]

De-lurking to say Foundations Revealed membership is open for a whopping three and a half days. At $27USD per month for peasant-class or $57 for all the content.

Plus VAT in the EU.

Oof.

I mean, I thought my ~$10 a month subscription to Royal Black's patreon was extravagant but dayuuuuum.


Editing to add: Also, the "replies" to the FAQs on the sign up page *dry heaving*. Here's the answer to "I'm not sure I can really justify it". Eff off, Cathy. Yeah, you might be broke two years into a global pandemic with Christmas right around the corner, but sometimes you just have to spend $800 a year believing in yourself.


I used to take offence when people said this. But then I realised - it's not that you think Foundations Revealed isn't worth the investment - far from it. You get the value. What you're having trouble justifying is... spending money on yourself. On something that's not "essential". On something that seems "frivolous". An "optional extra".

I want you to know something: your sewing matters. You have a unique voice that is waiting for you to unlock it. We are all born creative, but few realize their creative dream: the dream of one day stepping out with relaxed confidence into a world that's starving for something different.

To realise that dream we have to cultivate that creativity, and water it with practice. Because practice strengthens skill, and skill beats "talent".

Lots of people want to sew well, but not that many are willing to take the time to develop their skills - to develop a practice. But that doesn’t mean finding your way alone. There’s a path from where you are right now to the maker you want to be, one that’s clearly marked, step by step, from beginner to advanced.

Foundations Revealed is a place for sewists who want to learn the language of this art, to focus on practice, and to find and craft your own voice and style.

You can get there from wherever you’re starting if you’re willing to do the work. The world needs your gifts. And you DO have what it takes.

If you feel that Foundations Revealed is the key to giving yourself permission to be creative, this is your chance to make it happen. We have SO much trouble giving to ourselves. Give yourself a break, my friend. Come and fill yourself up again.

That whole spiel infuriates me honestly. There are so many things wrong it it, it's hard to know where to start but I think the main one that gets me is the concept that obviously the only reason you're not shelling out for her is that you can't justify spending money on yourself. Couldn't possibly be that her overpriced tat is available for free elsewhere, not of use to you, or even just that you don't feel the need to line her coffers, no, it's because you feel guilt spending money on yourself. The concept that you can't do any of the things she lists without needing her patronising bloody emails is laughable at the best of times, the fact that she's using this nonsense to peddle her wares in the middle of a global pandemic when people are desperately trying to find some joy in an exceedingly difficult world just adds to the low key revulsion I feel when I see her sales tactics.

I totally agree. I mean, even if we give her the absolute benefit of the doubt, let's forget the PD and anything she might have done in the last 10 years and just pretend this is a woman who has a dream to run a costuming website, can't she see how manipulative this is?

If the product is good and it's a reasonable price, people will buy it. Does she go honestly believe all her pig-poop?
That she's lifting people up to be their best selves? I find it so hard to believe. Everything on the membership sign-up page is so manipulative and playing on people's fears, feelings of inadequacy, and plain old FOMO.

I don't know whether to be angry or sad. I want everyone to be a good person - I want Cathy to be a nice person who wants to make money doing what she loves so she can fulfil her dreams of moving to the US. But she's just not. Even if she started out that way, things didn't work out and now she's using scam-style tactics and the people who fall for it are probably the ones that can least afford it.

[popmypopcorn]

That FAQ deserves to be carved into gilded sunset.

Now I must go and explain to my kids, why they won't eat for a year...Mommy has self priviliges!

[CuriousAboutThat]

De-lurking to say Foundations Revealed membership is open for a whopping three and a half days. At $27USD per month for peasant-class or $57 for all the content.

Plus VAT in the EU.

Oof.

I mean, I thought my ~$10 a month subscription to Royal Black's patreon was extravagant but dayuuuuum.


Editing to add: Also, the "replies" to the FAQs on the sign up page *dry heaving*. Here's the answer to "I'm not sure I can really justify it". Eff off, Cathy. Yeah, you might be broke two years into a global pandemic with Christmas right around the corner, but sometimes you just have to spend $800 a year believing in yourself.


I used to take offence when people said this. But then I realised - it's not that you think Foundations Revealed isn't worth the investment - far from it. You get the value. What you're having trouble justifying is... spending money on yourself. On something that's not "essential". On something that seems "frivolous". An "optional extra".

I want you to know something: your sewing matters. You have a unique voice that is waiting for you to unlock it. We are all born creative, but few realize their creative dream: the dream of one day stepping out with relaxed confidence into a world that's starving for something different.

To realise that dream we have to cultivate that creativity, and water it with practice. Because practice strengthens skill, and skill beats "talent".

Lots of people want to sew well, but not that many are willing to take the time to develop their skills - to develop a practice. But that doesn’t mean finding your way alone. There’s a path from where you are right now to the maker you want to be, one that’s clearly marked, step by step, from beginner to advanced.

Foundations Revealed is a place for sewists who want to learn the language of this art, to focus on practice, and to find and craft your own voice and style.

You can get there from wherever you’re starting if you’re willing to do the work. The world needs your gifts. And you DO have what it takes.

If you feel that Foundations Revealed is the key to giving yourself permission to be creative, this is your chance to make it happen. We have SO much trouble giving to ourselves. Give yourself a break, my friend. Come and fill yourself up again.

That whole spiel infuriates me honestly. There are so many things wrong it it, it's hard to know where to start but I think the main one that gets me is the concept that obviously the only reason you're not shelling out for her is that you can't justify spending money on yourself. Couldn't possibly be that her overpriced tat is available for free elsewhere, not of use to you, or even just that you don't feel the need to line her coffers, no, it's because you feel guilt spending money on yourself. The concept that you can't do any of the things she lists without needing her patronising bloody emails is laughable at the best of times, the fact that she's using this nonsense to peddle her wares in the middle of a global pandemic when people are desperately trying to find some joy in an exceedingly difficult world just adds to the low key revulsion I feel when I see her sales tactics.

Just got the bleg email. Oh, yesss, recycled pictures and text from last year. Seems creative juice is a bit thin this year. I'll pass.

[thetealady]

Truly, what super special information is behind the locked doors of FR that will magically turn someone into a superb individual with world-class skills? There are now decades of free archived and new sources outside FR covering everything you'd want to know about sewing and costuming.

I can't help but think of Cathy laughing and rolling around in piles of money.

Every article on FR is available for free somewhere on the web. There's also a LOT of better, cheaper info out there. Books, Patreons, Insta feeds, facebook pages, classes that cost a third of an FR membership, internet stores offering tons of free info, blogs, you name it, it's out there.

FR doesn't even have the best 'experts' working for them, (that is not to say that the experts aren't good - just that they are not the only ones teaching). FR relies on the gullible.

[DorisWildthyme]

I can't help but think of Cathy laughing and rolling around in piles of money.

Like so?

[Julienne]

There are now decades of free archived and new sources outside FR covering everything you'd want to know about sewing and costuming.

Dude, I wish this was still absolutely true. But monentized content and Insta with its instant and easy likes has absolutely cannabilized blog culture. A number of helpful articles and blogs have already disappeared into the ether, another number has fallen victim to dead photohosting sites and their number will continue to rise instead of fall. Even if a very helpful blog post got fully archived on archive.org, you need to know that ever existed in the first place to look for it there. And a gazillion videos on whatever is popular at the moment can't replace the disappeared one blog article about that one obscure thing you need.

[SnarkySnax]

There are now decades of free archived and new sources outside FR covering everything you'd want to know about sewing and costuming.

Dude, I wish this was still absolutely true. But monentized content and Insta with its instant and easy likes has absolutely cannabilized blog culture. A number of helpful articles and blogs have already disappeared into the ether, another number has fallen victim to dead photohosting sites and their number will continue to rise instead of fall. Even if a very helpful blog post got fully archived on archive.org, you need to know that ever existed in the first place to look for it there. And a gazillion videos on whatever is popular at the moment can't replace the disappeared one blog article about that one obscure thing you need.

It was so useful to be able to refer to step by step instructions with photos. I learned so much from costuming blogs back in the day. I am a visual learner, which you think video format would be tailor made for, but it sucks because it's really just audio teaching with a visual element, with lots of skipped steps to make it more "streamlined" for entertainment/monetization purposes, not for actual teaching purposes. The step by step photo format of dress diaries were wonderful for allowing me to take my time to figure out a step, attempt it, come back to troubleshoot if necessary, etc.

I also miss the knowledge sharing culture of the blog era, too. There were some websites that had subscription models (CH was at the forefront of this in the costuming community, but even American Duchess was trying to move some content behind paywalls pretty early on, before the shoe empire happened) but they were in the minority, and there was no ability to monetize beyond a Paypal "donate" button. It was so much more accessible and less gatekeepy than anything we have today. But so many of those websites are gone now, and even if you knew to look for them on the Way Back Machine, the content may not have even been archived or is only partially archived, so it's like an archeological dig only getting fragments here and there and having to piece it all together.

And even search engines like Google and Yahoo don't index sites the way they used to, so even if you knew a blog out there still exists and wanted to search for it, you have wade through a hundred pages of paid advertising or Pinterest links that don't show you what you're looking for. Now you're constantly trying to outsmart an algorithm that is designed to think it's smarter than you.

I would love to see blogging make a comeback in the community, but I have a feeling a lot of the old timers are burned out and in their 40s and 50s now and have too many "grown up" responsibilities to spend time putting their knowledge on the internet. And the younger demographic is too caught up in marketing themselves on social media to invest time in a dress diary. It's a damn shame, though. Blogs really were an incredible asset to the community.

[CuriousAboutThat]

Truly, what super special information is behind the locked doors of FR that will magically turn someone into a superb individual with world-class skills? There are now decades of free archived and new sources outside FR covering everything you'd want to know about sewing and costuming.

I can't help but think of Cathy laughing and rolling around in piles of money.

Every article on FR is available for free somewhere on the web. There's also a LOT of better, cheaper info out there. Books, Patreons, Insta feeds, facebook pages, classes that cost a third of an FR membership, internet stores offering tons of free info, blogs, you name it, it's out there.

FR doesn't even have the best 'experts' working for them, (that is not to say that the experts aren't good - just that they are not the only ones teaching). FR relies on the gullible.

The one advantage is that everything is "in house", in one place. And Luca ... I ReallyReallyReally want to know what he knows ...

[SnarkySnax]

Every article on FR is available for free somewhere on the web. There's also a LOT of better, cheaper info out there. Books, Patreons, Insta feeds, facebook pages, classes that cost a third of an FR membership, internet stores offering tons of free info, blogs, you name it, it's out there.

FR doesn't even have the best 'experts' working for them, (that is not to say that the experts aren't good - just that they are not the only ones teaching). FR relies on the gullible.

The one advantage is that everything is "in house", in one place. And Luca ... I ReallyReallyReally want to know what he knows ...

Luca was a huge get for Cathy. The only possible bigger fish was BB, but that worked out poorly. That said, I have a friend who is a friend of Luca's who said he basically plays nice with CH because he's just a nice person, but that he tries to distance himself as much as he can beyond the professional association because he knows she's an opportunist and manipulative. I got the impression from her that he's trying to be as neutral as possible while being very aware of the drama CH creates. I tried to get more specifics out of her, but she clammed up after dropping that tidbit, sadly. Maybe there wasn't really anything beyond the fact that Luca knows what CH is capable of and he's trying to stay out of it. Luckily for him, he's still a major player in the corset community and at the top of the heap, so CH would have no reason to eject him. Still, makes me wonder about someone who knows they're in bed with someone who treats others badly, yet claims to want to be neutral. Or maybe he gets paid well enough to overlook it.

It just goes in the same pile of all the other insinuations out there that the experts CH recruits are lauded by CH until someone bigger and more famous comes along and then they get dropped. Someone upthread mentioned Sparklewren as CH's first big name recruit, and what I've heard is that she worked Sparklewren's connections to eventually get to Luca (not sure if it was direct or there had to be several stops in between SW and Luca, but SW was definitely VERY well connected). I've also heard rumors that she did the same thing to Laurie Tavan, but I always assumed they had a genuine friendship because CH would stay at LT's place when she did her yearly grand tour of California around CoCo.

[ValkyrieRisen]

My rent matters too. The food on my table matters. The gas in my car matters.

The amount of privilege in this FAQ is astounding and off-putting. Not all of us have $30-60 of disposable income a month.

And if i did have that extra a month I'd rather spend it on fabric than resources that could be found somewhere else online

[thetealady]

The one advantage is that everything is "in house", in one place. And Luca ... I ReallyReallyReally want to know what he knows ...

Luca was a huge get for Cathy. The only possible bigger fish was BB, but that worked out poorly. That said, I have a friend who is a friend of Luca's who said he basically plays nice with CH because he's just a nice person, but that he tries to distance himself as much as he can beyond the professional association because he knows she's an opportunist and manipulative. I got the impression from her that he's trying to be as neutral as possible while being very aware of the drama CH creates. I tried to get more specifics out of her, but she clammed up after dropping that tidbit, sadly. Maybe there wasn't really anything beyond the fact that Luca knows what CH is capable of and he's trying to stay out of it. Luckily for him, he's still a major player in the corset community and at the top of the heap, so CH would have no reason to eject him. Still, makes me wonder about someone who knows they're in bed with someone who treats others badly, yet claims to want to be neutral. Or maybe he gets paid well enough to overlook it.

It just goes in the same pile of all the other insinuations out there that the experts CH recruits are lauded by CH until someone bigger and more famous comes along and then they get dropped. Someone upthread mentioned Sparklewren as CH's first big name recruit, and what I've heard is that she worked Sparklewren's connections to eventually get to Luca (not sure if it was direct or there had to be several stops in between SW and Luca, but SW was definitely VERY well connected). I've also heard rumors that she did the same thing to Laurie Tavan, but I always assumed they had a genuine friendship because CH would stay at LT's place when she did her yearly grand tour of California around CoCo.

SW knew people but nobody that CH was interested in - there was no ‘working’ of connections in that department at that time because there were no connections - SW was a newbie corset maker with no interest in costume but lots of modern new ideas for corsetry and those are what CH latched onto - there was a lot of bad feeling in the corsetry/LJ community because of it and CH’s obvious and sickly favouritism did no favours for either of them. By the time SW had made better connections, she had moved on from FR, had stopped writing for them and was indeed dropped in favour of new shiny people who had themselves been inspired by SW (Vanyanis, then Royal Black both of whom CH met during different years at the Oxford Conference). These two were not recruited to FR immediately as is the style of CH, she first makes BFF’s, shows them off all over the place, holds them on the highest pedestel for all the world to see while she basks in their glory, then invites them into the FR fold as an ‘expert’. CH met LC through The School of Historical Dress where she did a couple of his courses - with Laurie Tavan as it happens (rinse and repeat). LC, RB and even SW at the time, knew CH’s shortcomings. None of them liked the ‘american’ sales style pushed via FR. SW wrote extensively, and they remain the best FR articles, but neither LC or RB give away their real secrets via FR. RB saves her skills for her patreon people where she makes much more money. LC for his personal students and SHD where his first loyalty is. They and SW were and are smart enough to know when they are being used. It’s all mutual.

[thetealady]

The one advantage is that everything is "in house", in one place. And Luca ... I ReallyReallyReally want to know what he knows ...

FR isn’t the only place with info or with Luca and there is still a lot free on the internet - to the chagrin of many makers. You could get three top level patreons including RB and it would be cheaper than FR. As for Luca, if you want to know what he knows, get the latest Patterns of Fashion book. FR is not where he gives his most valuable info.

[Stitch_in_Time]

De-lurking to say Foundations Revealed membership is open for a whopping three and a half days. At $27USD per month for peasant-class or $57 for all the content.
[...]
Editing to add: Also, the "replies" to the FAQs on the sign up page *dry heaving*. Here's the answer to "I'm not sure I can really justify it".
[...]
What you're having trouble justifying is... spending money on yourself. On something that's not "essential". On something that seems "frivolous". An "optional extra".[...] I want you to know something: your sewing matters.

My rent matters too. The food on my table matters. The gas in my car matters.

The amount of privilege in this FAQ is astounding and off-putting. Not all of us have $30-60 of disposable income a month.

That's kinda the point, right? She is using the language of direct sales/MLMs/religious cults/Scientology/etc. She is trying to sell you something of dubious value by persuading you that you are investing in yourself. Look at the scare quotes! Don't pass up this opportunity because you think it is non-essential. And the love-bombing! She thinks you DO have what it takes.

Even the privilige is there on purpose. It's aspirational. She isn't going to make much money from wealthy people. They are used to sitting on their money. Her real targets are people who are used to scrounging up extra money for things they need. All she has to do is convince them that they need what she is selling.

[DayBreakDawn]

Luca was a huge get for Cathy. The only possible bigger fish was BB, but that worked out poorly. That said, I have a friend who is a friend of Luca's who said he basically plays nice with CH because he's just a nice person, but that he tries to distance himself as much as he can beyond the professional association because he knows she's an opportunist and manipulative. I got the impression from her that he's trying to be as neutral as possible while being very aware of the drama CH creates. I tried to get more specifics out of her, but she clammed up after dropping that tidbit, sadly. Maybe there wasn't really anything beyond the fact that Luca knows what CH is capable of and he's trying to stay out of it. Luckily for him, he's still a major player in the corset community and at the top of the heap, so CH would have no reason to eject him. Still, makes me wonder about someone who knows they're in bed with someone who treats others badly, yet claims to want to be neutral. Or maybe he gets paid well enough to overlook it.

It just goes in the same pile of all the other insinuations out there that the experts CH recruits are lauded by CH until someone bigger and more famous comes along and then they get dropped. Someone upthread mentioned Sparklewren as CH's first big name recruit, and what I've heard is that she worked Sparklewren's connections to eventually get to Luca (not sure if it was direct or there had to be several stops in between SW and Luca, but SW was definitely VERY well connected). I've also heard rumors that she did the same thing to Laurie Tavan, but I always assumed they had a genuine friendship because CH would stay at LT's place when she did her yearly grand tour of California around CoCo.

SW knew people but nobody that CH was interested in - there was no ‘working’ of connections in that department at that time because there were no connections - SW was a newbie corset maker with no interest in costume but lots of modern new ideas for corsetry and those are what CH latched onto - there was a lot of bad feeling in the corsetry/LJ community because of it and CH’s obvious and sickly favouritism did no favours for either of them. By the time SW had made better connections, she had moved on from FR, had stopped writing for them and was indeed dropped in favour of new shiny people who had themselves been inspired by SW (Vanyanis, then Royal Black both of whom CH met during different years at the Oxford Conference). These two were not recruited to FR immediately as is the style of CH, she first makes BFF’s, shows them off all over the place, holds them on the highest pedestel for all the world to see while she basks in their glory, then invites them into the FR fold as an ‘expert’. CH met LC through The School of Historical Dress where she did a couple of his courses - with Laurie Tavan as it happens (rinse and repeat). LC, RB and even SW at the time, knew CH’s shortcomings. None of them liked the ‘american’ sales style pushed via FR. SW wrote extensively, and they remain the best FR articles, but neither LC or RB give away their real secrets via FR. RB saves her skills for her patreon people where she makes much more money. LC for his personal students and SHD where his first loyalty is. They and SW were and are smart enough to know when they are being used. It’s all mutual.

I can't speak on Luca or Sparklewren, but I can put some context in here with Laurie Tavan, since I know her. Laurie and Cathy knew one another from LJ first, and then Costume College, and had significantly overlapping friend groups. LT hopped on the CH train very early, back in the LJ Days, and she produced content for CH on Your Wardrobe, before Foundations Revealed debuted. Maybe LT did work with the School of Historical Dress (I'll take your word for it, since you sound very well plugged into the corsetry side of the hobby), but it was after she and Cathy had forged a tight little friendship. Just conversations in passing with her makes me think LT was genuinely hurt when she got shoved aside when Luca arrived on the FR scene because she thought that Cathy cared more about her than just what she could bring to FR. But Cathy has always been about the transactional friendships; if you can't bring her cash, she doesn't want anything to do with you. Also, I think it's clear that LT's numerous health issues in the last several years put a damper on her rising influence in the community, and therefore her usefulness to Cathy started waining. Once she had Luca, Laurie was of limited use and Laurie found herself being edged out. I'm not sure if she's still actually doing anything for FR, honestly, though I know the FR experts list is like a graveyard of who's who in costuming and corsetry, and names are never removed despite ceasing all working relationships with Cathy. When I last talked to her about it a few years ago, she said she had proposed several master classes but none of them were picked up and she hadn't been scheduled for any of the master level video chats in a while despite indicating her availability, and she had her suspicions about why.

[thetealady]

I can't speak on Luca or Sparklewren, but I can put some context in here with Laurie Tavan, since I know her. Laurie and Cathy knew one another from LJ first, and then Costume College, and had significantly overlapping friend groups. LT hopped on the CH train very early, back in the LJ Days, and she produced content for CH on Your Wardrobe, before Foundations Revealed debuted. Maybe LT did work with the School of Historical Dress (I'll take your word for it, since you sound very well plugged into the corsetry side of the hobby), but it was after she and Cathy had forged a tight little friendship. Just conversations in passing with her makes me think LT was genuinely hurt when she got shoved aside when Luca arrived on the FR scene because she thought that Cathy cared more about her than just what she could bring to FR. But Cathy has always been about the transactional friendships; if you can't bring her cash, she doesn't want anything to do with you. Also, I think it's clear that LT's numerous health issues in the last several years put a damper on her rising influence in the community, and therefore her usefulness to Cathy started waining. Once she had Luca, Laurie was of limited use and Laurie found herself being edged out. I'm not sure if she's still actually doing anything for FR, honestly, though I know the FR experts list is like a graveyard of who's who in costuming and corsetry, and names are never removed despite ceasing all working relationships with Cathy.

Agree with this. LT was cast aside in favour of the new stars (not just Luca). But also LT became closer to certain others, both in the community and in her home area, and i think there was 'influence' there that shone a light on how she had been treated, the patterns that were repeating, and what was happening. Doesn't make it less hurtful. ETA: also LT didn't work with SHD, she attended a course with CH there, that Luca was teaching.

[DayBreakDawn]

Agree with this. LT was cast aside in favour of the new stars (not just Luca). But also LT became closer to certain others, both in the community and in her home area, and i think there was 'influence' there that shone a light on how she had been treated, the patterns that were repeating, and what was happening. Doesn't make it less hurtful. ETA: also LT didn't work with SHD, she attended a course with CH there, that Luca was teaching.

You mean MH? LT and her are neighbors.

[CuriousAboutThat]

FR isn’t the only place with info or with Luca and there is still a lot free on the internet - to the chagrin of many makers. You could get three top level patreons including RB and it would be cheaper than FR. As for Luca, if you want to know what he knows, get the latest Patterns of Fashion book. FR is not where he gives his most valuable info.

Right. I'm anxiously waiting for the reprints of the rest of the books; got #1 and 5.

[CuriousAboutThat]

Even the privilige is there on purpose. It's aspirational. She isn't going to make much money from wealthy people. They are used to sitting on their money. Her real targets are people who are used to scrounging up extra money for things they need. All she has to do is convince them that they need what she is selling.

Thank you, ma'am! I need to print this out so I can reflect on this every time I'm tempted to heed the siren calls of FR.