Fairlady asked me to write about the best gift I gave to myself in their love-themed February 2012 issue. Can you guess what I wrote about? Not macarons or shades or shoes…
Since Carine Roitfeld left Vogue France a year ago, she’s been working on this awesome book called Irreverent that would make a GREAT CHRISTMAS PRESENT (hint hint).
“Carine Roitfeld’s influence on fashion is first and foremost her own doing–the fruit of that edgy, chic, and audacious glamour that is hers and hers alone,” Cathy Horyn writes in the forward. “Her style is as sharp and assertive as it is hard to describe, for it depends as much on how she wears the clothes as the brand and labels she chooses.”
The book itself: Irreverent serves as a visual history of a career among the highest echelons of fashion-world elite. More than 360 pages of tear sheets and photographs chronicle Roitfeld’s work since the early 1990s with Tom Ford at Gucci, at Elle and The Face, and with close friend Mario Testino at Vogue. I LOVE hearing stories about how people, who have done well at companies then break out to do their own thing. I am convinced that this is when the good stuff really starts happening. It’s an exciting time to be an exceptional individual – I for one am way more interested in the individuals behind big name companies than I am in the companies themselves. Put it this way – I would much rather read Anna Wintour’s blog than Vogue. Just putting it out there Ms W ;)
Read more on Carine’s book here (Forbes)
I hate my body, but it’s not my fault.
It’s the MAGAZINES’ fault, cos they publish pictures of thin people.
It’s HOLLYWOOD’s fault, because they choose to depict an aspirational lifestyle.
It’s FASHION’s fault, because they make clothes I can’t fit into.
I’m going to tweet about it angrily, right after I tweet about how hungover I am from last night’s wine and food tasting, where I ate seven courses excluding dessert, drank a bottle and half of wine, drank 3 shooters and smoked half a pack of cigarettes.
I’m sick of having to hate my body because of the media.
Enough is enough.
I hate my body, but it’s not my fault.
It’s the ADVERTISER’S FAULT, and it’s THE GYM’S fault, for only showing pictures of slim healthy people, even though it logically makes sense because they are trying to talk to people who value being slim and healthy.
They make me feel fat and disgusting.
So do those skinny bitches who tweet about ‘how much they love running’.
I hate running and I hate anything to do with exercise.
I especially hate people who talk about it.
I hope you drown in your own sweat or get strangled by your monokini and stop making me feel like shit because I can walk up a flight of stairs without breaking a sweat.
The problem isn’t THAT I DON’T EXERCISE.
The problem is that SO MANY OF THOSE AWFUL SKINNY PEOPLE DO, AND I HATE THEM.
I hate my body, but it’s not my fault.
It’s KFC’s fault for serving such TEMPTING DELICIOUS FOODS.
And it’s VEGETABLES’ fault for being so not-filled with salt and addictive flavourants and fried in fat.
It’s those adverts for WEIGHT LOSS AIDS’ fault.
Why should companies make money out of HELPING PEOPLE BE HEALTHIER? BASTARDS.
Why should I EAT LESS? The media is FILLED with things telling me to eat less.
Well I’ll show the media I have my own mind by EATING MORE.
Take that media!
And when I’m done eating more than is healthy for my height and size, I am going to slag the media off for making me feel so shit about my body.
I hate my body, but it’s not my fault.
Sure, I smoke, but if you’re gonna lecture me about how ‘bad smoking is for your lungs and overall body functioning’ then PUH LEEEEEEZE get out of here you self-righteous new age ponce.
Smoking is my THING, okay? So is drinking. And eating.
So what if instead of dealing with issues in my life I prefer to EAT UNTIL I’M IN A CARB COMA.
And SO WHAT if my big nights out make me feel like a rat that got run over on Long Street.
SO WHAT if two bottles of wine, five shooters and 4 cocktails contains more than three times the average adult human’s daily calorie allowance. I LIKE TO HAVE FUN OKAY.
It’s not MY DRINKING that’s the problem.
It’s magazines showing slim people looking happy that’s the problem.
My need to ABUSE THE MIRACLE OF NATURE THAT IS MY BODY is NOT why I feel filled with loathing every time I look in the mirror.
The fact that I wheeze every time I need to slightly exert myself is NOT why I hate my body.
I hate my body because of THE MEDIA AND THEIR CONSTANT REMINDER OF HOW GOOD HEALTH CAN LOOK.
They should be BANNED for showing slim people and an aspirational lifestyle. People who are good examples make me feel LIKE SHIT.
I hate my body, but it’s not my fault.
It’s EVERYBODY’S fault but my own.
Came out today. Love this ad done by friendlies Paige & Karin. Paige also wrote a few books. I interviewed her here once.
It’s a great issue, packed with all sorts of views on the whole women and body and looks debate. Can’t wait to get stuck in. Get it – it’s the november issue with Candice Swanepoel on the cover.
It’s a bit delayed but just got hold of premium publication Live Out Loud and loved the feature on renowned ‘macaronerie’ (I just made that up – think it works?) Daniela’s. Daniela’s created the Cape Town Girl macaron, which she talks about at length in the interview. Daniela’s also made the MOST incredible macaron cake for my birthday. Did you see it? Clicky. Still makes me shiver with pleasure when I think about it.
The BryanBoy workshop hosted by Sunglass Hut & Marie Claire last Friday at Tjing Tjing was all kinds of fun. Lots of people wearing shades indoors, without fear of ‘looking like total pretentious tards‘ since Sunglass Hut was the official sponsor. Lots of lovely bloggers there including cocotheblog, Dylan Jack, Style Guide CT, Man of the Cloth, Talya Goldberg and FashionBreed. It was great to see you all and so nice to meet a blogger outside of the old CT circles.
BB chatted very openly about a bunch of things, some a bit naughty to repeat here, others less so including how he doesn’t consider himself to be a brand and thus will not be designing his own ranges with fashion labels (missed opportunity sad face) and also how he doesn’t think labels are important (tres capetonian – you can spot a Joburger by the size of their labels). He also spoke about ‘tweet regret’ and about how he doesn’t like to be a ‘hater’ anymore online, agreeing that being bitchy online tends to make you look rather bitter and pathetic since, as he says, it’s all out there in the open and once you put it out there, it’s permanent – defs a lesson a few tweeties could learn here in SA.
A huge thanks to Sunglass Hut for bringing him out here and Marie Claire for facilitating the process – definitely two world-class brands who’re in touch with what’s happening.
PS. Have you seen the new summer stock at Sunglass Hut? Some DIVINE stuff! Like these red and white checked D&Gs. LOVE!
Called W. And it’s really good! Beautifully designed and balanced content with a bit of that Taste flair we so love. And it’s free to cardholders (win!).
Since BryanBoy is a MAJOR shades fan, just like CTG, you can win a place at the conference by visiting a Sunglass Hut SA store, and uploading a twitpic (@SunglassHutSA) of you in store wearing a pair of sunnies which you think @BryanBoy would love to be spotted in. Easy peasy!
You can also increase your chances by…
Posting your photo to the Sunglass Hut facebook page and send Sunglass Hut the link to your blogpost via your twitter account and whichever hashtag applies:
#BryanSunglassHutJHB for Jhb
#BryanSunglassHutCT for Cpt.
Winners will be Announced at Mid Day Monday 29 Aug.
Can’t wait!
CTG gets quoted on p124 on an article about running. Journalist gets her age wrong (says she’s older than she is) but well what else do we expect from a journalist ;)
Bloc Party’s Banquet and Daft Punk’s Human After All are my favourite running song submissions too. Now go get running!
PS They also have a GREAT article on the psychological damage dieting does to women in this issue. Love Elle. They really are rocking it at the moment.
PPS the writer of the running article is @Brodiegal and she has apologised for getting age wrong. Otherwise she must be applauded on a great article.
You can see my nominations for my favourite beauty products on p98 of this month’s Elle magazine. 2 of mine were runners up - Chanel’s Vitalumiere Foundation and Clinique Pore Refining Solutions Corrector. The latter is always in my bag – it’s amazing if, like me, you go to Elements on Kloof for your eyebrow threading at lunch time and then your eyes are all red and a little puffy like a red panda. Pore Corrector takes the redness away in a matter of minutes!
