girls just wanna have fun

Practice round for dressing up like Fifi and the Flower tots

                         Thoughtful Fairy plus gleeful princess.

The Life of a Harper's Bazaar, London Dep. Art Director

The talented, smart, succesful and divine Abigail Volks upped and moved her life to London this year. I asked her to share a little of her life with us.

1. Where do you work and what does your job involve?

I work for Harpers Bazaar, London. My  job involves co-ordinating with relevant section editors (fashion, travel, art & culture) and picture editors to compile and design pages of the magazine.

The infamous tube station

2. What is the best thing about living in London

London = freedom, 'safety', anonymity and independence. Over & above that, being spoilt for choice! 

I also love the fact that people are out & about all the time (even when it's 5 degrees)....

(ask me again in 3 months when it drops to below freezing... maybe the answer will be different). 

I like knowing that life is happening out there even when I'm asleep.

Ab's office in Carnaby street

3. You were previously art director at Cosmopolitan South Africa. How is this different?

Different country, different magazine, different target market, different culture, different aesthetic.

4. What are your sanity saving tips in your field?

Listen, think and learn fast! (while smiling all the time)

The sublime Tate Modern

5.You work for a fashion magazine, how do you manage to look stylish on a budget?

(Mmmmm I think i was more stylish in Cape Town when I could wear heels, drive my own car, 

and only walk 2 minutes to get to the office.... I wear flat boots or trainers every day and save the killer boots for special occasions!) 

The London high street stores - really do cater for style and for one's budget. 

The quality is super good too! And when they have sales... it's really a SALE!

Abi's flats

What fashion trends are coming up for us in Winter 2011?

You'll be seeing : leather & lace, camel tones and shearling.

I love shearling. Can't wait. Thanks so much for sharing a little of your life. Give London our love.

Slip sliding away

The Doc took the girls on a sunset walk last night as it was beautiful weather in Cape Town.

Sometimes I can't believe this is "our back garden"

While looking for tadpoles,

the little one slipped down that smooth black rock  and bounced a good fwe metres to where the doc was playing with the camera.

"She didn't slip," says the doc, "She was training to go surfing" :)

By the way, don't you love how my daughter wears fablefairy alice bands even in her PJs and even on a sunset walk.

Fable Fairy plans to look like this this Summer

Swimsuit search cont.

I went to try on swimsuits today. Disasterous!

I used to look at my mom and her mates bathing costumes with the cups inside and think why are they wearing fuddy duddy old lady costumes?

Well after birthding and breastfeeding 2 littlies and NO TIME for anything but a sunday cycle I need a costume for a 50's kinda girl.

 

I'll take all of these and how happy they are. Pics from http://www.chronicvintage.blogger.com/

Ideal swim suit summer 2010

Need to get me one of these. The divine Greta Garbo http://vintageweardaily.blogspot.com/

Japanese Animation

  I love japanese animation by studio Ghibli and my favourite film director of all time is Hayao Murazaki.

My favourite in the Ghibli stable is no surprise: Kiki's Delivery Service [ I have have a daughter called Kiki and cat called Jiji (Jinja)] and Kirsten Dunst does Kiki's voice over in the movie.



It all started with watching Heidi when I was 6. I loved the way the mouth moved, the way they ate bread and the sound of their feet running.

I also love: My neighbour Tortorro

And then there's Yesterday.  I'll save all the others for another post.

On Sat., we got to watch one of the Ghibli stable not directed by Murazaki: Whisperer in the Night.

Freakin Fantastic