Alexander Wang Spring 2010 Online Campaign

to all the lovely 17 readers ♥

Taugheedah and Anja at Seventeen were super sweet and offered to feature my blog in their magazine a couple of months ago. so today, while doing some grocery shopping in Woolies, i had a quick flip-through the new issue and yip... there i was. all v. exciting. sure my fellow sunday shoppers were wondering why two 20-something-year-olds were squawking at the pages of a Seventeen magazine. oh well.

so, a few weeks back, when Taugheedah sent me through some questions, she asked me to "please elaborate on the answers" and so i did - knowing full well that most of it probably wouldn't make it into the feature. so, for all you Seventeen readers who have popped by to check out the blog, here's the full q&a. it might also give you a good idea as to what that girl about town is really all about. enjoy!

Tell me a little about yourself… I’m a fashion enthusiast/magazine junkie, who spends too much time people watching. I have an inexcusable weakness for beautiful things and a lot of respect for the people who create them. I think a lot about fashion and I love writing, which is basically why I have a fashion blog. The fact that others find it informative and enjoyable only makes it that much more fun.

What is your blog about? It’s basically a place for me to put down my personal thoughts and musings on all things fashion-related. Fashion magazines and sites like Style.com track trends and break them down so well, that I feel fashion blogs should be doing something a little different. I mostly post about my own experiences, my likes, loves and dislikes, things that catch my eye, people I’ve met and places I’ve stumbled upon. I try to write about talented local designers, photographers, etc. - that deserve a little recognition - as often as I can. The fashion industry’s a tough place and young talents need our love and support.

Who are your fashion icons? Stella McCartney for her stand on eco-fashion and her always beautifully tailored clothes. Garance Doré for her minimalist style, elegance and French-ness. Notorious fashion blogger, Susanna Lau aka Susie Bubble for her daring dress-sense, eclectic wardrobe and for wearing the things I only wish I could. Alexa Chung for her I-want-to-steal-everything-you-are-wearing-street-style. Chloë Sevigny for her quirky coolness and always being a little offbeat in a very brilliant way.

What is your fashion style? I don’t think I have one specific style or am one particular thing. I own lots of basics and usually just team it with one or two key pieces – maybe a nice pair of shoes or a vintage blazer or some pretty gold jewelary. I do however, have a terrible weakness for t-shirt dresses, vintage bags and all things navy blue, which on most occasions tend to sum up my outfit.

What is your must-have item and why? Hmm. Definitely the most difficult question cause it’s impossible to choose just one thing! I’m going to be predictable and say… a simple well-fitted black dress. It’s easy to style when working with a blank canvas a.k.a. the little black dress.

How did you start your blog? When I was studying at the London College of Fashion, our lecturer advised us to start our own blog so we could put our thoughts into words and for her to track what was catching our attention and sample our writing style. When I graduated, I just naturally continued blogging cause I would still see things and think, “I need to blog about that…” Plus, I was traveling a lot at the time and doing a few internships and it was an easy way to share what I was seeing and experiencing in the fashion industry, with my friends and family.

How do you feel about the fashion industry? Well, where would we be without it? I think the fashion industry in South Africa is having a “moment”. There’s an overwhelming amount of creative talent floating around, I feel like we’re on the brink of something exciting. It’s definitely a good time to be in the fashion industry.

How do you decide on what to wear each day? I would say, “it depends on the weather” but as most will know, I always dress inappropriately for the weather. I guess it really has a lot to do with how I feel on the day… and what is clean and ironed.

What are your favourite stores? I do most of my shopping abroad when I'm visiting family in Hong Kong and London, but when I’m back in Cape Town I mostly buy second-hand and locally designed stuff. So my favourite stores would have to be Lulu’s little vintage stall on Church Street in Cape Town. Lulu is super sweet and she always has beautiful stuff. A visit to Lulu is usually followed by a quick look at Mungo & Jemima, which is just over the road. Otherwise, there are some great not-so-well-known second-hand shops in my neighbourhood, which I try to visit whenever I can.

My inspiration comes from... many things. It could be the girl or boy whose just walked past me, the latest Alexander Wang collection, an editorial in i-D Magazine, an old French film, a Style Rookie blog post or maybe even a store's window display.

and that's all of it. big love to the fashion team at Seventeen and a big thank you to all of you for visiting!! ♥

P.S. if you have a fashion blog of your own and want to be added to my blog roll, send your name and your blog's url to thatgirlabouttown@gmail.com and i'll be happy to add you to my list of must reads. :))

a Maison Martin Margiela Book will do too.

since 2009 will probably forever be known at the year of the "big recession", i would totally understand if santa couldn't afford an US$850 (excl. shipping costs) bag. i'm a reasonable girl, really. so, to santa and all my dear loved ones living in greener pastures, here's what would make me as equally happy...

the recently released Maison Martin Margiela Book. now, i know it's become rather common, if not mandatory, for design houses to have a book or two to their name, but it's a completely different ball game with this specific design house.

Maison Martin Margiela prefers to be known as a collective, as opposed to being represented by a single face (i.e. Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, Christopher Bailey for Burberry or Stella McCartney for Stella McCartney, etc.). Martin Margiela refuses to be photographed, filmed or interviewed and till this day, their is still no record of Martin Margiela - the man himself, or his thoughts or opinions. he, or rather, they believe that the process of designing, say... a pair of shoes or even the button on a coat is a group initiative - someone comes up with the concept/design, someone translates that concept/design from an idea to a drawing, someone creates the prototype, someone makes the tweaks and then the final product is made - passing through a number of hands and machines before being styled on a model/packed neatly for transportation. the truth of the matter is, that with any high-end fashion product, the chances that the designer of that brand has physically touched the product are relatively small.

back when i was "slaving" at British ELLE, Rebecca (the fashion features editor) did a feature on MMM. she had to fax through her questions to "the collective". they answered the questions in a group and faxed it back to us. i had to simply type out the hand-written answers from the fax copy. deep down, i wondered why all design houses didn't do this. it would definitely have made my life easier. none of that play-stop-rewind -play-listen-pause-now-was-that-"creative genius"-or-"tiny penis" nonsense. the bigger picture is that Martin Margiela doesn't believe that what lands up on the MMM catwalk at the start of every season is due to the workmanship of one man and therefore the credit doesn't belong solely to him. why should he, alone, be doing shoots with ELLE or interviews with the New York Times?

the information that the world has on MMM and the man, Martin Margiela is extreeeeemely limited. aside from their seasonal collections, this book is no doubt the most public extension of themselves that the design house has ever offered to us... and wouldn't it just be plain rude of us not to accept?

unfortunately, the book is yet to reach our southern shores. the last major, international fashion book release was probably Scott Schuman's The Sartorialist Book, which isn't even (at the time of writing this) stocked by South Africa's largest book store chain. we only have A-Store to thank for jumping on that bandwagon. maybe, they would like to jump on this one too? especially, since the chances that Exclusive Books will clue-up on what they should be stocking on their fashion shelves is as slim as the slice of cake Carine Roitfeld eats at her birthday party.

all i want for christmas is...

this ALEXANDER WANG ROCCO DUFFEL BAG, pleeeease!! my ex-colleague from WGSN in hong kong recently tweeted a photo of a woman on the hong kong MTR (a.k.a the underground) with one of these of her lap. i almost forgot how i first fell in love with it when i was in hong kong. thanks for the reminder, Yilian! it's shameful that A.Wang doesn't go on sale. i feel you, girl!! you know you truly love something (and it's not just the hip and hype) when you still want it, even though it's technically "last season" and there's a whole new collection of bags taunting you. i will have none of that, thank you very much. just this "last season" rocco lover will do.

santa, can you hear meeee? ♥

LV - what i love to hate and hate to love.

advertising campaigns aren't what they used to be. nowadays, it's all about big lights, big faces, big photographers and big big hype. a marketing tool that is finally being used to its full potential, and leading by example is Louis Vuitton. people literally wait at their keyboards for the release of LV's new seasonal campaigns. now, i don't usually make a habit of posting about them. afterall, that's what vogue.com exists for, right? however, i am a MAJOR Marc Jacobs fan. he's a genius. full stop. what he's done for LV can't even be put into words and what he does in the sewing room and on the catwalk is insane. what i don't love however, is the way LV is shamelessly mass-produced, ruthlessly distributed and how it lands up on the arm of every girl in asia.

on a happier and less critical note, i think Marc Jacobs' team can execute an advertising campaign as well as they can a Speedy tote. this season, Dutch model, Lara Stone replaces Madonna as the new face of Louis Vuitton's s/s 2010 ad campaign. couldn't think of any other model who could live up to Madonna. she's on par with Alice Dellal in terms of what she's doing to challenge the Kate Moss's and Lily Donaldson's of the fashion world. the full campaign hasn't been released online yet, but it's only a matter of time. i much prefer Lara to Madonna. it must be said. don't hate me.

and to the ONLY LV-loving girl i love - who owns one too many LV bags, but still knows that it's more than just a flashy monogram to throw around - please, pretty please make your next one a Chloé. i'm sending this one to In LVoe with Louis Vuitton just for you. and yes, to all you die-hard LV lovers, that little treasure in the middle is "The Kalahari". ♥

FACEHUNTER in Cape Town update //

just a quick update on my recent post, Yvan Rodic to FACE HUNT(ER) in Cape Town //. unfortunately, his schedule's been changed and he will no longer be gracing our beautiful shores.

here's what you he wrote: "It has been difficult to make the choice but I had to cancel my trip to Cape Town in order to go to New York, where an 'exciting opportunity' - that I'm not allowed to reveal at the moment - is offered to me. You will see the result early next year. I hope to make it in South Africa soon!"

don't get me wrong, i love this city to death, but i can kinda... maybe, see how a street photographer would choose New York over Cape Town. oh well. better luck next time, kids. ♥