hello from london [part five, i think]

hello friends

how are you? what is new? i am well. i started my internship with r n yesterday [thank you, juliet!]. my first day was very tough. i forgot what it was like to do work experience and i did not like it. it is so strange to go from being a big fish [as big a fish can be being a design assistant bossing work experience people around] to a little fish being bossed around. i guess i felt i was too good for this when, really, this is the path i chose for myself moving to london. fashion week is in two weeks time, i hope to make more contacts then. this move has made me question whether or not i want to pursue a career in fashion. maybe it is better to be open to multiple design disciplines? fashion is narrow in that respect.

realisation number two, i cannot wait to work for myself even if it means making fat owls with bells inside [which my landlady has agreed to sell in her toy shop] all day, it is so much more satisfying that slaving away for someone else. there are lots of kids doing unpaid work here. it is definitely a cut-throat industry.

three, the fashion industry here works the same as in sydney. why did i think it would be any different? i almost want to come home just to work on my own projects.

enough doom and gloom! i treated myself with a trip to ikea the other day and kitted my room out with a new rug, bed covers, and table cloth for my studio space, and all under budget yay! after tesco [cheap supermarket chain, like franklins], ikea is my next favourite shop.

i went to the martin margiela store on wednesday and it is definitely a winner in my books. i do not necessarily like the clothes and i sort of poo-pooed it before i went but i did go and i am in love! the shop has wooden surfaces painted white, the whole fit-out is white. the ground floor houses womenswear, there are staircases on both ends of the shop that take you upstairs to menswear, and there is a little hothouse for shoes and bags. the layout is very humourous but the funniest thing is the shop staff wear white lab coats. when i went upstairs a shop person was telling two fashion students [complete with pens and notepads] about martin margiela and his design philosophy. it was such a funny little scene. it looked like a bespectacled scientist explaining something complex to two very interested students. i handed in my resume straight away. if i do not get to work in that shop, i will cry! i also like browns focus, but only because the high-end labels and the snooty sales staff kind of appeal to the very superficial fashionista in me. their sense of cool was very intimidating, like they were part of an exclusive club.

tomorrow i am going away for the weekend to brighton [with my friend, jon, to visit his boyfriend]. i am going to help neel make a costume for a music festival called bestival [funny!] and he will cut my hair in exchange. i am thinking i will go boy short again. i cannot wait! brighton has a trash and treasure market on sundays, i think that will make me stop missing rozelle markets for a bit.

i miss you! a lot!

love
olivia

hello from london [part four]

hello friends

first, i really miss you. it feels so strange that everyone i know and care about is on the other side of the world. i miss having a drink down at the cricks, games nights with the girls, lounging about with d at home, dumplings and noodles in chinatown, working with only the best shop girls ever. right now feels so foreign. i know it will pass. i think i feel strange because second, i found a place! it is a huge room in a very homely house right next to london fields [major park with lots of eye candy bicyclists] and broadway markets [a foodie market on saturdays]. the room is big enough for a bed, a little salon area, and a studio space, and it is within budget [mostly]! my landlady owns a toy shop, i am going to ask her if she will sell my big felt owls with the bells inside. i know, i have to stop being precious about them. i have been staying with my friend jon and his two very funny and lovely housemates. i have felt like one of the gang since i got here but now oh! all out on my own! the good thing is i am just moving around the corner and am a ten minute bus ride from my two other sydney friends. quit complaining, too easy! third, umm i think that is about it. just lots of little things like the uk has the trashiest tv shows ever. i got a real education last night watching "super botox me". google it, it was sort of sick. my sleep routine is as follows, sleep at 9pm, wake at 6am. i can live on less than 10 pounds a day [excluding rent]. so proud of myself! oh and london water is recycled. apparently it has been through twenty bodies before it gets to you. i like the idea of recycled water but one can definitely taste the difference. hmm tasty!

any juicy sydney goss? tell me!

lots of love
olivia

hello from london [part three]

hello peeps

just a quick note to say i have skype up and running and if you want to talk to me, my username is aspectofraptor or you can enter my email, childrenwakeup@yahoo.com.au. it would be super to hear and see some familiar faces.

lots of love
olivia

hello from london [part two]

hello peeps!

i hope you are well. only a few new things to report.

01/ my bank account is set up and ready to go [bring on wages!] and i made my first deposit today. yay!

02/ i applied for a position at agent provocateur as a production assistant [spiffy cover letter and everything]. wish me luck! free lingerie, anyone?

03/ dave, you better come visit me soon because i got hit on again today! twice in two days. husbandless ladies, london is the place to be! sure, the young gentleman was a manager at a sky tv booth and he ushered me around the corner to talk but he was very friendly!

04/ having sworn to never eat a pre-packaged sandwich, i broke and ate one today. a tuna and sweet corn baguette for one pound ninety. cheap! i was so hungry, it did not matter.

05/ also a teen was killed in the backyard of the flats i am staying at [with my friend jonathon]. we have been talking about it all day. the kid who died stabbed someone in the block of flats adjacent to ours. the police came and he jumped out the sixth floor window to escape and died. there is a tent outside marking where he landed. there is a lot of gang-related violence here but it is mostly gangs of teenage black boys which makes it sad and such a waste.

over and out.

lots of love
olivia

hello from london [part one]

hello peeps!

how are you? i hope everyone is well. so here i am roaming the streets of london. i have been to topshop, agent provocateur, b store, tried to find eley kishimoto, and stood out the front of zoton to zai. you will be proud, i have not bought anything yet but the bare essentials, like an oyster card [for public transport], phone credit, and a falafel roll. to buy bernhard willhelm here is very expensive. sigh. 

i had a very brief romance on my flight over. the boy next to me [he is twenty-three and plays volleyball professionally, that is all you need to know] accidently brushed my thigh with his hand and we swapped glances. hehe! that was the most exciting thing that happened on the flight, even more so than my hot vegetarian meals. 

tomorrow i start looking for jobs and a permanent place to stay. i wish i had a digital camera on me, you should see the front of a store called ppq, it has three giant paper cats in its window and they have gold stripes. oh too cute, words cannot describe it!

take care! lots of love!
olivia