hello from london [part thirteen ooh scary]!

hello friends

ok i have a few observations about london for you.

01 people throw their garbage bags straight out onto the street here on rubbish day. it is very gross. next time i see this i will take a picture for you. i was talking about it with a friend who lives in north london and she said only people in the hackney borough do this, everyone else has garbage bins. really?

02 londoners need little excuse to whip their tops off. i am not talking about the ladies, i mean the pasty white men. the weekends have been ridiculously warm of late and when i go down to london fields with rebecca for a lie down in the sun, we are greeted by a sea of white. sometimes it is hot, sometimes not.

03 london is a city for loved-up couples. there are so many couples here, it almost makes me ill. every eye candy boy i see has a beautiful girl on his arm. in london fields they are always making-out or lying on top of each other. if i am still here next summer, i am going to build a huge mattress and just roll it out in the park. it is make-out city all the time.

04 boys are not afraid of the mustache here, or of skinny jeans that are a bit too short. they wear sand shoes with coloured socks, tee shirts, and cardigans. you know the look. girls wear black stockings with a short floral dress, cardigan, and flats. that is the uniform. i have no such clothes here.

05 people love a good jumble sale, oh lordy! the hospice at the end of my street had an attic sale which was advertised to start at 10am. i got there at 10.10 and the place was packed! i could hardly breathe! but everything was £1 or less and i got caught up in the rush and dropped pounds like they were hot. clothes shoes handbags books music china knic knacs! you name it! people were walking out of there with garbage bags of stuff [myself included, you know, when in rome and all].

are you ready for some random stories?

06 on friday night i went to a ping pong tournament at the flea pit with my friend, pete. it was in the back room of the pub and for £1 you get a paddle and two sweatbands. there are twelve people in each game and everyone runs around the table and hits the ball. if you miss your go, you give your sweatband to the referee. after both sweatbands are gone, you have one more chance and then it is over. i missed all my goes. the thing i love about london is that you can have a cheap entertaining night out without the need to get completely smashed. people are really into having simple fun here.

07 the other thing i love about london is that everyone understands what a difficult city it is and if you are having a hard time, people will buy you dinner [and dessert]. tonight i went to dinner with my friend, rys, and her main squeeze, matt. we went to the garlic restaurant and shots bar in soho. everything has garlic in it, they even have garlic beer [but they ran out of it tonight]. there are pots of parsley on the table to mask garlic breath but it is not very effective. on the way home, i did not have enough money on my oyster card to get me back but the bus driver, once he found out my vietnamese-ness, let me ride the bus for free but only if i kept him company. he is vietnamese too! that was too easy. a few stops from home a french man gets on [i can tell from his accent] and he is struck by me [not in a violent physical way] and tells me how cute i am [which i hate] and i tell him he has had a long night. but he still wants to talk to me and i think ok maybe i can make another new friend. he asks if i am a designer and i say i work in fashion. i ask him what he does and he says he draws pictures and people buy them. i point to his neckerchief and say "you are an artist?" but he does not get my joke. i get off at my stop and wave goodbye to my two new friends.

08 jon lent me his digital camera and i have been very snap-happy. this might take a while, but bear with me here.

the all-important wardrobe

the fireplace and mantle [my most favourite part of the room]

i bought the lambs at the attic sale [50p for all three]

rebecca looking like a total babe on saturday

i am standing out the front of my house with a rain hat i bought for doris at the attic sale

09 last but not least, my interview with eley kishimoto is on thursday.

love
olivia

ps how did i miss dazed & confused september 2007 issue 154? does anyone have this issue? 

hello from london [part twelve]

hello!

this is a short and sweet one, just two bits of good-ish news.

01/ i started my internship with t d today. i am downstairs in the slave labour camp, oops i mean with the other interns. we clean all the perspex jewellery before it goes out to the shops. think about it, your piece of tatty devine has been polished by hand. it is an intense six step process. who knew! ok i will quit complaining because the studio is super cute. it is candy feast for the eyes! i can barely walk past the wall of available stock without melting at the knees. we all polish the jewellery around a table and talk trash and drink cups of tea. how do you get pikachu on the bus? pokemon. say it aloud, it is funny. everyday two people make lunch [soups in winter, salads in summer, all ingredients provided] and we eat together. it feels like a co-op in there. are you ready for the really good news? i get 50% off the retail price of all tatty devine from next week. yay! when converted to australian dollars, it is still cheap.

02/ guess who is shortlisted for an interview for the production assistant position at e k? huh huh? that is right, shortlisted! i feel like i am in the running for a book prize. i called them on tuesday and they remembered me. i am so happy! this is the furthest i have gotten so far. oh london, why so tough? just give me something! i find out this week.

miss you!
olivia

hello from london [part eleven]

hello peeps!

how are you? i want sydney news. you know, who is doing what [or to whom], gimme something! i have two stories for you. one funny, the other i just have to get off my chest.

there is a flower market on columbia road [within walking distance from my house] on sundays. it is always packed with people selling flowers and people buying them. on the end of the street is a vintage crockery/ tea set/ kitchenware shop. it is very twee. there is a tea house at the back with tapestries on the wall. the one i like is a small one of a sparrow in a tree. two weeks ago i asked if it was for sale and how much, the lady says £7.50 [not too terrible]. i go back this week and ask a different lady how much it is and she says £12 and i tell her what the other lady said, maybe she could check the price for me? this lady made me cry telling me she has never had such an offensive customer and she did not like my implication of her cheating me. wowzers. it did not matter what i said after that, i was the most vile thing ever to her. ok. well i bought it at £7.50 anyway mostly to spite her. maybe we hurt each other's feelings? 

this second story is a lot funnier. ready? rebecca and i went out friday night to a basement bar my friend bahbak djs at. we were outside drinking £1 beers, classy. rebecca likes jesus-types and you know, being her friend and all i try to help her out. i point to one and say "what about him?", she retorts with a "yeah, if jesus were gay", ok. i point to a less attractive but obviously straight jesus-type and she says "he is jesus enough", takes a swig of her beer, "he will be jesus in a minute". oh i have never laughed so hard.

i relented and bought a cheap disposable camera from the supermarket today.

eley kishimoto are calling people this week for interviews. wish me luck!

lots of love and missing you heaps [all of you]
olivia

hello from london [part nine]

hello friends

i am having an i-am-miserable-and-i-really-want-to-come-home moment.

01/ the #1 fashion label i want to work for, eley kishimoto, posted a position for a production assistant last thursday. i nearly wet my pants! i went down to their studio and handed in my cover letter and resume on friday. their london fashion week show was yesterday. i am going to call them tomorrow to show how keen i am. i want this job so much!

02/ no news on the paid work front. i expressed interest in doing sewing and embroidery work for an artist who is planning two major works for a show next year. it involves embroidering patches like the ones girl scouts wear. i think i can do it! i like that it is for a creative project [and it will be paid]. jonathon is paying me to make curtains for him. if all else fails, i could be a freelance seamstress.

03/ richard nicoll's show was this morning. yesterday i was at his tailor's house helping with the hand sewing of the internal structure of the jackets from 9am to 11pm. none of the interns left the studio until 1am. we were all back there this morning at 5. is that not intense? it was a beautiful show, some people even cried it was so lovely. it was awesome to see the whole range together, on models, to music [he used laurie andersen's o superman, i swooned]. the hard work definitely paid off but i feel empty.

04/ you should all be jealous you are not seeing the viktor & rolf exhibition. it is amazing! they are geniuses. i love that each season is structured around a specific concept. i am a terrible storyteller, but if you are interested visit this, it explains everything.

05/ a boy i like is seriously confusing me and i should leave him alone. sigh.

but enough of this doom and gloom, let me tell you the fun things that have been happening. to tell you the truth, i am only unhappy because i am not working and have zero pounds coming in.

06/ from next week i will be interning at tatty devine. i went for an interview to get this internship. their studio is the most creative space i have ever seen. it is laser-cut heaven!

07/ jonathon and i went to have a drink down shoreditch way and we ended up at the bethnal green working men's club. you know how burlesque is very traditional in sydney? well this burlesque night was trashy and dirty in the best possible way. it was so much fun! the floor was strewn with different names for the vagina [jon took one home and surprised his flatmates], each segment of the show was introduced by a sexually dysfunctional man and woman on video [high on the production value and fun aspect], and the acts involved a dominatrix reciting poetry and a girl making fun of pixie geldof. hilarious!

08/ london had a very sunny saturday and sunday last week. i spent most of my time lying in london fields with jonathon and rebecca. jon taught me to hula hoop and do a trick. while the hoop is going around, i lift it off my waist and it keeps spinning in my hand above my head, then i lower it back to my waist and keep hooping. it never stops or skips a beat. it took all afternoon to perfect. i think if i ever do a burlesque act, hooping will be my drawcard.

09/ last but not least, i am making a real effort to become a proper londoner. i joined my local library, i am a loyal customer at the local supermarket earning points for purchases, i registered my oyster card [card one puts money on to pay the fares for the tube and buses], and i get excited when people ask me for directions.

right now i wish i was home so i can feel some love and be surrounded by the familiar. i miss everyone very much.

lots of love
olivia

hello from london [part eight]

hello friends

how are you? i think about home everyday [still]. i am well.

01/ it is wednesday and i do not have to go to my internship today. london fashion week is next week, richard's show is next wednesday. we have almost finished the range, there are less than five styles to make. i am very surprised at how calm the studio is at this point. there are many show collaborators traipsing through the place and lots of activity, but everyone is cool as cucumbers. richard got me an inside connection at dover street market. the way he told me was quite humourous. i have to take my c v to the third floor of the store to a woman named electra [who is expecting me] and she will make sure it is on top of the pile of applications. ooo-ah!

02/ i do not have much to report, but i will try. i received an email yesterday about a quality control job i applied for last week. it was about my salary expectation. i told him what i wanted and we negotiated my pay over three emails and then the man says thanks he will keep me on file. what a tease! i had already spent half of my imaginary pay at this point! sigh. but it did make me question whether or not i want to work full-time. it is the same dilemma i had in sydney. should i work monday to friday 9 to 5 for the money, or be a shopgirl for three days and work on my projects the rest? i know the point of moving here was to work in industry but what is the point when the fashion industry is exactly like at home [except there is more intern exploitation in london] and does international design work really make that big a difference on my resume? i want to come home and start a label already but at the end of the day i am here and i better make the most of it. anyone else need a pep talk?

03/ i am really going to the barbican to see the viktor & rolf show today, i have promised myself. i could not go last time because i did not have enough money but i saved this week. it is so sad but everyone complains about money and the lack of here, even my landlady [she collects rent and owns a toy shop]! i am going to apply to be a librarian at the tate modern [you know how i feel about librarians], if that does not work out, i can always be a volunteer.

04/ i finally met my pen pal, corey. he is shy and awkward but super cute. yay for instant friend!

05/ i went to a life drawing class called "drawn to you" last thursday. i usually find life drawing boring because i hate having to sit there for twenty minutes studying the same pose, drawing in light and shade, but this one-off class was so much fun! we drew each other and drank wine. you draw someone for twenty minutes, they draw you, then you swap partners. you can see two of my best illustrations above my mantle above my fireplace [not pictured]. 

06/ i know what i am going to go as to p i v [costume party from the last update]. a few of you may have already seen this ensemble but i let me tell you. i am going to glam it up in a short black strapless dress but confuse people with my stick-on eye brows and mustache. i cannot wait to rock the fake 'tache! now if only doris will send me the dress in exchange for a present...

07/ my new favourite thing to do is to type to you from my bed on my macbook [the best purchase i ever made]. go, mac, go! ok when will i start getting paid for endorsements? just joshing.

lots of love
olivia

hello from london [part seven]

hello! i know, two updates in a row! feeling lucky? just kidding. i hope i am not annoying anyone with these updates. i only have a handful of friends here and i need to tell someone these things! you only need to know about two of them.

01/ i am going to the viktor & rolf exhibition at the barbican tomorrow. jealous? you should be! check it out here.

i hung out with my friend edwina today, just walking the streets of east london, more specifically old street. we are going to a free drawing class tomorrow night with her man. apparently we draw portraits of each other. sounds fun! her housemate puts on parties and she has one called p i v. do you know what it stands for? penis in vagina. so rude! but it is supposed to be a very fun costume party. i cannot wait to go [sometime in mid september]! hopefully i will have a camera by then.

02/ the felt face badges got a write up on the v magazine blog. are you rolling around on the floor squealing? i am! it certainly makes it difficult to type. i am so happy, i cannot describe how much. i would like to thank god, my parents... just kidding, but i am very humbled and excited.

lots of love
olivia

hello from london [part six]

hello friends!

how are you? i have much to update you on. are you ready?

last weekend i went down to brighton with my friend jon to visit his love, neel. we hit up the trash and treasure markets big time. on saturday the boys bought me a lovely old singer domestic sewing machine from the street market. too kind! it came with one condition, i have to make them four costumes a year [they did not specify four in total or four each hmm]. deal! i made jon one on sunday for a music festival he is going to called bestival. apparently it is the biggest costume festival in the world [with amy winehouse as one of the headliners]. he is going as an abstract shape [pyramid on top, cocoon on the bottom, hoop in the middle] made of mismatched bed doonas. it looks good! saturday was a very hot day, it felt like summer, all 23 degrees of it! we walked down to the 'beach' [it has large pebbles instead of sand and no waves] for a splash. it hurts to lie down on pebbles [i learnt that the hard way, no pun intended]. we danced our way through the early hours at a gay night called super dynamite boogaloo. it was okay, i do not mean to be a snob or anything but gay bash [for you out-of-towners, a gay club] was much better. right now, sydney poops all over london. on sunday there was a car boot market and i picked up goodies galore! a tall fifties teapot in teal, two cards of old buttons [one lemon yellow, the other emerald green], and a chunky yellow resin necklace. all for under 10 pounds! neel cut my hair, it is back to its old lopsided shape [as in one side is longer than the other]. a haircut is as good as a holiday, i say!

you know how my room is big enough for a bed, sitting room, and work studio? well it is lovely and all but it is too large for me and i am moving to the room next door which is the size of a shoe box. sure that is a major downgrade but it is 40 pounds less a week [as in aud $80!] and it has a single bed, my favourite kind of bed [double beds are for married people]. it has a small desk and wardrobe which suit me fine as i do not have that much stuff to start with [and i really should not accumulate more]. there is a fireplace in my room with a sweet little mantle for knic-knacs, photographs and my corkboard of inspiration. i just have to remind myself i am saving money this way. there is money flowing out, but none in so far.

the main reason i am writing to you is to report on the jobs front. i know i complained about my internship at r n in the last post but i take it back. sure it is not uncommon to work a ten hour day for no pay [like i did yesterday with five other interns] but it paid off. how? let me tell you. richard is so kind to me. everyday he asks me if i am settling into london okay. yesterday i sewed a toile for him and he fitted it on the house model in his office. he comes out to the kitchen and waves me over. i am thinking "oh no i must have sewn that thing wrong!" and he can tell what i am thinking and says "no you are not in trouble". phew! he is just checking in and asks me what i want from london. he promises to keep an ear open for any design or production assistant jobs. then today he asked me who i want to work for and i say "eley kishimoto!" and he says "alice used to work for them". who? only his patternmaker who really likes me! oh wow it pays to be the best intern ever! for the last two days i have been helping alice fix patterns and she thinks i am a star. she is going to call her boss at e k tomorrow and talk me up. it will probably result in another internship, but at least it is a step closer in the right direction. richard is going to call his friends who just happen to be the owners of b store and and know people at dover street market and talk me up there too [because i desperately need a money job]. oh lucky day! the moral of the story is definitely who you know will get you a long way. i guess a bit of luck and hard work does not go astray either. i was so happy about the alice and e k connection, i nearly peed my pants with excitement.

fingers crossed, everyone!

tomorrow i am going to follow up on all the jobs i have applied for so far and maybe take a trip down to the tate modern. i just know the gift shop is going to be trouble. i totally blew my budget in brighton [mostly on the return train ticket and the almost-sydney-quality japanese restaurant there yum]. i am back to living on 5 pounds a day [not including rent]. i actually like the challenge of living on the cheap. it is so different to my life at home. i have not bought clothes, shoes or any luxury items yet [my moisturiser cost 79p or aud $1.58]. if you think that is impressive, you should all send me a dollar! just kidding. 

take care! love you lots! tell me something new!
olivia