Tag Archives | south africa

Clarke’s

By on Monday 26 December, 2011 in Food

i get a surprising number of emails from people around the world telling me they’re about to travel to cape town / south africa and do i have any tips, or “please can you make a cape town city guide post” – etc. well, truth is i don’t actually live in cape town. if you want to know the ins-and-outs of a sleepy town in the winelands, i’m your gal! that said i will be moving to the mother city one of these days (months) and i already spend a fair amount of time there – so that guide might be coming your way soonish.

in the meantime if you’re in the fairest town of the cape make your way to clarke’s bar and dining room on 133 bree street (a couple of doors down from birds and diagonally across the road from &union – you can’t miss it). we popped in there the week that they had opened and unfortunately there was no table for us (even though the kind hostess offered to send us a text in case anything opened). i admired the light fittings and was sad that i couldn’t partake in their “yum fries”. i will be dropping in there again soon, hopefully they will have a burger ready for me. HINT HINT guys!

they also have a facebook page if you’re into that. all the nice photos were taken by alexia webster.

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Bicycle Portraits Part III

By on Tuesday 22 November, 2011 in Photography

i’m sure you remember my post about the Bicycle Portraits project earlier this year. Nic & Stan are currently running a kickstarter fund to raise money in order to publish the third and final part of their project which showcases their two year journey of capturing people and their bicycles across south africa.

Stan Engelbrecht & Nic Grobler are publishing the best 165 portraits and stories of the over 500 portraits of cyclists they’ve photographed during their 2 year journey around South Africa. Divided over 3 books, each will contain a different 55 stories, and also two essays each by local South African and major international cycling figures. The books are designed by Gabrielle Guy and they have also collaborated with celebrated South African artist Gabrielle Raaff to create an individual hand-painted watercolor map, based on Google Maps, to indicate the location of each of the portraits.

the video gave me instant goosebumps (how’s that rendition of stayin’ alive!) and the watercolour maps are such an amazing touch to an already beautiful visual story. please support them by pledging to their kickstarter!

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Amy Scheepers

By on Wednesday 2 November, 2011 in Photography

i was reminded yesterday about local photographer Amy Scheepers when Angie posted about her on It’s What I’m Into. i remember being impressed by her work when i spotted a feature on her on 10and5 earlier this year, but since i look at about a billion things on the internet everyday i forgot to share the goodness.

well, i’m sharing now! what impresses me most about amy is that she, like many young rad people, consistently pursues and refines her craft. as a student photographer her work is better than a lot of professional stuff i’ve seen. be sure to visit her website and blog – and if you’re looking for a photographer in South Africa, this is your gal.

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House Wellington 7B & 7C

By on Wednesday 12 October, 2011 in Living

another thing i have been doing a lot of in anticipation of moving soon, apart from browsing etsy, is actually looking for a new place to stay.* which is a frustrating process, at best. so when i get sick of looking at dingy, overpriced flats i start looking for things that actually inspire me – like these two flats in Cape Town’s CBD designed by architects Wolf & Wolf.

We designed a new penthouse loft apartment in the historic Fruit Growers Building in Cape Town. We explored the concept of re-fabrication, using as much of the existing timber on site and re-working it. The result is our take on what a “Cape Town” style loft apartment is. House Wellington 7C is a compact version of 7B. Here we explore the idea of compact Urban Living. The total area is 50m²

* may as well take this opportunity to appeal to people in the cape town area who are reading this – if you have a flat or know of a flat in cape town that is becoming available next year please email me! that’s the smell of desperation, friends.

House Wellington 7B:

House Wellington 7c:

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Bygone Cape Town

By on Tuesday 13 September, 2011 in Vintage

i have long been an avid follower of Etienne du Plessis‘ flickr stream, where he shares many vintage photographs including old shots of Cape Town. please click on the images to be taken to the original & for more information.

- Posing at the Sea Point pool, 1960

- Clifton, 1967

- The Little Blue Train, Mouille Point, 1961

- Sea Point ,1963

- The Gardens, 1978

- Wednesday morning on the Parade, 1974

- Pleasure boats, Muizenberg circa 1960

- Muizenberg beach, 1953

- Fish Hoek, 1958

- Ready for the office, circa 1960

- Wedding in District Six, 1960

- Silverstream Buttress, 1975

- District Six, 1960

- Simonstown, 1969

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Ginger Odes

By on Wednesday 25 May, 2011 in Vintage

i’ve been trying to get my inbox organised (which, as everyone besides the obsessively organised know, is a task). there are many emails in my ‘starred’ folder from myself to myself reminding me of things, websites, interesting stuff i’ve come across… an inbox bookmarks folder if you will. i decided to clean it up and do some much needed deleting, which is when i found a reminder from over a year ago to post about photographer Ginger Odes. no time like the present.

Born in Cape Town in 1924, Ginger’s career was rooted in the air force as a reconnaissance and aerial photographer during World War II. After the war, he returned home to set up a photographic studio in Parliament Street, Cape Town … He soon made a name for himself for his work in fashion for clients including Harper and Vogue, who published a South African edition at the time.

read more about Ginger Odes here. images courtesy of Gallery F and PapaSA.

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Fancy Pants

By on Tuesday 24 May, 2011 in Photography

kate and alix-rose are two talented cape town locals who i’ve come to know via twitter (the internet never ceases to bring me joy it seems). kate is a copywriter with a great penchant for fashion, and alix-rose is a photographer whose work i’m always excited to see over at her blog. they’ve done some pretty awesome self-motivated shoots before, so i was thrilled when kate asked if i’d like to feature their latest collaboration. which. is. amazing. i might have said “holy eff balls” when i first got a sneak peak. the colour palettes alone are enough to make me weak at the knees.

Fancy Pants. photographed by alix-rose cowie, styled by kate desmarais, modeled by lee-anne johnson, cover page by michael tymbios (who i previously posted about here). the shoot took place at cape town city hall (which is the most exquisite location i’ve seen in a while) and much of the clothing was sourced from nice people at the You Me and Everyone We Know market – the last one of the season is happening this friday.

hey, fashion magazine editors – are you reading this? you should snap up these two. stat.

please click on the images to see them in all their glory.

clothes courtesy of thrift cape town, vamp clothing, london road vintage, maria mccloy, the rah rah room, friend or foe, second time around, you me and everyone we know, neighbourgoods market & market on main.

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Take Care

By on Tuesday 10 May, 2011 in Fashion

beautiful photography by tyrone bradley for the lookbook of cape town based designer jessica harwood’s label take care

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Bread & Wine & Exotic plants

By on Tuesday 3 May, 2011 in Stuff

i went to bread & wine this past weekend, the beautiful restaurant at moreson wine farm in franschhoek. this place is heaven for me –  99% due to their homemade charcuterie. i am a sucker for some cured meat. but i’m not going to talk about the delicious mozzarella & tomato salad (with crystalized basil leaf, mind you) or the amazing setting that makes this place such a winner. no, indeed. they are also home to the exotic plant company which tempted me with so many different kinds of awesomely alien looking orchids i almost couldn’t stand it. my flatmate jessica, whose birthday we were celebrating, says that they are actually pretty easy to take care of – if you know what you’re doing… i distinctly don’t know what i’m doing, so i didn’t end up walking home with an orchid. but i took a lot of photos.

which reminds me, my new succulents are doing okay and have made the flat look so much more appealing. i had a mini freakout a while ago because the little beasts looked like they were dying on me, but then a ton of helpful people on twitter advised that they should be ignored and basically not watered. well, if you say so!

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Missibaba A/W 2011

By on Thursday 17 March, 2011 in Fashion

lately i’ve been in a shoe phase (more like perving over shoes than actually buying them) – but am slowly coming round to bags again. my black leather bag hasn’t let me down for over 5 years and is versatile enough that i haven’t gotten bored of it, but it’s starting to show some wear… and as much as it saddens me it might be time for something new.

this is where missibaba comes in. i totally freaked over their previous western inspired cowboy’s little girl collection, so much so that the word un-fucking-believable might have been used. they have just released their new autumn/winter collection, lucy in the sky with diamonds – inspired by the beatles and their flamboyant military-esque sgt. pepper suits. they were kind enough to send me pictures so i could do some hi-res drooling… the hand-painted gingham print of the cha-ching bag and the workhorse bag in particular really get me. and the possum. whoa it’s tough to choose!

i daresay that possibly the best thing about missibaba is the fact that their bags and accessories are handmade here in south africa by designer chloe townsend and her team of local craftswomen. sold. which is your favourite?

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