I Give A Frock

After many weeks in hiding (actually it was a study-induced hibernation period) I have returned and I have plenty to say on the matters of fashion and crafting and books.  Let's start with my latest purchase...

So the blurb of this book states "If you haven't heard of Michi Girl, don't worry, she hasn't heard of you either.'  I would like to say that if you haven't heard of Michi Girl you should run out and acquaint yourself with her immediately.  Her first book, Like I Give A Frock, came out 2 years ago, and being pink, green, artsy and all kinds of loveliness I snapped it up straight away.  Being in a book store again yesterday I was thrilled to discover she has been published again!  And in navy, no less.  I am powerless before navy.

Anyway, Michi's second book is a 'Michipedia' of all sorts of fashion terms.  It is filled with just as much wit and wisdom as the first, along with the same stunning illustrations.  I thought I would share some of my favourites that had me giggling out loud. Seriously. Loud.

Michi on Body Shapes

There's a bra for everyone

Why we love our designers

Money makes the world go round

Appropriate Underwear

Believe it or not, there are actually things that Michi and I disagree on.  I didn't think it was possible given that she condemns fishnets, loathes humidity, and officially refers to tights as 'Not Pants'.  Yet unlike myself, Michi is not obsessed with check print in its myriad forms and monnikers: tartan, plaid, gingham, houndstooth, patchwork...  I'll take any version!  Similarly, Michi has little appreciation for the many uses of tulle - which I'm sure would sadden my best friend (whose blogger alias happens to be Tulle).  Here's what Michi has to say:

But that's ok Michi, we can agree to disagree.  When it comes to the important things we're on the same page.

Review: The Butterfly Mosque

This book is amazing. The Butterfly Mosque is one of those works that is so blatantly ordinary, yet undeniably extraordinary at the same time.  It's a memoir written by a woman whom theoretically I have nothing particular in common with... and yet I felt like the book was speaking to me personally.  It was almost like an affirmation of faith; I was able to rediscover and newly appreciate the religion I have come to take for granted, as I read about it through the eyes of someone who truly was seeing it for the first time.

G. Willow Wilson's memoir tells her tale from confused, Boston University graduate and nominal atheist, to naturalised Egyptian, Muslim convert, and wife.  Now, I may not be Egyptian or American, I may not have lived in a foreign country, I am not a convert and I am not in a cross-cultural marriage.  And yet everything Wilson discusses, whether directly or indirectly, rang true with me. Living in a post-9/11 world where the 'clash of civilisations' is rife in many corners of society, I can identify with the struggle to reconcile being a 'Westerner' and being a Muslim.  Of course, prior to 9/11 those two were never even contemplated as mutually exclusive in my head, but in today's world they are touted as necessarily so.  It is not a question of choosing between the two, but finding your path as an individual through which you can authentically express your faith in a society that is not always accepting of it.

At the heart of the book, in my opinion, are relationships.  Wilson's relationship with Allah, with her fiancé, with her American friends and colleagues, with her parents, with her new family, and with Egypt.  The nuances of these relationships - Willow's careful articulation of what a person will do for someone they care about - carry the story and give the reader hope.  Ultimately, The Butterfly Mosque predicates that what is good and right will outlast the hatred, xenophobia and fundamentalism (religious and other) that have come to pervade our world.  Regardless of war, politics, tragedy, and all forms of destructive human behaviour, beauty and truth will triumph, just like the 'Butterfly Mosque' itself.

The Butterfly Mosque by G. WIllow Wilson at Allen & Unwin

Photo by Ewen Bell at M.I.L.K. Photos