Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 122- Nov/Dec 2024 i frankie Magazine

This time around, for example, we learnt that another item can be added to the long list of New Zealand things that Australia has co-opted: Tex Morton, the ‘father of Australian country music’, who was born in New Zealand and moved to Australia as a young adult. Read up about Tex and the rich history of country music on page 106 (it’s far more interesting than you might think, if I do say so myself). While we’re on the topic, I’d like to take this moment to deeply apologise to my best friend for my past comments about country music. Consider me converted. I promise we can listen to some boot scootin’ tunes during our next wine and platter sesh. Speaking of which… It’s soirée season, baby! Lucky, then, that…

According to science, the simple act of trying something new triggers the happy chemical, dopamine, to flood into our neural pathways and make us feel all types of lovely. Penelope Jordan understands this high all too well, describing herself as somebody who’s “always waiting for the next big adventure”. Following a six-month trip to Italy, she set her sights on organising a community of similarly adventurous adults who share her love of getting out there and doing new things when she returned back home to Melbourne/Naarm. Thus, the First Timers Club was born. Penelope’s stint overseas plus the prior stay-at-home COVID lockdowns were the driving forces behind the genesis of First Timers Club – though the group’s first outing in December 2023 only had two attendees: Penelope and her best…

Have you ever sung “happy birthday” to someone and noticed how they reacted? Everyone responds differently, no matter how many candles are on the cake. Some folks sit politely and quietly, others happily enjoy the attention (maybe even joining in a “hip-hip-hooray” themselves), and many turn bright red, cover their faces and search for the nearest exit. In my experience, these are similar to the various ways we respond to praise. I’m a turn-beet-red-and-hunt-for-the-exit-type recipient of compliments (and birthday songs), an innate characteristic I’ve been trying to change. There have been times I’ve cut people off who are giving me positive feedback, jumping in with rebuttals or ‘jokes’ to deflect, and times I’ve thrown my phone across the room when reading a glowing email. I wasn’t raised to respond this…

Shannen Doherty has finally been getting her flowers for her prolific acting career, but the real question is: how did it take so long for her to be suitably recognised as the bona fide icon that she was? From Heather Duke to Brenda Walsh and Prue Halliwell, Shannen was genuinely incapable of not devouring every single role she played – and was an inspiration to many a young kid in the ’90s. In memory of the talismanic legend herself, whose nine-year cancer battle sadly came to an end this year, let’s take a walk down memory lane and collectively fangirl over the late great star’s most iconic roles. HEATHERS (1989) I am unsure if anyone has ever slayed harder while playing croquet than Shannen Doherty. The 1989 cult classic Heathers…

The thought of spending my Friday or Saturday evening at a nightclub fills me with dread. Please don’t get me confused with a party pooper – I am quite the opposite. For example, I love house parties. I would quite happily bop along to nostalgic ’90s hits in a lounge room filled with my mates (and the faint aroma of pizza) for the rest of my dancing days. Belting out the words to “Angels” by Robbie Williams while clutching a mug of tepid wine? Text me the address immediately. And it’s not just house parties – I’ll willingly spend a pretty penny on a cocktail in a dimly lit bar that smells like polished wood and burnt orange peel. Another spicy marg in a dinky glass? Take my money. And…

By Cavo Coopev – Caz, mate. You made it. You didn’t succumb to one of the 50 infectious or terminal diseases you were convinced you were going to die of every year. Solid work. I have questions. But first, let me start by saying that I really hope the planet is still habitable and you’re not reading this on a space station somewhere. If you are, just accept the fact that as you are now old and largely useless, you will probably be eaten first when the food runs out or be ejected to float through space when the oxygen supplies run low. You had a good innings and we should both be proud of all you achieved. Plus, who wants to hang around once the polar bears and orangutans…

If you’ve been to a house party in the last year you will have undoubtedly seen a drastic increase in the amount of people wearing cowboy hats (typically sourced from the local $2 shop), using the phrase ‘’y’all’’ unironically and professing a long-held love for country music that was previously unspoken. Country music is having a moment right now – especially among those with the means to splurge on a pair of alligator skin boots during this cost-of-living crisis. And, like everything in popular culture, all roads lead to Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter. On March 9th, 2024, Beyoncé released her eighth studio album Cowboy Carter, its collection of songs seamlessly blending the style and substance of country music with Beyoncé’s pop sensibilities. The album was immediately a cultural phenomenon that led…

Please tell us a little bit about yourself. Hi, my name is Xuebing Du. I was born in China and, for the past decade, I’ve been living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area. I took some photography courses at school and started doing photography consistently in 2015 while pursuing my master’s degree in web design. Whenever I wasn’t doing school work, I was immersed in photography. Over time, it developed into a habit for me. How did this series, Mother of Pearl, come to be? I used to visit a rose garden near my home every weekend. I always had my camera with me and was gradually absorbed by the beauty of the roses. I began to think about how I could present them differently from other rose photographs…

I was about 20 when I first stepped into a boxing gym. I was going through some mental health struggles at the time, and one of my friends told me to come work out with her at her gym. I remember sitting in my car, thinking I couldn’t go in. I was super-anxious and actually had a panic attack. But my friend met me there, and once I put on the gloves and started punching the pads, I fell in love. I walked out that day and said, “I think I’m going to fight.” When I was younger I had been in an abusive relationship, and had also become the target of a stalker who sexually harassed me. That caused what I now understand as anxiety and PTSD- style symptoms.…

The frankie team pottered around the house taking a moment to hit refresh on life – and took some snaps while we were at it! We love the cropped cut of the mini t-shirts… the only trouble is there are simply too many colours to choose from. Ugh! On the looser side, we found the unisex tees so breezy – a cult fave for a reason. Garden tending, a spot of yoga, reading a mag… truly a delightful – not to mention comfy – day indeed. These cute pics were snapped in partnership with Uniqlo and their range of comfy, high-quality t-shirts in a buffet of colours. Discover your best T at Uniqlo: uniqlo.com…

I was just three years old when I first began dancing. It was my older sister who inspired me; I wanted to follow in her footsteps, as many young girls do. As a child I was drawn to the big, bustling community that is the dancing world – a life away from school. That community became more than an incredible group of friends; they were like sisters to me. The training was tough, though. From a young age, my training was both mentally and physically gruelling. Dancing comes with a lot of discipline, including focusing on personal grooming to ensure you maintain a particular appearance. It was a lot of hard work, but it prepared me for the adult dancing world and all that would come with it. During my…

The first thing you’ll notice about Armani Francois is that she takes a thoughtful breath before she speaks. Then, when she’s talking about her hometown of Alice Springs/Mparntwe, words of breathtaking clarity flow from her – about the landscape, its people and its complexities. This Central Arrernte, Torres Strait Islander and Mauritian woman is just 19 years old and has been making waves when it comes to changing the narrative about the place she calls home. “I would like wider Australia to see Alice Springs as vibrant, energetic, loving, and rich in ancient, sacred traditions of Arrernte land,” she says. “We’re not conformed by law, we’re conformed by lore – of the land, of our old people and of our animals. I think not a lot of people realise we…

please note this article has mentions of suicide Interdisciplinary artist Katy Horan had never worked on a book when writer and poet Taisia Kitaiskaia asked her to illustrate women writers as witches for a project. “Initially the idea was for tarot cards – which is funny because we later made an Oracle deck where these literary women were the figures of the tarot,” Katy says from her home in Austin, Texas. “And then over time, it kind of just found its way into the structure that it became.” What followed was the 2017 publication Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Women Writers . The book explores 30 women authors and poets – like Toni Morrison, Virginia Woolf, Mira Bai and Emily Dickinson – through Katy’s portraits, Taisia’s poetry and biographical…

Nestled within the sunny confines of Osborne Park in Perth/ Boorloo lies a truly unique community space: Plant Playground. It’s a colourful indoor hub sculpted in biophilic design – a bit more on that later – that allows vines, buds, sprouts and other leafy greens to flourish alongside a coffee lounge, a jewellery business and even a plant shop (in case patrons fancy taking some botanical beauties home for themselves). Founder Sasha Lai cooked up Plant Playground after having to close her linen brand due to the pandemic (“which ripped my heart out, because it was my first baby”) and following a career in the glossy world of finance. “I learnt so much about business and how to run one,” Sasha says, “but I left because it was soul-sucking work."…

Hi Rommy! Please tell us a bit about what you do for a living. I make wearable art, especially handbags. My inspiration is food. It is all handmade and I also do custom-made orders for people who like something different than what I sell on the website. When did you decide to start making bags and purses that look like food? Almost 10 years ago I started making handbags and other accessories. I was studying product design at an art academy in the Netherlands. I was 23 years old when I decided to stop my study and start my own business. I was always fascinated by food, especially the look of it. I mean, look at all those beautiful textures and colours. What’s your favourite accessory you’ve made so far?…

The shaky hand-cam footage shows Mattia Panunzio sitting on a jerry-rigged wooden board, dangling from two cables, and slowly being lowered into darkness. The hole is a cylindrical shaft, not much wider than a human body, dropping 23 metres into the bedrock of Coober Pedy. Local miners, Raf and Dino, blasted it themselves with dynamite. As you do. “Yeah, that was a bit scary,” Mattia admits. “I could barely fit into the hole, and there are no OH&S measures, no safety checks or anything. They just give you a harness and down you go.” Mattia went into the ground for one reason: opals. The small town of Coober Pedy, 846 kilometres north of Adelaide/ Tarntanya, is known as the ‘Opal Capital of the World’. The stones have been mined here…

Claire Lock and Daniel McCawley both grew up in Brisbane/ Magandjin, though they didn’t know each other then. Neither ever thought they’d end up living away from the big smoke, but they both grew weary of city life and moved to northern New South Wales, where they serendipitously crossed paths. “We both love Australian native orchids, and found each other and connected over that,” Claire says. “My parents had been bringing us to the Clarence Valley for years as a holiday, so it was familiar to me,” Daniel explains. “That's why I ended up choosing here… I don't think I'll ever leave.” The couple lives on Bundjalung Country in Grafton, a leafy town on the banks of the Clarence River famous for its jacarandas. The region’s beautiful nature is what…

You might have noticed recently that websites are starting to feel a bit… samey. Take your sans serif Silicon Valley font, insert a few stock images, rinse and repeat. Maybe throw in a cutesy illustration if you happen to sell health insurance. Thankfully, there’s a growing movement back towards more ‘boujee’ websites. In other words, web designs that embrace colour, creativity and originality. And who builds these bespoke-looking things? Well, thanks to the magic of Squarespace, you can build them yourself. To help take your site to the next level, we’ve enlisted the help of web designer and template-wizard Katie Zana (founder of digital design studio, Pearler). We sat down with Katie to get some budget boujee building tips. Behold. BOUJEE EQUALS BOLD For Katie, ‘boujee’ simply means not being…

Three days deep into my post-birth haze, exhausted from parenting a squalling newborn, I was told my baby girl, Alba, was losing too much weight and it seemed my boobs were to blame. Having had a breast reduction three years beforehand, I knew this was a possibility; however, I had been producing colostrum in the last few months of pregnancy, so naively thought that meant everything would be dandy. Alas, it wasn’t as simple as that – while I could make some milk, I wasn’t making enough. So I began a strict feeding and pumping regime in an attempt to boost my supply, under the guidance of a lactation consultant. While I had an appointment every other day to weigh Alba and check our progress, it became clear to me…