Hello, Old Friend

It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? If anyone is interested in a very long story, read on. If not, there’ll be a TL;DR at the bottom for you.

Shortly after my last blog post (we never did win that World Cup, after all) I decided I was going to focus wholly on my modelling, and take a step back from the blog. All went well for a while, until I had an 8 day stint in London which, well, didn’t go quite so well. It was decided, mutually, that, since I would need to spend infinitely more time overseas than I already was doing, I would take a giant leap back from the European modelling circuit.

Why didn’t I start my blog back up then, you may ask? Well, because I’ve been working on a couple of novels, and to be quite frank this year has been a big, hard adjustment for us all. I’ll dedicate a whole post to that in the new year, once I’ve got the festive season out of the way.

You may now be wondering, why have I not changed the name of my blog? Well, I still have representation here in Soutb Africa, and over in Germany. And I still do bits and pieces, here and there. Expect a video, starring both me and Pete, to come soon, and I’ll share mine and Stevie’s full shoot and cover story for Your Family in the next few days.

TL;DR I’ve taken a step back from modelling and will be restarting my blog ASAP

Welcome back to the wonderful, chaotic world of Mumming and Modelling. Hope you enjoy it as much as last time!

PS – I chopped off my hair, by the way!

Back to Work!

I never intended on going straight back to work after I had Elia. To be honest, I was still reeling from the 26+kg I put on with Stevie, resulting in a further 9 months of maternity leave after she was born, that I was assuming, due to being healthier this time, I could go back to work when Elia is 6 months or so.

But here’s the thing – I’ve lost my weight already. I’m back in my 26in jeans, and, much as I’m not in my favourite, model ‘shape,’ I’m not looking too bad. And with that, comes work.

So, this weekend, leaving behind a hard-worked for 3 litres (yes, really) of breastmilk in the freezer, I boarded a flight to Cape Town, to work with the lovely James Harvest crew. 3 days of work, 3 nights from my babies. Never had I dreamt I’d be doing this again with a 3-and-a-half-month-old baby.

And it was fine. My mum sent me a message on the Sunday, after spending part of the weekend with Pete and the girls, to tell me how proud she is of him for being such a good parent (well, duh, Mama) and how proud she is of me for going away. That was lovely, and so reassuring. Of course, I really missed the girls and Pete. Mostly in the nights, when I’d wake up to express milk, and have to go back to sleep in a cold, empty bed. And, much as I love FaceTime, when Stevie fell and hurt herself mid-conversation, it pained my heart to know I couldn’t be there to comfort her.

But we all came through it. I was very, very spoiled with my first trip back. Not a high shot count, amazing locations and food, well-organised and nice people: I felt like I was working 10 years ago! Such a lovely shoot to slowly get back into the swing of things.

I can honestly say, I’m still pushing for July to be when I make my first, official foray back into work. But if jobs like this come up in between now and then, I definitely won’t be turning them down. It’s a nice way to dip my feet back in the working waters. Pus, I got to eat a hot breakfast with both hands, which is always a bonus!

PS – the nicest part of the whole thing, of course, was coming home. Those two little faces lit up when they realised Mummy was back, and Stevie’s been telling every person she sees today. It’s worth going away just for that!

Women’s Day Femininity

Today is International Women’s Day (in case you missed it). There have been so many posts written on why Women’s Day is needed; I won’t bore anyone with repetition. But today did make me think about feminism.

I consider myself a thoroughly modern feminist. I wear pink, I love dresses, I shave my body hair and I’m a model who very often poses in bikinis. In times gone by, and in other people’s opinions, these things alone should make me anti-feminism. But, the way I see it, a real, true feminist should be able to do exactly what she wants to.

I don’t wear pink to appeal to men – I wear pink because I like the colour. I’m not a model because anyone else told me to be – I’m a model because I enjoy being my own boss, and I’m bloody proud of what I’ve achieved. I shave my body hair for two reasons – I like how it looks and feels, and because I find it better for work. And, in hot weather especially, a dress is the most comfortable item I own.

I don’t wish to see women get rid of men – I love men (in general). But I do wish to see the glass ceiling, in so many industries, disappear, because women can do a job as well as men. I do wish there was no need for the #metoo movement, because why should women suffer at the hands of men just for being women? There is 100% inequality still in this world, and of course I wish it didn’t exist. No woman should be singled out because of her gender (and I mean women who were born women, and trans people who are also women). Women are powerful, too – we birth children without pain relief and then provide sustenance for those children for 6 months from our bodies alone. And some women choose to have c-sections and formula feed, because that choice is an important one for women – why should we feel forced to do something we don’t want to do? When Professor Lee Burger’s team discovered Homo Naledi, the only people who could fit into the cave were women – women who were passionate about their very important work. Women can thrive in what were typically male-driven career paths.

Marina Elliott from Canada, Elen Feuerriegel from Australia, and K. Lindsay Eaves, Alia Gurtov, Hannah Morris, and Becca Peixotto from the US – the women who discovered Homo Naledi

Modern feminism, to me, is about women who want – and show that we, as women, can – have it all. If a woman wants to quit work and stay at home with her children, she should feel free to make that choice without judgment. If a woman chooses not to have children, but to work in her chosen career path, be it nursing or the military or as a gardener, she should be able to do so without questions asked. As women, our worth is more than our ability to create children, sons, to carry on a family line.

Happy Women’s Day to all women. Let me know how you feel about what I’ve said!

Darren and Alex

Darren Gwynn and Alex Botha are two of Johannesburg’s best fashion talents (well, Darren was until he decided to up and move back to London, where he assisted Rankin for a few years before coming back to Jozi – but he still returns for shoots). Darren shot me in the amazing Huf magazine story Uthuli Africa, and I’ve shot countless things with Alex.

They decided to collaborate on a beauty series a couple of years ago, and asked me to be the subject of one of their photographs. It’s now been made available for sharing.

Note to anyone interested – white paint isn’t solid enough to cover hair, and sudocrem coupled with powder works better ( but is a complete bitch to get out).

I love this pic. It turned out so nice! They really are a dream team.