Fairlady November 2016

360 Liza van Deventer, our brilliant photographer, now also shoots fascinating 360º pics of the people we interview. – have a look at www.facebook.com/fairladymag. Jack Irish I have a giant crush on Jack Irish, played by Guy Pearce in a bad cardie and with terrible hair, who wanders around finding baddies. I read all the books (by Peter Temple, who was South African but has lived in Oz for far too many years now), and this is the TV series based on those books. It’s brilliant: complex, gritty – but also very funny in that flat Ozzie way. I’m totally hooked. Pintuck swimming costumes I love this idea! In my view, shopping for swimming costumes comes just below smacking myself on the head with a ping-pong bat for a week…

WINNING LETTER The reality of half of the human race Thank you for publishing the article ‘3 ways my parents unintentionally taught me that my consent didn’t matter’ (September 2016). It is a hugely powerful article, and I hope it is widely distributed and that many people, both men and women, read it. I couldn’t finish it; just before the end I began to sob deeply. Everything she wrote resonated with me. She articulated what I have wanted to say – or scream, actually. I cried because, like her, I am a ‘hardcore freezer’, and not like her friend Claire, even though I want to be. I cried because my husband probably won’t read the article. Because my in-laws definitely won’t read the article. Because many of my teaching colleagues…

  Dressed in a black top, a striking flared skirt in a black, blue and soft greyish pink floral design, and dramatic red shoes, Pretty Yende looks every inch the diva. And even if that were the case, we’d probably forgive her – after all, she is spoken about in the same breath as all-time opera great Maria Callas, a notorious diva herself! But spend a few minutes in Pretty’s company and you’re totally won over by her warmth. Pretty is in Cape Town to promote her first album, A Journey. It’s been a long time coming – Sony Classical International first approached her in 2012, and waited four years for her to decide that she was ready to record. The album celebrates the milestones that have brought her the ultimate…

Q: Books you like to read in your spare time? A: Inspirational books and the Bible. Q: Music you listen to when relaxing? A: Jazz, especially Ella Fitzgerald, and gospel music – no classical! Q: Favourite food? A: If I wasn’t a singer, I would be a chef. Food is also a service to the soul. I like to cook Italian food. South African food is problematic; the right spices aren’t readily available. Q: What makes you laugh? A: When I see a smiling face – especially if I had something to do with it. Q: What turns you off? A: Pride.…

CLARISSE COETZEE MARKETING & EVENT MANAGEMENT Business owner: Clarisse Coetzee Start-up costs: ‘A car charger for about R250, registering a domain for about R160, a laptop for about R8 000, a 3G modem for R250 per month, and initially I rented a desk for R2 500 per month.’ Average monthly turnover: ‘It varies. Some months are much busier than others.’ Clarisse says inspiration came in an instant, a moment of sudden understanding about her own truth. ‘I was walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain, and on the trail one day I just said to myself: “Who are you fooling? You want your own company; you want to be in control of your own time – take the leap of faith!”’ In fact, it took a bit of a push:…

  if recent articles, books and academic studies are to be believed, single people who live alone are no longer understood to be lonely, desperate or odd. Today, choosing to live solo is more likely to signal freedom, personal control and self-actualisation. It might be tricky to hang curtains by yourself and it is nerve-wracking to be entirely responsible for your financial wellbeing with no safety-net partner, but those who choose to live alone say the benefits outweigh the negatives. ‘What I learnt from almost 30 years of trying to conform to the ideal of being one of a couple is that I don’t want to be one of a couple.’ ‘As a live-alone, child-free woman in my late 40s, I am a rarity in Zulu culture,’ says Durban marketing executive…