frankie Magazine Issue 105 - Jan/Feb 2022

Sometimes it comes in the form of a Devo dance break during deadline delirium. Other times, hilarity and absurdity find you (like when we encountered a chap walking his pet duck through Melbourne’s CBD). You’ll run into a bunch of folks in this issue who embrace life’s many follies, and who remind us that acting your age is a suggestion rather than a rule. There’s a band who named themselves after emojis (page 082); a shop owner who ran a week’s worth of events dedicated to the humble sausage (page 044); and a couple who decorated their home with giraffe statues and ornamental mice (page 096). You might be surprised to learn that even Mozart, the esteemed composer, penned scatological songs in the name of comedy (page 062). If we…

LETTERS@FRANKIE.COM.AU Dear frankie, I’m a recent addition to your reading set, and an avid magazine reader, and I think you are second to none. I’ve never felt so seen as a woman. Your variety of voices is a salve to the soul. It’s not often I feel represented when reading media, but frankie handles this with flair. I walk away from an issue assured of the woman I am, never doubting my choices. Your “Class of 2021” article in issue 104 has also inspired me to create a plan for my upcycling/vintage business and, for that, I am so grateful. Thank you for being such a positive publication. You probably don’t know quite how much you mean to your readers, but you’re incredible. Tamara Dear frankie, The debate about dogs on the…

nice one, nancybird The fashionable folks at Melbourne label Nancybird have a bit of a track record collaborating with rad artists. To adorn the floaty frocks and flattering separates in their spring-summer collection, the team picked out pastel florals by Nicola Woodcock, intricate illustrations of traditional Pacific Island Hiapo designs by Cora-Allan Wickliffe and colourful still life paintings by Elle Burguez. Want to wrap yourself up in some artful prints? Pop over to nancybird.com the big squish Toasting marshmallows by the campfire is nice and all, but it sure takes a lot of work. That just won't do for us indoorsy types, who want smooth, creamy, melty marshmallows without having to light a fire. Dani Krieke-Bramall has a solution: her homemade marshmallow spread – $8 from marshmallowclub.com.au – has that all-important ooeygooey texture…

I’m not immune to the charms of the ocean. There comes a time every year, when the air is so thick with heat I can see it wavering in front of me, that a dip in the sea feels like just the thing. I’m tempted by a vision of myself as a sexy, blissed-out beach creature, instead of an angsty George Costanza type, always teetering on the edge of a neurotic breakdown. Could this be the summer I coax my hair into an elusive ‘beachy wave’? Maybe! Sometimes I have elaborate fantasies about moving down the coast, where I’d live like one of those cool surfer babes from Blue Crush, riding the waves at dawn, seducing square-jawed American quarterbacks by dusk. I want to like the beach, I really do. I…

CREATIVITY RUNS IN HER FAMILY My family didn't have a TV or electronic stuff, so I was very much a nature kid. I grew up in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, a very small, conservative town that was limiting in a lot of ways. It felt like my family were the outsiders because they’re free-spirited, artsy and creative. My mum is very vibrant, and her cars are always painted all crazy with action figures and Barbie dolls glued to them. The town gave me this false idea that there was something wrong with our family; why did we have to be different? All it did was make things harder for me in school. I didn’t realise how broad the world could feel until I moved to Asheville. I realised that we…

POTATO CAKES The potato cake has persisted through history thanks to its rudimentary and archaic aesthetic and delicious fried-potato taste. Throw one of these bad boys in with an order of minimum chips and you’ve got a maximum good time coming your way. Ideal with vinegar for some reason, the potato cake is one of the few forms of potato that isn’t improved by sauce. Ketchup on one of these crispy yet tender discs is sacrilege, and anyone who disagrees should be considered a barbarian. The thing that has kept the potato cake in circulation all these years, though, is the fact that it is a fried potato thing. That’s it. Nothin’ fancy: minimal knife work; some batter; incredibly old frying oil. The potato cake (or scallop, as some call it)…