Jobot- The Interview

Its been a long time coming ladies but now its here. As promised several weeks ago I got in touch with the gloriously technicoloured curvy wonder, Jobot who featured in one of the Fat Day Therapy posts, and asked her a few questions about herself and her philosophies on style. The responses I got were as bright and effervescent as her appearance and I couldn’t help but smile as I read her replies because her day-glo personality jumped out of the monitor and danced around the screen Walt Disney style. Just call her Tinkerbell!

You leapt into my consiousness from seemingly nowhere. Where are you really from and where do you live now? What prompted your move?

Firstly, a big fat hello (no pun intended!) to all of the strong and cool grrrls out there that share our vision and thanks for asking me to be a part of what is one of the best blogs I have ever read – cuz I can actually RELATE to it!!!  Woohoo!!  Thanks for finding me!  Without explaining the birds and the bees process of how I’m ‘really’ here I was given to my Mum and Dad from the Cabbage Patch in Canada (that was before the dolls with the same name caused riots as Christmas time presents – yes I had one!) and I dreamed of getting out of the farming community/hell I was born into before moving to London 8 years ago.

How did your collaboration with Super Super occur?

I floated in and out of fashion and into the music industry the last 6 years I was in residence of the Big Smoke.  I worked at a Music Management company called ie:music whilst having a hyper active social life on London’s club scene and that was where my eyes were de-virginised when I discovered the great culture happening that is SUPERSUPER.  As soon as I picked up the ridiculously colourful eye candy I made it my mission to search out its creators and find my true fellow tribes peoples!  Since then I have started managing the mag’s co-founder and fellow Riot Grrrl, Namalee, interviewed and met/stayed friends with some of my fav musicians and most of all, been given the amazing GET MY LOOK spread in issue 15.  That piece came about as a leaving London present to me from everyone at the mag!  You see, I am a nomadic grrrl who likes to travel the world and spread colour EVERYWHERE (just like Rainbow Brite!) so as soon as I felt I had conquered life as I knew it in London I decided a complete change of direction was in order (to keep me on my multi-coloured toes!), so I have upped pixie sticks and moved to Berlin!  I’ve only been here two months and I have already learned enough to write a novel…in the best broken German I can muster – haha! 😉

You seem to be uber busy and doing 101 things at once. Describe a typical day.

 I really 100% believe that life has SO many opportunities and when I am not doing 101 things at once I feel as if I am cheating myself  and others around me by NOT getting involved.  We are all in this together and if everyone pulled their own weight without selfishness there would be SO much more love in this world – I just LOVE to see people around me benefiting from my hard work!  Since moving to Berlin my ‘typical’ days have become a lot like the city itself – an entire mish mash/confusion/clarity zone!  I am currently attending German immersion classes for 5 hours every morning then I come home and work on my writings for SUPERSUPER or Electronic Beats (www.electronicbeats.net) and I also help to edit posts for a Fashion Classifieds Portal here in Berlin www.Lexposure.net.  That’s a new baby though! A good friend of mine has a magazine called BangBangBerlin which she is taking online and has asked me to host my own section on – so that’llbe a new addition to my writing family tree 😉   I also spend my afternoons/evenings taking care of Management tasks for Namalee (she’s got a single coming out VERY soon!) and of course enjoying the truly fantastic nightlife that Berlin offers.  I am also constantly chasing various contacts around the city and sitting down and having meetings with friends who I am helping to start a Gay friendly record label and offering any Management type tips to any musician trying to ‘make it in the biz’ – all whilst staying in touch with the best blogs in the world to feed my insatiable hunger for new music!!

If you were not working for Super Super what would you be doing?

I am more of a part of SUPERSUPERrather than just ‘working’ for them.  But if I wasn’t associated with them I would be trying to find clever ways to become associated with them.  I have found my tribe and I am not straying :))))  Alongside them and the people they attract I hope to help make this world a better more colourful and alllll round HAPPIER place for everyone!  

I love the vibrancy of your look. What inspires your clothing choices/  look? Is there a certain look that you consider when shopping or do you just buy what you like and throw it all together?

*Bows* Mega thanks sisterhood ;))) There are a few things that inspire me to be a walking colour candy machine.  The biggest one is my number one fan and heroine, my Mum!  I remember watching an insane chat show on TV when I was young and telling my Mum that I wanted to be like the club kids on the TV that everyone was saying were a menace to society and her response was ‘Jo – you can do and be ANYTHING’…that has majorly stuck with me throughout my life 😉  Another thing that inspires me is the need to make others smile!  Yes I TOTALLY dress to get people to smile at me and when they do it REALLY makes my day!  To think that putting some colours together would get such a great reaction – I mean, it attracted your fine selves, didn’t it?!  I really really really want to be a cartoon character that just lights up the lives of everyone she knows – I want everyone to believe in and love themselves so they feel the need to go out and help make people smile too…it may sound sugary sweet to some but my clothes are my way of changing the world – into an all round brighter place ;)))

I don’t really ever go on a shopping mission with a ‘look’ in my head because I subscribe to 100% DIY ethics.  I think rather than letting clothes wear you, you should ABSOLUTELY wear them.  I tend to raid second hand shops (I LOVE the rush of the treasure hunt!) as I believe that Mother Nature has enough strain on her without everyone buying new clothes all the time – c’mon people – use your imagination!!! 🙂  

Where do you shop and do  you find it hard to find things you like to wear in the correct size?

As I said previously, my favourite fashion haunts are in second hand shops.  Not only do you not have to ‘worry’ if they don’t have something in your size you can usually totally afford to buy something even if it isn’t ‘your size’ and rip it/sew it into your size!  So you as a person TOTALLY benefit and so does Mother Nature!  Not to mention you will not see ANYONE else sporting the same clothes – now THAT is worth hours of hunting for… 😉 

Do you have a fashion icon?

Where do I start?!  From Andy Warhol‘s super stars to the glamorous glam kids in the 70’s and of COURSE the darling club kids from New York and London in the 80’s/90’s (heart you Leigh Bowery!!!!).  I couldn’t forget tipping my multi colour glitter army helmet to Ms. Poly Styrene from X.Ray Spex and the amazing Riot Grrrls from the USA in the 90’s.  Tank Girl is of course in there!  More recent fashion icons are Chicks On Speed and all of the other post Riot Grrrl groups out there!  I also uberly look up to my four best friends, Harry, Will, Matty and Cath and my FAVOURITEST designer Emma Bell.  Also a huge shout out to my friend Felicity (Flick) Hayward (http://www.myspace.com/upthebracket) as well – she is a mega cool grrrl that has some of the best taste Bargain Hunt has EVER seen!!  (she was on the show and she won – wooo!).  Oh and my fashion mother has GOT to be Kath from the Australian show, Kath and Kim.  I ADORE every pair of kiwi earrings and espadrilles with tacky jumpers she sports..!!

Which designers clothing would you love to wear, regardless of the sizes its available in and why?

Some more Emma Bell never goes amiss! I also REALLY heart Kling by Kling and Cassette Playa!  Jeremy Scott’s prints are SO cute (and omfg his Adidas range is to DIE for!), Charlie Le Mindu (but he is a wig designer!), Basso and Brooke, anything the Andrea Crews gang turn their hand to and I LOVE Star Styling here in Berlin!  Any DIY designer that is willing to use BRIGHT colours and prints in their collection immediately gets my attention 😉

Do you have any fat girl dos or don’ts regarding clothes?

The only DONT that I have is – DONT LET ANYONE STOP YOU WEARING WHAT YOU WANT TO WEAR!!!  Anyone that says you CAN’T do something because of your waist size isn’t worth knowing I say!  YOU GO GRRRL!!!!!! XxXX

Have you always had an energetic sense of style?

I went through my weird awkward teen times when I was drifting from grunge grrrl to goth grrrl around the age of 14 and living in redneckville.com in Canada – ick!  Then I found liberation and REAL happiness in wearing colour so I haven’t stopped from then!  I was going to a very dark place mentally before then so the colours really saved my life… goodness knows where this cartoon would have ended up if they hadn’t!!! :O

In all the photos I’ve seen of you you are dressed in bright colours. Do you ever have days where you think- fuck it, I’m going to dress in head to toe black?

That would TOTALLY mess with my friends heads – and MINE!  Black really just makes me feel really sad and I don’t like it. I like to wear colour because wrapping myself in such bright energy REALLY gives me a total KICK.  It’s like I am Willy Wonka and bright colours are my chocolate – I HAVE to have them to keep on going!!! :))))

Do you have any dreams of starting your own fashion label?

I have come close quite a few times to staring my own label but I am SO busy helping other artistes realise their potential and helping them to get their work out there that I simply haven’t put the time aside to give setting up my own label the attention it DEF deserves.  I have vowed to start re-making clothes again and when it comes to fruition I will HAPPILY showcase my work exclusively on your blog – you’ll DEF hear it first :))))) 

Can you recommend any shopping gems anywhere in the world for plus size women?

If you’re in London there is a Vintage Pick N Mix at the shop that Flick works at every few months where you literally GRAB as much as you can and STUFF it in bags of several denominations and walk away the HAPPIEST customer EVER EVER EVER!!!  Recycled clothes and light pocket expense – yes pleasse!!!  If you are in Canada or the USA check out your local Value Village (http://www.valuevillage.com/) or un-popular 2nd hand shops – they ALWAYS have the bargains!  In Berlin go to HUMANA!!  The one near my house hosts 5 floors of second hand fantastia – and the best news is its only in the past 10 years that people have started making clothes for people so small they resemble an x-ray with hair!  Grrrls up until the 80’s were expected to have curves – so LOVEEE that fact and dive into the opportunities!  If you find something that doesn’t ‘fit’ – buy it anyway and rip it so it does fit…add some nail varnished safety pins/glitter/badges/cheap earrings and you are there sister!!

 Finally, do you own a jumpsuit/ playsuit? If so, please send me a picture of you in it!!!!

I TOTALLY want one but don’t have one – if you ever find a spare one with bright prints of fruits and leopard prints on it I will HAPPILY give it a new home AND  your eyes will need a four week holiday after the amount of photos I would take for you!!!

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1,000 thank you’s for your time, Jobot!

Click here to view Jobot’s Myspace page.