Caviar Masterclass – QT Canberra for Good Food Month

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Caviar Masterclass – hosted by Lisa Downs in the QT Canberra Lounge, a tour de foce of the worlds most well known luxury ingredient.

 

Caviar is one of those ingredients that is heavily laden with cultural imagery and meaning that automatically sends our minds into a montage of experience. Love it or hate it, the delicacy of lightly salt-cured sturgeon eggs holds a lofty place in the world’s cultural subconscious as the ultimate luxury food.

It shouldn’t really be any surprise then that someone as luxury-obsessed as I am would jump at the opportunity to attend a Caviar Masterclass held at QT Canberra as a part of the 2018 Good Food Month events taking place in Canberra.

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Art Buff – A naked night at the National Gallery of Australia

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Could you disrobe in front of a hundred strangers? If you had asked me a week ago I would have said no; but that is exactly what I did last night at the Art Buff event at the National Gallery of Australia.

 

Art Buff is a term I would ordinarily associate with rakish entrepreneurs investing in an up and coming artists work, or an aged high-society dame who buys what she likes because she can afford to. It doesn’t usually make me hyperventilate in terror at the prospect of exposing myself to over 100 total strangers in a public place.

However, after last night’s Art Buff event, co-hosted by the National Gallery of Australia and Vice – that is basically all I am ever going to associate now.

I had heard of the previous naked tour that the NGA held, and my hyper critical internal monologue immediately launched into an explanation of why I would not go. You’re too fat, too squishy, too white, too pink, too flabby, too thick, too hairy, too old, too weak, too scared… On and on and on. I’m nothing if not adept at tearing myself down and reminding myself that, yes, I’m gross

Enter my good friend Amy, and a proffered plus-one position to attend the latest naked romp through the NGA for the Hyper Real exhibition. (more…)

Fashfest 2017 Runway Review – MJ Bale

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M.J. Bale offers strong competition for local and international menswear labels on the Canberra scene, and as I have said before – I can not think of a better gauntlet to throw for Canberran consumers than the opening of the M.J. Bale store in the Canberra Centre, and showing on the Fashfest runway.

It is no secret that while I admire and respect the craftmanship of elegant, tailored pieces from bespoke designers who show at Pitti Uomo; I am vastly under-funded to be able to shop there. As such, I am excited for the change that M. J. Bale represents for menswear in Canberra, and to see what the 2017 Fashfest collection will showcase from the brand. (more…)

Basics and Building Blocks: Japan Travel 2017

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An outfit constructed out of basics that will serve you well - Grant Heino, Naha, Okinawa - November 2017

Not an overly creative outfit – but one constructed out of basics that will serve you well. Sunglasses – ASOS / T-shirt – Oxford / Belt – Trennery / Moto-Jeans – ASOS / Chelsea Boots – Redpath

 

Basics is a language that we should all be versed in by this point. It is 2017, the minimalist, normcore and aesthetics trends have all come and gone (and are likely on their way back again); and as such when you see the term basics you should know without prompting that I’m talking about those essential building-block items we all call upon when constructing an outfit. Get it? Got it? Good.

Moving on – basics are arguably never more important than when you are travelling and relying on a diminished wardrobe to pull from. Knowing how to use your basics, how to dress them up or down to suit the situation, will mark the seasoned traveler from the novice. (more…)

Fashfest 2017 Runway Review – Melanie Child

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In the lead up to Fashfest 2016 I interviewed Dunedin based designer Melanie Child, and as I tend to do, I turned the discussion towards whether there was any chance of Melanie introducing menswear to her existing range of sublime denim recreations.

At the time Mel said that she didn’t have any in the 2016 show, but that menswear was on the cards for the future.

 

It shouldn’t have surprised me then to seem menswear pieces on the runway this year in the Melanie Child collection, which opened an entirely New Zealand made show this year, sponsored by the New Zealand High Commission. But to be perfectly honest, despite basically begging to see Mel’s recycled denim creations turned towards menswear, I wasn’t really expecting it.

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Fashfest 2017 GIVEAWAY – Three Platinum Passes up for grabs!

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Fashfest has introduced me to amazing designers, photographers, musicians and models, not to mention a host of wonderful friends. I am thrilled to be able to offer you the opportunity to see what this great event is made of!

 

Fashfest 2017 has crept up on me this year, with doors to the National Convention Center opening for the event THIS THURSDAY!

I feel like I am woefully under prepared this year (what am I wearing? who am I excited to see? How am I getting home from the after-party?), and I feel like there must be more of you out there who are finding themselves in a similar situation.

Luckily for you, I’m going to be bringing you all the hot tips for each show, including who I am looking forward to seeing, what you should be excited for, and of course what I’m going to be wearing (when I finally get my act together)

And, with Fashfest literally only three sleeps away, and I can’t think of a better time to announce that I have teamed up with the amazing Fashfest team yet again this year, and we are giving away three platinum double-passes to this year’s events. (more…)

Zilpah Tart – A Fashfest First Three Years In The Making

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The proud owner of the first Zilpah Tart necktie, featuring the gorgeous ‘Lucent Blue’ print. The bold pattern of the necktie actually works beautifully in an otherwise understated menswear look, and brings to mind the patterns of 1980s business attire.

 

Zilpah Tart has held a special place in my heart for a few years now. I love to see our local Canberra design talents develop and achieve great things, and you would be hard-pressed to find a label that is achieving as much as the creations of designer Yumi Morrissey. Bright colours balanced with sleek, feminine styling – Zilpah Tart conjures for me a sense of union between Dianne Von Furstenberg  and Emilio Pucci.

I have always resented a little that Morrissey focuses solely on women’s wear, and more so in recent years with the introduction of her signature exclusive fabrics featuring Canberra scenery and landmarks. Naturally most men would probably shy away from the bright colours and fractal patterns of the exclusive fabrics, but I’ve always had something of the peacock to me, and I have lusted after the gorgeous Canberran designs for some time.

This year, I’ve got a taste of what I have been missing out on with the creation of a very special necktie featuring the Lucent Blue print from Zilpah Tart – a menswear first for the label from the 2017 Autumn/Winter Illuminate collection. (more…)

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