Announcement: Ink & Leathers has moved

After six years of self hosted blogging through Blogger, I have finally purchased a domain name for my blog, and as a result I've moved to Wordpress and to a brand new URL.

You can now reach me at: www.inkandleathers.com

I am still in the process of getting the new site set up, but I will be blogging there from this point forward, and I would love for you to join me there. 

I will keep this Blogger account open for the time being, but I am hoping that those of you who still read this blog, or happen to stumble upon it, will join me in the next exciting incarnation of Ink & Leathers. I am so thankful to each and every person who stops by, and I am determined to continue to bring you new content from my new location.

Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you at www.inkandleathers.com

Hustle & Scout: Style Scouted

Yesterday was the first birthday of the Hustle & Scout Markets here in Canberra, and I headed out to the gorgeous new location at Hangar 47 at Fairbairn to spend the afternoon Style Scouting the other attendees for the Hustle & Scout Facebook page.

I had a really great time at the markets, and I have to extend a huge congratulations to Tegan and her team for an amazing job well done. The space looked fantastic, the talent on display was phenomenal, and I truly cannot wait for the next market to come around.

Below is a selection of my favourite looks from the day, with very brief reasons as to why their looks caught my eye.

Daily Outfit: Fairbairn

This afternoon I headed out to Fairbairn to the Hustle & Scout markets, to check out the stalls from local designers and purveyors of Delicious foods.

I was also there to act as a Style Scout for the crowd, and I spent the majority of the afternoon stalking around looking for well dressed guys and gals to snap a picture of for the Hustle & Scout Facebook page. I'll have a blog post featuring my favourite menswear looks up at some stage tomorrow, and all of my Style Scouting images should be available on the Facebook page by tomorrow afternoon.

Daily Outfit: Style Scouting for Hustle & Scout

Today I met up with Jiawa from Closet Voyage, and she kindly too my photo for the Hustle & Scout Twilight Fashion Markets Facebook page, to announce that I will be there on Saturday doing Style Scouting!

I'm really thrilled to be able to take part in the event, and to see who will be there and wearing what. The past two Hustle and Scout events that I have been to have been absolutely phenomenal, and I am really looking forward to this new Spring session in a beautiful new home at Hangar 47 in Fairbairn.

I'm really excited to check out the new location this Saturday, especially with the promise of 2,000 free car parks, ATMs,  and a magnificent view of the runway and lots of aircraft activity. 

Canberra: VIP at Lucky's Local Fashion Trail

My look for the night. Photo by Closet Voyage.

On Thursday evening last week I was lucky enough to be invited to attend the Lucky's Local Fashion Trail event at Lucky's Speakeasy in the new QT Canberra Hotel.

The evening was full of delicious cocktails from the Lucky's menu, bite-sized snacks, and of course the very best on offer from some of Canberra's most interesting boutiques. 

Blogging: The first day of the rest of your Blog's life...

Recently, I applied for part-time hours at work, so that I could take one day a fortnight off from my 9-5 Public Service job, to focus on my Blog and to work towards making a career for myself as a professional Blogger.

Today was my first Friday off work.

My plan is to trial this for 3-6 months and to see where I am then, and potentially drop to eight days a fortnight then. Ultimately, I am hoping to leave the Public Service within two years, and to be professionally Blogging and making a decent income. That's my current plan and dream, in any event; and today I've taken my first steps towards realising it.

Daily Outfit: Lucky

I'm feeling really lucky lately.

I'm naturally a bit of a realist, even a pessimist, and at times I think that this comes across as me being a bit of an ingrate. And while I'm entirely aware of just how lucky I am, I don't often express my gratitude. 

So, it seems appropriate to just take a moment to express how thankful I am that I am so goddamned lucky. I won't go into specifics here, or bore you to death with a sappy listing of my feels about being lucky; but I just want it on public record: I, Grant Heino, acknowledge that I am lucky, and I am thankful for this every day, even if I am a snarky bitch about it most of the time.

Daily Outfit: Cold and Colder

I was out of the office all day today, but knowing I was going to be at a venue my work often uses for training exercises, and how cold that venue is, I opted for a daily outfit on the warmer side. The jacket I am wearing today actually came with matching running tights, and I was very tempted to wear them under my jeans for the sake of the extra warmth!

Blogging: Blog Hop - Why do I write?

The lovely Erin from Mouthless Mutters asked if she could tag me in to a meme that's being passed around the Canberra Bloggosphere at the moment. 

It just so happens to have come at a time where I am doing some contemplation and self assessment with regards to my Blogging, so I happily agreed to take up the tag and to answer the four little questions myself.

Daily Outfit: Errands

Today I had a bunch of errands that I had to run, and so I bundled myself up and got out into the chilled Canberra morning as soon as possible, with the clear intention that the sooner my errands were over; the sooner I could get back into my trackies.

To be perfectly frank, I am surprised at just how cold it is here in Canberra at the moment. It snowed while we were in Lapland, and it was still warmer there than it is here right now! Thankfully, I have this amazing synthetic jacket that I picked up at H&M in Jyväskylä, which kept me nice and toasty as I was running about the place today. It was a sound investment at €7.

Daily Outfit: Helsinki

By the time you're all reading this, I am on a plane on my way to Singapore, before reaching my final destination- Helsinki, Finland.

I'm headed to Finland with my younger sister Hollie, and we're meeting up with my best friend Mags. I'll be away for three weeks, in which time we're travelling all over Finland, and venturing to Estonia and Sweden as well.

If you're wondering "Why Finland?", the main reason is that my dad was born and raised in Finland, and as such I am incredibly curious about my heritage.

Announcement: Ink & Leathers Turns Six!

Six years ago today, I decided to start a Fashion Blog.

Six years of this on-again-off-again relationship with my Blog, of taking likely thousands of photos of myself and my clothes, of changing platforms and addresses and templates and learning how to use twitter and instagram and never quite getting the hang of html or my camera or even really how to dress myself...

It has been something of a roller coaster ride, to say the very least.

Daily Outfit: Fashfest Day Five at East Hotel

I threw this daily outfit on in a matter of seconds as I was running around the house like a complete maniac trying to get my shit together and get to Kingston for Fashfest Day Five. I slept in after staying up late the night before editing photos for my re-cap (and having had several champagnes the night before), so I was a bit of a mess. 

I didn't even look at what I was wearing until I got to East Hotel.

Fashfest 2014: Day Five at East Hotel

Today I headed to East Hotel in Kingston for Day Five of Fashfest 2014.

Day five, presented by Hustle&Scout, was a unique opportunity for people to meet with the designers who showed their work at Fashfest 2014, to get up close and personal with the huge array of amazing garments, and of course to shop the runway for anything that you saw and fell in love with.

Fashfest 2014: Night Four - The Visionary

It is hard to believe that Fashfest 2014 has drawn to a close.

Tonight was Night Four - The Visionary - and I have to say I can see why every designer who appeared tonight fit under this moniker. The atmosphere was positively thrumming at 3 Molonglo Drive, Brindabella Business Park at Canberra International Airport, and it was such a pleasure to be present to see-out the final night of Canberras most dynamic and exciting fashion event.

Fashfest 2014 Daily Outfit: Eye on Canberra

The final night of Fashfest 2014 called for something flamboyant and a little over the top. Logic would dictate that I should have worn my sequined hoodie on closing night, but knowing that I had this puppy chilling in the back of my wardrobe, I decided to go this the bird for the final night.

I purchased this top back in 2010 when I attended the (then) L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival. I saw this jumper walk down the runway at the Alpha60 show and was instantly mesmerised, and I knew that I wouldn't be happy until I owned it.

I've worn it twice. It cost almost a quarter of what I was being paid a week back then, and I was so terrified that I would destroy it that it has sat in the back of my wardrobe, unworn. It seemed fitting to bring it out tonight.

Fashfest 2014: Night Three - The Philosopher

Night three of Fashfest 2014 - The Philosopher - was a real surprise for me. I went into the night thinking that there really wouldn't be much to interest me, and came away thoroughly surprised. Not only was there menswear that I wasn't expecting, but there was a huge diversity in the styles of the designers that made for a unique and engaging show.

Once again the Fashfest team went above and beyond, providing a world-class event that I know that they are proud of, and with good reason. Everything ran smoothly, everything looked amazing, and the atmosphere never dropped once. Thank you so much for all your amazing work.

Fashfest 2014: An open letter on Front Row Etiquette

Fashfest night three has drawn to a close, and instead of the exhilarating high and desire to relive the collections that nights one and two left me with; I find myself despondent, and frankly a little pissed.

Let me make this blatantly clear before I go on—this has nothing to do with the wonderful Fashfest team who have put their all into every night and element of the event and who have, for what it's worth, blown my mind.

No. The anger I am feeling tonight is directed firmly at my fellow audience members. Specifically, this is aimed at four men seated across the catwalk from me, who went ahead and ruined my perfect streak of meeting interesting, lovely people seated in the front row, with a catty and raucous attempt at living up to every 'bitchy-gay-fashion-guy' stereotype ever penned in the most basic of sitcoms.

Fashfest Daily Outfit: 50 Shades of Orange

Well, 5 shades of orange actually.

For the third night of Fashfest 2014, I decided to try out an all-orange outfit, just to see how it is received. I can't say that this is something that I would wear really, although recently I wore this outfit almost exactly, and received quite a bit of praise from my colleagues. I'm not convinced that this is a solid way to go for every-day wear, but it's fun to bust out on appropriate occasions. And if Fashfest isn't an appropriate occasion, then I don't know what is!

Fashfest Daily Outfit: Tied up in silk

It is the second night of Fashfest 2014 tonight, and I am off to 3 Molonglo Drive, Brindabella Business Park in the Canberra International Airport precinct for another night of front-row coverage of Canberra's premier fashion event.