FashFest 2014: Face of FashFest 2014 officially announced

There has been quite a bit of buzz about who the face of FashFest 2014 would be, and I have to say that from the mere glimpses that the FashFest team were releasing across their social media platforms, I was genuinely intrigued to see who would be the face that launched the event this year.

On Tuesday this week the mystery was cleared up, and Canberra's own Belinda Riding was announced as the face of this year's event.

Credits: Belinda Riding on location at the award-winning Canberra Airport  Designer: Karen Lee of Karen Lee (sold at Assemblage Project) Hair: Wayne Friend, Form Makeup: Karen Mathias, M:Artisty Styling: Fashfest

Daily Outfit: Too many patterns

"There is no quicker way to ruin your image than to clutter yourself with too many patterns. You automatically draw the eye away from your face and call attention to your clothes. If you are very clever you may come up with some good pattern combinations, but they will look better on the hanger than under your face."

Colour for men - Carole Jackson with Kalia Lulow - Little Hill Press, 1985.

Daily Outfit: Monday morning Zegna

Ermenglido Zegna's clothes are beautifully tailored and cut from the finest cloth, literally; so it's not exactly a label I ever saw myself pairing with ratty looking jeans for a busy Monday morning. Zegna's is one of those labels that I always assumed that I would never actually own or wear. Not because I didn't want to, but because the clothes the label produces are so luxe and so incredibly out of my price range. 

So you can imagine my shock, and my skepticism, at finding this 'Zegna' blazer in a local Op Shop a little while ago. Surely no one in Canberra is passing a pure wool Zegna blazer over to the Salvos?

Daily Outfit: FashFest 2014 Model Casting at East Hotel, Kingston

Today I headed to East Hotel in Kingston for the Model Casting for FashFest 2014, Canberra's key fashion event. I mentioned on Twitter yesterday that I had no idea what to wear, and that I really didn't want to wind up looking like some creepy hanger-on or worse, some lech who'd just wandered in off the street.

FashFest 2014: Model Casting at East Hotel, Kingston

I didn't really know what to expect at the Model Casting for FashFest 2014, other than it was being held in a Hotel and that a record-breaking 140+ hopefuls had signed up to strut their stuff for a chance to walk in the clothes of Canberra's designers at this year's FashFest event.

Weekend Adventures: The Royal Canberra Show

Today I made my annual pilgrimage to the Royal Canberra Show.

I love the crazy carnival atmosphere of the Canberra Show, everything from the noise, the sights, the smells; right through to the queasy sick feeling you get watching people hurtle around on the rides or from the masses of deep fried carnival fare consumed. Going to the Show is something that I treat myself to and refuse to feel guilty about. It is one day a year where I do not ask myself how many calories are in something, whether I really need to eat that, or whether I probably shouldn't buy that.

Daily Outfit: Clashing colours beget clashing personalities

Clashing colours, patterns or textures is not something that I am a big supporter of generally. There is a reason that the word 'Clashing' is used instead of say, contrasting, or competing, or even different. A clash is something violent and jarring, something that is frightening and disruptive and not something that you generally should aspire to. I know that this flies in the face of many contemporary trendsetter's personal looks, but we're not all meant to look like Susie Bubble.