STYLEAID BLOG

Well dear reader, here we go again…it has been remiss of me not to keep you more up to date with what has been happening in the world of fashion and STYLEAID!

Time flies when you are doing a range of other projects as well as keeping STYLEAID moving along…you will have read about our great naming rights sponsor for this year, VanLee and there will be more announcements coming up soon.

The auction is already starting to look hot with an amazing trip to Sydney to be part of the opening of the Princess Diana Exhibition that is coming to the Powerhouse Museum in September as one of our great prizes which has been proudly sponsored by Powerhouse and Globetrotter Corporate Travel.

Along with some stunning jewellery from Brinkhaus jewellers and artwork from young, dynamic artist Ryan Lee this promises to be an auction to outdo all those that have come before it.

There has been so much happening here at the office, with new staff arriving and others leaving but there have been some constants like me who have been here for a while now…this is my 12th year at the Council and I am still loving every minute of it.

We are in the process of choosing the emerging designers for the parade this year and the close off for submissions from those interested was last Friday.  I received 18 submissions and some of them look really hot…watch this space for the announcement in the next couple of weeks of which ones will be joining us as the emerging talent for 2007.

We have a judging panel shortlisting this week and then we will be meeting with those shortlisted on Tuesday 15 May to then decide the final 4 or 5 to be included in the list…we have a great range to chose from too…swimwear, mens wear, womens wear, handbags and jewellery… it will not be easy…

So watch this space!

As the dust settles on what was surely the biggest and best StyleAID ever we all start to move on and begin to look at StyleAID 2007…

The committee has met and debreifed the event from this year and will recommence work for 2007 in October and with that the focus on our 10th StyleAID begins!

I will be concentrating initially on working with all the sponsors for this year and sourcing some new ones for next year and also getting ready for World AIDS Day on December 1.

In the meantime there is PRIDE to think about, groups to run, talks to do, training to run and new projects to get involved in…all great opportunities that I have in my job to diversify and be creative whilst working steadily in the background on StyleAID.

One of my indulgences on the side is regular trips out to the Biggest Bingo on Guildford Road with some of my great co-workers.  We make the trip every 6 - 8 weeks for a night of eyes down number calling, potential cash winning fun and frivolity…yes dear reader I am a closet Bingo player…it is perhaps the only thing in my life that I am in the closet over but after posting this blog and the accompanying photos a closet bingo player no more!

Last week I made the trip with 3 of my dear colleagues and we had a great night out as we always do when we attend!  Ben was a Bingo virgin but has assured us that he will now become one of our regular attendees, whilst Suzanne and Gemma are seasoned Bingo goers like me…we have all been making these occasional trips for about the past 3 years…

Suzanne decided to take some pics with her camera on her phone and here you will see the results…Gemma was going to take some with her camera but could not get it working…oh well next time then!

I am heading off to Sydney at the end of the week for 10 days to catch up with friends and family with my partner Trevor and will enjoy a nice break before we head full on into PRIDE month here in Perth.

Please enjoy the attached pics and be sure, dear reader that I will keep you up to date on all the latest StyleAID information over the coming months as well.  We have a theme already and some amazing ideas are flowing from Aly about parade and looks for next year…all I can say at this stage is…get ready for an amazing event in 2007!

In the past couple of years both Aly and myself have been involved with casting people who are not attached to any of the model agencies in Perth to give them the chance to hit the catwalk and they have been put under the Reid Model banner.

This year one of our ‘finds’ - who also happened to be someone who had been working here at the AIDS Council was snapped up by the wonderful Chadwick models just after StyleAID and is now on the road to model stardom!

If you were at the event you might remember him as the boy in the cut away bathers in the Lushlife section of the parade…anyway he is shooting his first TVC today and is a popular boy around town…

I always new he was destined for greatness, dear reader of the blog, and think he has a great future ahead of him!

He first came to us at WAAC as a placement student in the middle of last year to work on the Keep It Safe Summer campaign, targetting leavers celebrations and he then moved into paid employment here at the Council.

It was a pure stroke of luch that he turned up here at the Council on casting day and the girls all thought that he had come into audition.  I convinced him to walk for us and Aly cast him straight away…after some further cajoling from me he agreed and made a real splash on the catwalk on the night.

With some great shots taken post the event by star photographer Gary Sandford he was on his way into the wonderful world of Chadwick Models under the watchful eye of the beautiful Sanela…

So who knows where this will lead, but I will keep you informed as I hear more…

Well done to Toby, we always new he was a star!

Mark xox

Here it is Wednesday morning and the lovely Aly May has forwarded on some pictures from the event to me that were sent to her from Georgia…so here I am posting them for you to have a look at as well.

Hopefully there will be more like this coming in the next few days so keep checking back and then you will be able to see some other great pictures of our night of nights!

As for me, the week has now settled down and I am yet to hit that post StyleAID slump that usually happens but that might be because we are still in the midst of renovations here in the office, so it is filled with painters, furniture movers and carpet layers and will be like this for a few more days…so no chance to sit and dwell just yet…

Perhaps this year there will not be that slump that usually hits around this time…touch wood…and I can just focus on my other work and beginning on our fabulous event for next year! Who knows?

Enjoy the pics…

Mark xox

It seems like such a long time ago already but here we are just over a week later and StyleAID is stilling going strong in peoples minds and the feedback so far has been sensational.

On this post you will find a pic of me with the very glamorous and beautiful Steph Patniotis who worked with me on the event in the capacity of prize getter, auction sorter and advertising seller for the magazine as well as being a great support in the lead up to the event.

More pics will follow in the next day or so as I get sent more from people who were there on the night and I want you all to be able to share and see pictures from this amazing night as we move towards working on the 2007 event!

Aly as always has a theme in mind - she came up with this a few weeks ago and it is as usual brilliant…

There will also be some final blogs from our designers in the next few days and one exciting outcome for Preacher is that Hayden Tee one of the hosts for the night who was dressed by Pat from Preacher is doing a shoot for InStyle magazine and has asked Pat to dress him…this will be fantastic and great profile raising for Preacher on a national level…so well deserved…if you are looking for some great clothing…especially menswear in my estimation…please drop by and see Preacher at 555 Beaufort Street Mt Lawley…some of the best menswear in Perth today…

Enough til next couple of days dear reader…

 Mark xoxox

Well here we are nearly 1 week later…I can’t believe that we are nearly at 1 week past the event.

In the past 6 days we have had major renovations happening back here at the AIDS Council which means dear reader that I have not been as vigilent with my blog postings as I would have like to be.

You will find here a range of pics from backstage that were taken by Dragana - one of our finale photographers and a great supporter of StyleAID for your enjoyment.

There will be more to come in the days to follow so check back as I update them as I recieve more.

I will also keep you posted on how much money we made and other bits of information that you might be interested in.

The blog will become a feature of the StyleAID site as it seems there are many of you enjoying the words written by those of us contributing. 

I would love to hear from you as well if you have enjoyed the blog.  Please feel free to post a comment on here and I will make sure it gets included.

Thanks again for reading and stay tuned!

These are of friends who all came to enjoy the night…

Just a few pics to keep you coming back for more that were taken by my partner Trevor on the night…

There will be lots more to come in the next few days so keep coming back to see who was there, what they were wearing and some great backstage shots…

Mark xox

Just thought I would put a quick note on here following on from last night’s big event and what a night it was dear reader!

For those 660 of you who were there I hope that you had as good a time as I did and for those of you who missed out you will have to wait until this time next year for StyleAID 2007 which will be the 10th StyleAID!

The day was not without the usual event day tensions and dramas but if you were not part of the dramas you did not know what was going on.

I will do a more involved blog in the next couple of days to give you a full run down but I just wanted to let you all know that it was a sensational night and all the feedback that I have had so far has been fantastic!

Great performances lead by the amazing Hayden Tee who blew everyone away with his 2 opening numbers and looked sensational dressed in Preacher and his ever gracious, beautiful and truly delightful co-host Verity James weaved their magic on the crowd over the night…

 The rest will follow in the coming days as I process, catch up on sleep and count the dollars raised all of which I will keep you up on.

But let me just say that I am proud of what we acheived and hope any of you that attended really did have a heavenly night!

Mark xoxox

Just thought as there was a lull in my day…albiet a breif one that I would write what will be my last blog before the event.

I do not think, dear reader, that I will get a chance to put fingers on the keyboard after this morning.

Truck has collected from Aly’s place and delivered to the Convention Centre and we are transferring the rest of our stock down there this morning and early afternoon so all we have to concentrate on is the event tomorrow.

Will be heading out to the airport at 2.45pm to pick our co-host Hayden Tee up and then drop him at the Parmelia, where he will be staying for the next couple of nights.

Then back to WAAC and final bump in to the PCEC late afternoon and then we are all set for a full day tomorrow.

All sold out and just 2 payments outstanding make this one of the smoothest rides in terms of tickets that I have had. I think this says something about the event and the fact that we are one of the best options in terms of price and what we have on offer as a charity event. It seems everyone else has put their prices up and we have stayed at the same price as last year…it has always been important to me to make this event exclusive but still affordable for people and I think we have done that.

All is running well and I have been able to deal with those last minute calls from people wanting tickets…why do they leave it right up to the last minute to book…we had overbooked 3 weeks ago but with some last minute drop outs were still able to go over our initial 650 to 660…great for the AIDS Council and the amount of money we can raise on the night.

So I am feeling very excited and full of beans, had a great nights sleep and now looking forward to what will be the best StyleAID ever!

If you are going I look forward to seeing you tomorrow night and if not please check back at the start of next week for some updates and pics from the big night.

Thank you dear reader for coming on this journey and I look forward to continuing this blog next week!

Take care

Mark xoxox