David Loughrey

Judging for the iD International Emerging Designer Awards is part job interview, part opportunity for fashion graduates to roll out phrases like ''big bold stripes'' and ''vibrant colour palette'' - and plenty of clothing from far out in left field.

Just like they first did 92 years ago, a crowd gathered ''in the lee of the rock'' in cold conditions to honour the dead of the Otago Peninsula.

An expected four minutes straight presenting months of work before local and international fashion industry figures quickly went from ''nerve-wracking'' to ''nice'' for a Dunedin designer.

Transported to the judging panel on thick-heeled sneakers, Sydney University of Technology (UTS) graduate Vanessa Emirian's collection of big pink circles and polka-dot motifs was - in hers own words - wacky.

A tour of the secure labyrinth underneath the Otago Museum, allowing the fashion-conscious access to some special objects in the facility's basement, has been quickly, and fully, booked out.

It was a morning of polite giggling and diplomatic speeches at the Chinese Garden yesterday, as the annual fashion entourage from Shanghai was welcomed to Dunedin.

A winter dawn sky shot with lavender blues and pinks was the genesis of former Dunedin designer Tanya Carlson's powder blue taffeta gown.

Any hallway, in any home in Dunedin, should have a set of matching plinths arrayed in a line, atop which are placed the most gorgeous models.

Albatross chicks, NHNZ executive producers and designer sales - it has been a whirlwind since Doris Raymond set foot in Dunedin.

They appeared well mannered and quietly reserved, the women who lined up and walked (after they were warned by organisers to walk very slowly) into the iD Designer Sale on Saturday.

The plight of fashion industry workers and the importance of knowing where and in what conditions clothes are made is behind a huge korowai (cloak) draped over the Robbie Burns statue in Dunedin's Octagon.

An Ebola scare in the South Island, New Zealand's first possible brush with the deadly disease, has resulted in a patient being taken to Christchurch for testing.

Terry Davies has managed what once appeared just a dim possibility - he has brought musicians to Forsyth Barr Stadium that pull in the punters and provide a sell-out show, and looks set to be building momentum for the future. But who is this recent addition to the Dunedin ratepayer base? 

Dunedin-based NHNZ is expecting to hear within weeks if it can begin a third season of its L. A. Frock Stars series, while the star of the show is soon to arrive in the city for the iD Dunedin Fashion Week.

Having taken a good percentage of the public buildings from a contracting Outram and placed them safe on a hill above the town, the Taieri Historical Museum has plenty of society's institutions covered.

Four men sentenced to up to 18 years' jail for murder after what was described as the ''long and brutal'' beating of an Oamaru man have launched appeals against both their convictions and sentences.

Dunedin hosted about 131,000 cruise ship passengers and 58,000 crew in a season the Dunedin City Council says earned the city close to $30 million.

Dubbed during the Best Dressed Dog competition the ''paparazzi pair'', Waitati resident Angela Lyon and her dog Mate cut a striking flurry of tweed and wool at the Blueskin Agricultural and Pastoral Society fair yesterday.

The Andersons Bay Presbyterian Church is set to host its last service this month, after a move to dissolve the parish received final approval.