Cult knitwear label Electronic Sheep designer Brenda Aherne was in town today and popped in to show me the fantastic creations from the Autumn Collection of Hats and Scarves. Brenda and partner Helen Delany work between London and Dublin. With a firm hold in the UK market and multiple mentions in Grazia and Vogue magazine they want a foot hold in Ireland. I love their fabulous quirky intarsia prints in great washable lambswool. I have agreed to represent the brand here and am really excited about the prospect of covering the country in fun, crafted colourful knits and with the Winter well and truly on the way I say bring it on…
If you are in London
In Australia Uggs are sheepskin boots, here in Ireland they are a popular sheepskin boot brand with lots of look alikes which are cheap and fall apart. It’s all rather confusing. I had a proper pair which I wore all last Winter but a certain third daughter ‘borrowed’ them and surprise surprise I told her she can keep them.
I have been looking at Emu boots for sometime now, made in Australia and really popular there they are in Thomas Patrick’s window in Grafton street and I had planned to try them on with a view to buying them especially since the newest ones are water repellent which makes them an attractive prospect.
I know lots of people hate these type of boots with a passion. One of my daughter refuses to even try them on but I’m a lover of these cozy boots. The Emu ones have a proper lined insole and arch support so it’s not like wearing a slipper though it is as comfy.
I couldn’t believe it then when I received an email telling me all about the Emu boots from a PR company. Normally I ignore those emails but I replied and said that I was just about to try them out. I got another one asking for my shoe size and lo and behold a pair arrived in my office two days ago and I haven’t taken them off since I took them out of the box. (My shoes are still under my desk) Some people when they get new shoes put them away and look at them ages before wearing them. I’m a terribly impatient person and I always have to wear new clothes and shoes immediately. My blogging rule is not to accept anything on the premise that I will write a post (in other words bribery) and so I told the Pr company I would only write if I really liked them. Guess what? I really like them. It rained hard yesterday and they remained dry as a bone. So far so good..
Where did that word come from? I used to call it Sheepskin but if you want to get into semantics it means the sheepskin from a once shorn sheep, in other words a two year old sheep. If you are like me and prefer to live in a denial bubble of live animal V clothes on my back debate then maybe just ignore the whole description thing. Main thing to note is that it’s a very strong trend for Winter (which apart from the cosy clothes ) I am not looking forward to if last years pathetic one is anything to go by.
These are my picks of the Shearling craze. Good thing to note. You can do it cheaply if it’s just a fashion thing but it maybe something you want to invest in as there is long life in those really great authentic jackets.
I have to admit to being a little , dare I say it bored with the endless reports of the Catwalk shows and even though I was sucked into watching lots of them it just added to my permanent state of fashion season confusion. I have just finished selling spring summer for next year. I am also presently selling for now and I’m also planning the next Autumn selling season. If that sounds confusing it’s because it is. Donna Karan is a believer in the slowing down of all this non stop getting ahead business and I like her ideas but lots of the designers for example are taking pre orders for the Catwalk collections for next Spring Summer and we haven’t even begun this Winter properly. One of the main problems with all this is that people are permanently dissatisfied and Independent retailers find themselves being forced into far too early sales.
If you want reports and images from the Catwalks over the past two weeks I would head to WWD . I will share something with you about next Summer. Trends start with colour and Pantone , the colour company, decide well in advance what the predominant colours of the season will be.
Interesting choice for next Summer with both cool and warm tones and lots of blending from Autumn into Spring to make it somewhat easy.
Time to check all Summer clothes are put away in tip top condition and the Winter ones are all looking good. I have sent several shift dresses to have hems let down and they will now look on trend and sitting at the knee. I found these useful dry cleaning instructions so print them if you like or just save the page for future reference.
I love the smell of beautiful leather, there’s nothing like it. Cheap leather smells bad and nothing can disguise it. I once bought a leather coat back from the Souk in Istanbul. It looked fabulous and was a real 70′s fashion find. Problem was it stank and nothing I could do to disguise the smell worked. I wore it a few times having doused myself in 4711 perfume. The last and memorable time I wore it was a journey on the bus into the Dandelion Green one Saturday was met with two Dublin women asking me ‘what in the name of Jaysus the stink was?’
It’s a far cry from those days now and if you want beautiful leather gloves, bags, shoes and boots then head to expert Paula Rowan in the Westbury Mall in Dublin. What Paula doesn’t know about leather isn’t worth talking about. The gloves are all her own designs and they are just sublime. Nothing finishes off a Winter outfit than a beautiful pair of gloves either as an accent or as a beautiful addition to the overall look. Long gloves, shearling and sheepskin, fingerless and driving gloves, gloves with fur and gloves in zebra and leopard, you name it and Paula Rowan has it. The bags are the sort of bag that are for life, the sort that gets better with age and isn’t plastered all over with a ‘name’. The boots and shoes are carefully chosen and edited from the best collections of the season and are spot on, I especially love the boots.
My 'must have' long shearling gloves
Terrific totes
Paula |Rowan Address: 31 Westbury Mall, Dublin 2.
Phone: 00353 (0)1 6746662
Gloves an be bought on-line
I flagged this a couple of months ago and now it’s finally happened. Simone Rocha’s clean lines and use of tulle in white and pink over white was well received at the Fashion East show at London Fashion Week last Tuesday, showcasing carefully chosen emerging young talent. I recognise this deconstructed tailoring look from her Central Saint Martins degree show earlier in the year and this is obviously a continuation of this them, a carefully edited showcase of her work to date here. Her famous dad (John Rocha) certainly does no harm but this is one talented Irish designer who has had a foot up but who is holding her own. This is perhaps the start of more inroads to a more serious career in the Business of Fashion. It will be interesting to see where Simone Rocha’s career goes from here because in Fashion you are only as good as your last collection and the pressure to keep moving forward is immense.
Who knew it but today was ‘In Town without my Car Day’ and as part of Dublin’s token nod to the event, South William Street, Drury Street, Fade Street and Castle Market were closed to cars and there was a festival mood in the air. Lots of companies showcasing Cargo Bikes, Electric bikes as well as odd and interesting others offering back massages and face painting with live music destined for an evening session.
South William Street Dublin today
I have been looking for a bike for a while as I need the exercise and the idea of getting to work with some aerobics thrown in has a ‘Win Win’ felling about it. Dublin however is not Amsterdam and even though some of the cargo style bikes I saw today were certainly cool and are meant to carry your most precious cargo of all (ie your children) I for one would not entertain the idea of putting my child out front into the traffic. I’m willing to give it a try with my dog in the basket though and was delighted to come across ‘Georgia in Dublin’. A mother and daughter duo who have a great range of functional and fashionable cycle rain wear. I especially love the Mondrian inspired tabard/vest and the cool waterproof wrap skirt that converts to a trouser when needed. They sell online and the prices are pretty reasonable too. Oh and they have promised to design a ‘Dorothy’ cover for my basket with a flap so my dog can peep his head out.
Dorothy cover from 'Georgia in Dublin'
Rainwrap skirt
email: info@georgiaindublin.com or go to http://www.georgiaindublin.com
If you don’t already know the name Faye Dinsmore and aren’t already a fan on Facebook then read this and say I told you. Coming from Ballintra in Co Donegal and having worked in the Sandhouse Hotel in beautiful Rossnowlagh, Faye shot to fame when she featured in one of Robbie Williams videos. Jump to today and as I write she is working at London Fashion Week having just come from New York FW. With her partner boyfriend Paddy Cosgrave( he, the tech savvy person who runs the Dublin Web Summit) Faye has gathered over 100,000 followers on Facebook and posts really interesting blogs from behind the scenes in the world of fashion. Cutting through the traditional stuffy business of fashion and through social media she is gathering fans directly from the public. Smart, bright and beautiful too, destined for world success, a really great news Irish Fashion story. I’m calling this a’ taster post’ as I can’t wait to interview this Irish Super Model properly between shoots on her next visit home.
Faye in New York Last Week
I have just finished watching the live stream of John Rocha at London Fashion Week which ended a few moments ago. I sat in front of my Mac with my camera poised and watched and clicked. There is nothing like being there but from my couch this is certainly a pretty good second best. John Rocha always does beautiful fabric and pictures don’t do those textures and subtleties justice. Shapes are structural yet flowing in true Rocha style as is the monochrome, neautral palette. The Menswear looked edgy and tough and I liked it. The addition of big floppy hats teamed with gladiator boots didn’t tickle my fashion taste buds but for true John Rocha fans ( and there are many) satisfactory is how I would sum up this particular catwalk offering.
Excuse the rather ropey dreadful images please!
Nicky Harris, September 17, 2010
I don’t know why I’m sharing this with you except to vent my absolute disgust and horror. It’s true that you can find anything on the Internet and this is what I found today. Toad Skin purses, key rings and whatever you’re having yourself. With legs or without. Looks like an Aussie site and I’m betting it’s totally illegal and if it isn’t it should be.
Feel free to tell me what you think . Good or bad. I know I’m giving them publicity by sharing but I feel as it’s already out there I can’t actually change that fact by this post.
