Brown Thomas A/W11 Designer collections

Hey All,

Pretty much the most stylish and important event on the Irish fashion calendar is the Brown Thomas new-season preview. It’s the closest thing to a full-on, (established) designer fashion show in Dublin, and is met with genuine excitement and anticipation.

The A/W ’11 preview was held yesterday on Grafton Street with a ‘Return to Glamour’ theme. There were four main elements to the show; ‘Colour Fall’. ‘Glamour Decades’. ‘Prints’. ‘Outerwear’.

The collection featured highlights from 23 designers, including Céline, Miu Miu, Balenciaga and Dries Van Noten, here’s a few stand out pieces:

‘Colour Fall’

‘Glamour Decades’

‘Prints’

‘Outerwear’
Some Goodies:Utter perfection in every way at Céline

Surprising inspiration from Rachel Zoe

An alternative take on the LBD at Miu Miu (amazing sleeves)

Voluminous mini-dresses at Balenciaga

Stars and leopard print-clash dress at Dolce & Gabbana

Cups detailing in velvet at Tom Ford

Man, I am ever a sucker for military detailing. The back of the Alexander McQueen coat.

I reckon it must be a pretty tough job being  a buyer at Brown Thomas. Imagine looking at every amazing piece that each design house comes up with, every season, and then having to cherry pick the most commercial and ‘less risky / outlandish’ pieces to sell in store. They’ve done it though, I think this Autumn / Winter collection is both inspiring and commercial. I don’t know if I could do that!

Yours,

Whisty Xx

A style post – hot pink colour block

Hey All,

I couldn’t think what to call this style post. I was always going with something involving the term ‘colour-blocking’ but just because the maxi dress is a solid block of hot pink… does that actually amount to colour blocking; or is it just a pink dress?

Anyway, it’s more about the déjà vu of this post. I saw the dress in New Look and didn’t even try it on. I came home, did the photos and as I was looking through the results I realised that I had done almost the exact same post a year ago.

Well not the same. I was wearing a shorter dress but the colour is almost identical. The location the same, and more depressingly the clouds in both backgrounds are indistinguishable from each other. I guess when it’s summer and the sky is grey, I have to brighten up my wardrobe with hot pink.

Dress & Boots, New Look

Vintage 60′s Necklace, Once Removed Vintage

Belt, Céline

Bracelet, Gift (Thanks Da!)

Rings, Various

Yours,

Whisty Xx

As Seen in: RTÉ’s RedRadar Blog

Hey All,

It seems the extraordinarily in-the-know people at RTÉ have embraced Irish bloggers with gusto and asked us to contribute to their new alternative fashion and music blog, RedRadar.

Today, Whisty joined the list of great bloggers, Angela Scanlon, Blaubushka, A Chick Named Hermia and The Style Strutter by contributing a few words.

TRANSCRIPTION:

It used to be, that buying from charity shops was an absolute no-no. But now-a-days most in-the-know shoppers wouldn’t dream of passing a charity shop without popping in for a browse. The same goes for vintage boutiques; both offer a chance to find unique and fabulous second-hand pieces. The main difference is simply price.

Charity shops are cheaper, but you often have to go on the hunt to find the vintage pieces. Not all charity shops sell vintage, so you really have to know what you’re looking for. However, it is becoming more common to see specifically dedicated rails to all that is chic from a bygone era.

Vintage boutiques on the other hand, display everything with detailed descriptions including make, style, fabric and most importantly what era it’s from.

TOP TIPS

• TRY IT ON: Sizing has changed a lot over the years. If you are a size 10 in today’s shops, you might find that size 12 fits better in vintage.
• ACCESSORISE: If you’re unsure about buying from charity shops, think accessories. Jewellery, scarves and hats are a great place to start and you can easily incorporate them into your current wardrobe.

The photo is me and one or two of my better vintage finds:

I’m posting this photo from the HerApparel post because you can just see my new Carvela for KG shoes (from BT‘s).

Yours,

Whisty Xx

Shoes & Swatches

Hey All,

I’m having a busy worky weekend. Deadlines looming and being too skint to go out to play = plenty of pressure, and I love a bit of pressure!

So while I was busy writing about non-fashion related things, my subconscious decided that it would rather think of other things. Like shoes (and ships and sealing wax?) and frivolous stuff like pretty colours. My last style post was an excess of black, as is the way of Northern Europeans in wintertime. (A grandly sweeping statement, yes… well it’s probably true.)

I love dark colours, Navy blue is a favourite but I’m finding myself moving towards maroon and chocolate-brown. I never really wear brown, except maybe the odd pair of shoes or a bag now and again, but I love the idea of maroon wool, and dark-brown leather teamed with light beige silks.

Rummaging through the Pantone archives (can you rummage on-line?) I made a mini palette of colours I’ll be wearing for the next while at least: Deep plum-browns and maroons, rich creams, rose-greys and antique pinks.

I also quite like the idea of a pale tangerine, these suede Carvela (Brown Thomas) block heel sandals are along the right lines and are the exact shape I EDIT: want have. No new spindly spike heels for me this season. Give me good, solid, could-almost-run-for-the-bus-in-these, heels.

I’d already bought these shoes from New Look and luckily they fit right into this new palette.

Seeing as I can’t actually dash out and buy a whole new wardrobe, I have to compromise. Like rediscovering my Revlon Nail Enamel in ‘Vixen 570′.

Because neither my nails are as fabulous as these nor my nail-painting as precise, I have borrowed this photo from Glitz Bliss here.

Then it’s just a matter of adding in some delicious cream pieces… My trusty Céline trousers perhaps…
Anyway, that’s me done for today, I think this post took about 12 hours to do…

Rubbish!

Yours,

Whisty Xx

Brown Thomas SS11 Showcase

Hey All,

It isn’t so often that I get to write about on-trend, straight off the catwalk fashion. I do plenty of style posting, and the lines between the two often get blurred, but a post on pure fashion is a rare thing.

This morning presented me with a perfect opportunity to do so however. I was up and in town for 9:30; in time to see the Brown Thomas SS11 showcase. Namely a fashion show, watched by journo’s, TV presenters and writers (including bloggers) (sat all in a row), which featured highlights from the new season collection in B.T.’s Designer Rooms.

The phrase of the event was definitely “newness” with dozens of designer names now added to B.T.’s already big list. (see below)

The show included stunning pieces from the big Italians, like D&G, Gucci and Prada; the French, Givenchy, Lanvin and Chloé; and the Brits; Burberry, Paul Smith and McQueen.

But it was tangerine jumpsuits and peach-lined pockets from Céline; off-white tuxedo jackets and midi-length skirts from Stella McCartney; and pure print genius from Mary Katrantzou that did it for me.

Stella McCartney SS11 at Brown Thomas

Mary Katrantzou SS11 at Brown Thomas

I think  I actually have a crush on these dresses. The designs are depictions of rooms; think old-fashioned parlours decked out in turquoise and fuchsia pink, with a bit of Alice in Wonderland thrown in. Vogue.it have more info on the  Central St. Martins graduate here.

The new season Brown Thomas windows and more highlights. After the drama that the Christmas windows showed, these are utter perfection. Nothing, but nothing but fashion.

New designers to BT’s designer rooms include:

Womenswear

Project D, Valentino Red, Vince, Theyskens Theory, Opening Ceremony, Irwin & Jordan, Maison Martin Margiela, By Malene Birger, Zadig & Voltaire, Sandro.

Shoes

Beau Coops, Brian Atwood, Mulberry, Maison Martin Margiela, Isabel Marant.

Yours,

Whisty Xx