Day 4 Style Post – 5 days, 5 posts, 5 outfits

Hey All,

Here’s my fourth style post, 7 days & 4 posts down, 0 days & 1 posts to go… (Oh well)

Distracted as I am by snow and such, it seems that I have failed to step up to the challenge that I set myself. I am a day (or two) behind but hey, seriously does anyone really give a you-know-what?! Another distraction was the long-awaited visit from the minx that is Blau von T, of Blaubushka.com. We had a midnight frolic last night before freezing our bits off and going inside for an old man’s hot whiskey.

Whisty: Coat & bag – vintage, Dress – Dandelion Daydreamer Vintage, Henry Holland mock-stockings – legslove.ie, Shoes - Butterfly by Matthew Williamson for Debenhams.

Blau von T: Cape – Topshop, Hat & dress – Urban Outfitters, Bag – AWear, Jeans – French Connection, Boots – Bertie

Whisty

Xx

Day 2 Style Post – 5 days, 5 posts, 5 outfits

Hey All,

Here’s my second post, 3 days & 2 posts down, 4 days & 3 posts to go…

I had to run a few errands at lunchtime, with the weather all meh, grey and drizzly, layers are still the thing. I love these boots though, not wellies but still warm and waterproof.

Post #02 of 5…

Hat ‘borrowed’; Jumper vintage Dior; DIY denim cut-offs; Socks & bag River Island; Jacket vintage Topshop; Boots thrifted.

Until tomorrow,

Whisty

Xx

Charity Shops and Vintage Clothing

Hey All,

Happy Forever 21 Friday!!

This is a really quick post just to mention an new vintage display that went up in the windows of Age Action on Camden St. this week. Whenever I mention vintage pieces that I’ve found in charity shops in Dublin people often say things like, “Oh that was lucky“, or “I never seem to find anything like that“.Well here’s proof that vintage can be bought in charity shops… for now.

With rumours rife that there is a high-street clothing store buying up a lot of the vintage in the charity shops around Dublin to sell in their own store, it is good to see that some charity shops still have vintage. If the rumours are true, then everyone will loose out. But for now there is still some vintage to be found; these pieces range from the 1950′s – 1980′s and the prices are fantastic. The 50′s prom dress for example is €50.

L-R: 1960′s floral dress, 70′s blazer and red trousers, 70′s floral dress, 70′s mint green short dress, 80′s shirt and trousers.

1950′s prom dress, blazer and skirt.

Window displays will be going up on a Friday evening and all pieces will be on sale the following Saturday.

Xx

Everyone has a little something.

Chères Readers,

I think I might start all my posts like that; it feels  like I’m writing you a letter… and you are my French pen pal.

So, Chères Readers, ça va?

You might know, I’ve a bit of a thing for a bargain, vintage or otherwise. It means I visit Dublin charity shops quite a bit. I was thinking the other day that maybe I should help stock them back up a bit every now and again. All this thrift shopping of late has convinced me to rummage through my wardrobe and do a bit of a sartorial spring clean. I then heard that TK Maxx are doing a big campaign to drive donations to Enable Ireland.

I got in touch with them to find out a bit more about it and they sent me a load of info. ‘Give Up Clothes For Good‘ is meant to encourage people to fill a specially branded Enable Ireland bag with clothes and drop it into TK Maxx. Apparently when they did it last year, they received nearly half a million Euro in clothes and household goodies.

They also sent me a mannequin, (I’ve named her Mavis), and asked me to dress it in some of the clothes I was donating. When I send it back to them, they might put it in the window of one of their shops to help promote the cause. etc. As if you’d say no, right? So here’s ‘Mavis’ in her new gear…

The Firetrap jacket was given to me by a good friend who I know will love that it has been donated rather than it sit in my wardrobe. The scarf (M&S), Dress (Armani Exchange) and necklace (French Connection) are all pieces that I think people might love to find in a charity shop. I also dressed the mannequin in a pair of my favourite skinny jeans from Topshop that don’t fit me any more.

Xx

Dublin Shopping – Vintage v’s Traditional

I find with this blog, although I regularly advocate Dublin fashion, I indulge and make the most of it much less so.  I decided yesterday as I was reading reviews of Milan fashion week, that it was time I went out for a bit of a Dublin fashion therapy. Choosing to visit my usual haunts as well as some more traditional shops, I wanted to get a feel of what Dublin fashion means right now.

The first thing I wanted to do was look at traditional Irish style, you know like decades old-traditional. Nassau St. for example, is full of shops catering for loaded tourists, selling ‘traditional’ Irish wares but there are also one or two more interesting shops. One of them is Kevin & Howlin, Irish Tweed specialists, (est. 1936). I went in and I’m almost sure there was a little bell sound over the door as I crossed the threshold into… well 1936 I suppose. It’s crammed with gentleman’s things, like Trilbys and canes and tweed suits (yeah, really…) and I rather pathetically enquired, “ladies?”. I’m half convinced the man behind the glass counter thought I need the loo or something, anyway after ascertaining that I did in fact mean ladies-wear he pointed to a few rails in the middle of the shop floor.

I love Tweed, I actually think it’s quite glamorous when it’s tailored in the right way, and no I don’t necessarily mean a Chanel suit either. I mean the hunting and horse-riding country pursuits and shooting jackets, type tweed in ‘heather’ colours. Unfortunately it’s still pretty darn expensive, a fact I was utterly unaware of until yesterday. Even in the sale, jackets at Kevin & Howlin, were priced from €280. If I did emoticons, I would insert a sad face here. Anyway, regardless of the price, or it’s ‘durable’ qualities I still love it and according to Wikipedia, “indigenous plants such as blackberries, fuchsia, gorse and moss provide dyes” for Donegal Tweed which is pretty romantic I reckon.

So no new Tweed for me then; I took a few snaps on my way out and am resigned to hunting for vintage pieces instead. Besides I have a Scottish-Tweed jacket from the 1940′s which is divine – (What I Wear post to follow I think). Afterwards I went next-door-but-one, to Blarney Woollen Mills. I was a bit sad to see that it was closing down. The sale is pretty good though, wool coats are reduced from €400 – €75 etc. There were also some unusual Merino Aran-knit shrug type things that I was quite tempted by but, I decided that I had more tasty fish to fry yesterday. Off I dawdled to Temple Bar and to two vintage shops on Upper Fownes Street, Sharpe’s Ville and the utterly fantastic Lucy’s Lounge. The first is small but has masses of stuff for men, the latter is my favourite place to shop in Dublin.

The key with shopping at Lucy’s lounge is making sure that you have time. As with many vintage shops, making the most of shopping here means time is essential; The more minutes you have, the greater the likelihood of grabbing a fabulous piece of sartorial history. From shoes to bags; scarves to coats; skirts to shirts and jewellery to dresses, dresses, dresses. I tried on loads of things and bought an amazing 70′s maxi-dress (top picture and below) for €30. I’ve also posted a few pictures of the shop itself, they’re not the best and don’t do the place justice at all but you get a general idea.

On my way home I nipped into a charity shop or two and bought two books; one is a collection of rare photographs of the Rolling Stones and the other concentrates on the style of David Bowie. I also found this vintage Austrian wool cape, €10, I’ve paired it here with leather trousers.

More style photographs and all outfit details at Herapparel.wordpress.com

All I want for Christmas…

…is to say thanks. It has been a fantastic year for this Blog. It all started at the end of February when I was, but a blogging novice. All bleary of eye and wobbly of leg and not much has really changed since then! The past ten months have been however, so much fun;  I have also been lucky enough to learn a huge amount about blogging, style and fashion, as well as meet some amazing fellow bloggers (this link names but a few). When I was made redundant in the summer from the job that I loved – working as a fashion / features editor for a monthly glossy was incredible – I never imagined that the blog would be so successful.

I just want to say a massive thanks to all of you that have stopped by and taken the time out to read a line or two. Thanks to everyone who felt the urge to post a comment or to click through to the About Me or What I Wear pages. Thanks to all of you who have subscribed to posts and a massive thanks to all the amazing people right here in Dublin who have kept me up to date on all fashion things happening in the capital. Thanks to the ‘chosen’ few who have held my hand and my handbag as I took the first steps in making the blog. A special thanks also to the ridiculously fabulous and talented Rosemary MacCabe and Corina Gaffey who saw fit to include me in the Times Magazine and Stellar magazine respectively.  If it wasn’t for all of these people and many others, Whisty wouldn’t get its 1500-2000 hits per day, the Facebook page wouldn’t have nearly 200 fans and I wouldn’t still be in possession of my marbles!

So I would imagine that this is going to be my last post of 2009, unless I miraculously find the time between now and December 31st to blog. I’m happy to say that Christmas for me is completely and utterly family and friends time. I just have to see as many of the people who mean the most to me and who are very much a part of me, as much as possible and that doesn’t leave much time for anything else! I have to do one final post about the bargain I got while charity shopping this week. A vintage fur (I know, again right?) but this is the most amazing thing I have ever bought. It just looks great with anything, leather trousers, dresses, vintage pieces, anything; and especially animal print. With all my obsessiveness over real rock chicks this year I reckon it’s a perfect post to end the year on! More pics here at Her Apparel.

Christmas Windows and Charity Shopping Part 2 (of 2).

Finally I’ve managed write part 2 of this post from Tuesday. I spent that afternoon exploring the above and I bought an amazing leather / fur jacket from a charity shop in Rathmines. I did um and ah for about two hours before I plumped for it; as you may have read, I am at odds with myself as to whether or not vintage is more acceptable (to my own conciousness). Though the fact that I was buying from a charity shop definitely added to the pro-vintage argument!

So this eve I am taking the long walk over to the O2 Dublin to see the best thing to come out of Sheffield since The Full Monty. The Arctic Monkeys usually give a decent enough performance so I’m sure I’ll be jumping around in my new fur and showing it a good old time. I actually got dressed and ready to go kind of early, which NEVER happens. So I’ve taken a few snaps before I run to, a. save me trying to describe the beige leather & fur combo or the brown press-studs.  And b. to prevent my friends from having any unnecessary heart-attacks from my actually being on time!

More pics here at Her Apparel.

Christmas Windows and Charity Shopping Part 1 (of 2).

So after my little excursion to Pleasants Lane and browsing charity shops on Georges Street I took a left towards Brown Thomas. It’s true, I don’t really do happy mediums, I’m all one extreme or the other! Anyway, I wanted to see their Christmas windows (I watched the movie Mannequin quite a bit when I was growing up… this may or may not be an explanation…) I know the display was unveiled a week or so ago and I haven’t seen it properly yet.

So I grabbed the chance to have a look today and I have one word for you, busy. There is so much to look at in each of the front windows that it’s enough to keep you going all through December. Which is how a good Christmas window should be I suppose. Striking enough to impress the out-of-towners, but busy enough that the locals will stay interested. The theme, or what is written on the windows at least, is “I’ll be home for Christmas” which explains the cosy living room scenes and family-heavy scenarios. I did, however, find myself drawn to the oversized pyramids of Ladurée macaroons. (Eat your heart, Ambassador Ferrero Rocher). And Santa’s backside seemed to be causing a bit of a stir too, mainly with  the two toy dogs biting his ankles.

Around the corner, however, the Louis Vuitton window was as over the top as a WAG’s hair extensions. Fabu-lush!

Dublin Style in Grazia

UK fashion mag Grazia, appeared in our fair city last week to photograph some of Ireland’s most on-trend and stylish peeps out and about on a sunny afternoon. The Grazia team chatted to TV3 – Video in the morning before heading into town to snap the most stylish peeps they could lay their eyes on. Even though all the people who were photographed were involved in fashion to some extent… fashion bloggers, PR’s, journos, buyers, brand managers, stylists… which I though was a bit strange as there are LOADS of way stylish ladies (and chaps) I see in Dublin everyday who aren’t involved in the fashion industry. I guess they were all in hiding that day or just didn’t get papped! Boo.

Anyway, the final 18 pics are up on the site… here are my top 3…

Left: Lynn Hunter mixes up high street and designer with this gorgeous Warehouse abstract print dress, blue suede Penney’s pumps and Marc Jacobs bag. I think the bag is a little heavy, but the rest of the outfit teamed with tousled hair and perfect pins is a total style hit.

Centre: Arsheen Qasim teams 50′s Teddy Boy with Native American chic by pulling pieces from the high street: shoes Penney’s, jeans Topshop, shirt H&M, to accompany this a fabulous thrift-shop waistcoat. I like the way the look changes so dramatically from the pretty embroidery detailing and ultra-feminine, sleek hair do, to the tomboy turn-ups and lace-ups. Really different and refreshing.

Right: Blanaid Hennessy was the most on-trend of the ladies photographed, going with statement heels from Penney’s, a glam belt and fierce shoulder-massive top, both thrift shops, but playing the look right down for daytime with these gorgeous, plain-coloured pegleg trousers. Heart this look.

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Little Boots in Metro Free-paper

Yesterday morning, bleary eyed, I was wondering along O’Connell street and was handed a copy of the Metro. Flicking through I saw that it featured an interview, introducing pretty pop pixie, Little Boots to all those who are yet to discover the Blackpool lass’s talents. She discussed both her music passions and fashion obsessions and listed five of her favourite things. At 25 she is proving to be quite the little fashion darling; the head of design at Oasis last week told me that he was totally inspired by her style and that the Oasis design team were “loving Little Boots at the moment”. Anyway here is the interview and a rundown of everything you need to know about Little Boots:

Little Boots, big on fashion: Little Boots gives the lowdown on her unique style

With size- three feet it’s easy to see how Little Boots got her nickname but there’s nothing ‘little’ about this electro-pop princess: she was voted BBC’s Sound of 2009 before he’d even released her first album. At 25, Little Boots (real name Victoria Hesketh) is originally from Blackpool, England. She learned to play the piano at the age of five, won a scholarship to a local music school where she studied flute and harp, and by the age of 13 was writing her own songs. ‘I don’t know where I get my talent from. Mum writes children’s books and dad’s tone deaf,’ she laughs. At university, she formed Dead Disco with some friends but that wasn’t enough to satisfy her song writing skills so she quit and went home to start work on her solo album, Hands, which was released in June. Victoria’s trademark is her Tenorion, a handheld gadget that mixes flashing LED lights with sound – kind of like a flashing music box. ‘It’s a very innovative, visual way to make music’ she explains. ‘I’m trying to get away from the myth that pop music comes out of a machine with a man behind it and a girl in a sparkly dress just sings it. I’m totally involved in every aspect of my music’.

Continue reading the interview…