BT2 SS’12 New Season Preview

Hello!

This week saw BT2‘s first preview fashion show in 5 years. The cooler, younger sister of Brown Thomas, offers a brighter, alternative, more casual way of dressing with collections from fashion houses including, Sandro, IRO, Maje and Lucy in Disguise. It also stocks designer diffusion lines from Karl Lagerfeld – KARL, Alexander Wang – T, Victoria Beckham Denim and Isabel Marant – Étoile among others.

Of the new season trends, BT2‘s must haves go like this:

• The dress – The shapes, style and proportion is key. Think bright and clean lines as shown by Raoul and DVF
• Denim – From Victoria Beckham‘s poppy red to Current Elliot‘s pretty pastels
• IRO‘s – trophy jacket in rich tomato red. See either the Ashville in washed leather or the Agnette in distressed bouclé tweed. See below:

• Lightweight Tailoring – COS‘ pared back aesthetic
• Shoes – The Superga trainer

While I agree with many a fair point made there, these are my favourite pieces from the show; my if I could I would choices, as it were.

The Dress – ‘Licorne’Who? Maje. Why? Leather trim and peplum (I am delighted that the peplum has made a return!)

OR

The Dress - ‘Penelope Gown’Who? Raoul

Why? Silk Georgette and leather maxi

Denim – ‘Sunbleach Peach & Poppy, Power Skinnies’ Who? Victoria Beckham Denim

Why? Thick, silky soft denim is rare especially when it’s tight enough to define your calf muscles.

I like the red but I want the peach. The shift tops are also pretty stunning.

Lightweight Tailoring – ‘Rolled Neck Tee’Who? Raoul

Why? Hot pink silk and button down at the back, like a reverse shirt surprise; great when worn under…

A grey trouser suitWho? The Kooples

Why? Turn up collar and matching chest pocket hanky and cuffs.

Shoes – ‘Australia‘Who? Carvela – Kurt Geiger

Why? Fuchsia pink suede peep toes

On another note.

KARL by Karl Lagerfeld…Silver leather collar and matching skirt, with cotton Karl Lagerfeld-emblazoned TShirt… Is a bit odd… Discuss.

Yours,

Whisty Xx

BT2 & MSGM’s summer injection

Hello,

I have a feeling it’s all gonna be about BT2 this week!

First off, word is out that there a couple of new labels in store. The Victoria by Victoria Beckham line has landed. But I’m exceedingly (like a Mr. Kipling cake) excited about amazing Italian label, MSGM. If you like, South Pacific prints, leopard print, Paisley, fringing, vibrant neon colours and dresses that need should be worn in St. Tropez… here’s is a little peak at what the label has to offer for SS’12.

Sorry if I made you feel colder!

Yours,

Whisty Xx

Public Beware New Dublin Boutique

Hi All,

From Brick Lane to Temple Bar…

Last week Public Beware opened a new boutique in Dublin. The venue, spread over two floors, is a great space; all exposed brick and beams with simple lighting and storage fittings.

Public Beware is a British fashion label, which began in London’s East End in 2002; the Temple Bar store is its first overseas venture. Edgy, Urban and laid-back the collection features a mix of printed pieces, and classic pieces with a twist.

Grey Cross Dress, €76

Black Tuxedo Cape €93, Black Sheer Skirt €36

Black & White Tulle Skirt €85,Black Cardigan €56

Denim Shirt Dress €53, Cheetah Print Shirt Dress €64

Brown Wax Jacket w/ Leopard Print Cuffs €140

Faux Fur Jacket w/ Hood, €88 Leggings €21

Galaxy Shirt €67, Nude Leggings €21

Black Jumpsuit €80

Yours, 

Whisty Xx

Coast A/W’11 Preview

Hey All,

Patterns, textures and classic dresses

Cashmere and embellishments

‘Bianca’ v’s ‘Jerry’ – new A/W’11 stories

Green faux fur

Black faux fur and more texture

Diamonds and Pearls

Classic A/W’11 colours, Black, White and Red

Coast had their preview in Dublin today. I rarely have occasion to dress in something so classic, and in reality, my style is a little more dishevelled to do pretty prom dresses and gowns justice. But this Merlot, backless maxi-dress was too perfect to not try on.

Yours,

Whisty Xx

Dublin’s – Fashion’s Night Out 2011

Hello,

Armed with nothing but a camera and a slight concern that I hadn’t RSVP’d to the right people, I hit Dublin for Vogue Fashion’s Night Out.

First stop was Grafton Street for a few style post snaps.

Breaking in my new Warehouse leather / studs cuff

Next, it was to the HQ of Dublin’s newest design collective, Project 51 on South William St.. Designers including Sinéad Doyle and Que-Va, showcase their designs here

The party

A unique way to display the designs.

The stuff of fables, Aesop’s  Fox and Crow necklace from Saba Jewellery.

Horse & June vintage boutique, on Drury St.  was our next stop, Mojitos and nibbles with, owner  Zoe Wong.

Next was BT2 on Grafton St. Meeting up with Stephen Moloney, FINALLY back from his summer in London was great fun. Plus, I love dressing-up shopping; picking up things that you can’t afford and putting them on just for fun. That’s what BT2 were asking people to do with the help of Linda Conway. She was incredibly patient with me as I demanded this that and the other piece to try on. I chose a Shearling coat and leather skirt by Maje, sandals by Pinko, and a silk shirt by Equipment.

Sans Shearling

Getting my face on

Giving face (Stephen left, Linda centre)

Posing…

Choosing a Instagram filter

The finished thing…

Last stop, South William, on South William St. for a nightcap.

Yours,

Whisty Xx

Props to fafs for the photos of me.

New Vintage – The high street hits back.

Hey All,

Right If I’m going to embrace this 70′s thing – knowing that if I do, I’m going all the way through to Autumn / Winter 2011 – then I’m doing it with gusto. I’m thinking 70′s secretary; pussy-bow blouses, big shades; A-Line minis, or midi-length skirts worn with chunky heeled knee-high boots. I’m thinking Jane Fonda’s secretary chic from the movie ‘9 to 5‘:

mixed with the platform sandals,  floppy hats and high waisted shorts of Jodie Foster’s, Iris in Taxi Driver:

With the the rise of vintage and the rocky economy, High Street stores have literally had to take a step back in time to keep their heads above water. Many of the stores on the Irish High Street come from the UK, where there has been pretty subdued sales growth so far this year which is not set to change any time soon. Therefore, these stores have had to up their ante and tackle the fashion-buying-public’s vintage obsession head on.

Luckily, there are a few things that work in their favour when it comes to vintage clothing; for starters there is always a ‘tell’ with vintage that gives its age away; be it colour, skirt-length, fabric etc… So by reproducing a vintage piece for mass production in their stores, high-street designers are able to tweak a design to make it more on-trend and most importantly more commercial.

There is also the fact that most women, don’t have the time or the inclination to rummage through vintage shops and fairs looking for the perfect dress / blouse / skirt, only to find that it isn’t even in their size. Another thing about vintage is that some people just simply don’t like wearing second-hand clothes.

Seeing as the summer has (barely) begun, it’s now the norm that the glossies (see the latest issues of Elle and Vogue) are looking to Autumn / Winter 2011 already. The High-Street’s AW11 collection previews began in London months ago and having seen a few twitter sneak-peaks, this winter is all about the vintage-inspired.

Dropping at the River Island AW11 preview, I saw just how successful a collection that takes inspiration from previous eras and adapts then to a more modern style, can be. By acknowledging and incorporating some of the key elements that make vintage so appealing; voluminous, luxurious-feeling fabrics, bold prints and colours, and attention-getting style, the designers at River Island have created a lustful, AW11 collection that will tempt even the most dedicated chasers of vintage fashion.

Straight in with Wintery textures and fabrics: Faux-fur, leather and wool. All in black and white, with the odd flash of red.

More wool and faux-fur; loving the faux-snow leopard coat.

AW11 colours; notably mustard and cerulean (see ‘Raquel Heels’ shoes).

Loose crochet, Barbour-inspired riding boots, bright Trilbies and gypsy-print shawls…

More mustard and cerulean, along with turquoise, purple and ochre.

The skirt shape I’ll be wearing ASAP.

Faux-Camel-hair anything, makes me crave AW11…

Enter disco-glamour – tiger-print wedges…

Chunky-heeled, round-toe knee-high boots (with (‘Mezzie Tassel’) or without fringing).

Open fronted-silky blouses with huge poet-sleeves (‘Rouge Pusybow Blouse’).

The red secretary dress (‘Blush Pussybow Dress’).

And quite possibly the best shirt I’ve ever seen… Rumour has it there WILL be matching trousers! Oh MY!

‘Story’ names include; ‘Gigi’ – 60′s-inspired pillbox hats, bow-front pumps and carpet bags. ‘White Savage’ – white faux-fur out sized knits and beige leather accessories. ‘London Girl‘ – Brothel-creeper brogues, monochrome and Houndstooth prints. And ‘Hustler’ (see Iris, Taxi Driver reference above) – Cerulean Trilbies, silky shirts, huge wedges and disco-gold accents.

Yours,

Whisty Xx

Lucy in Disguise in Dublin

Hey All,

If you watched any of Channel 4‘s Riches to Rags documentary you’ll know that Lily Allen and her sister, Sarah Owen worked together to create high-end vintage collection, ‘Lucy in Disguise‘ which culminated in the opening of a flagship store in Covent Garden, central London.

This weekend the two company founders were in Dublin to launch their pre-fall collection of vintage-inspired fashions in Brown Thomas Dublin and BT2 Dundrum. The collection takes inspiration from various past eras and each piece is named after a place or time from a different decade. Like, ‘Altamont’, ‘The Roxy’, ‘Goldrush’, ‘Capone’, and ‘Zanzibar’. It’s a clever way of describing each piece; without even seeing the collection you immediately imagine a  collection of romantic yet edgy pieces.

Lily wears, the short ‘Honky Tonk’ dress €130; Sarah Wears the Silk ‘South Kensington’ Maxi dress, €320. This one is undoubtedly my favourite.

More examples from the collection:Pink chiffon maxi-dress, €355; Black lace maxi-dress, €475.

Pink chiffon dress, €355

Red jersey jumpsuit, €230; Silk sequinned dress, €475

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It’s a brave collection, with so many Maxi-dresses and jumpsuits that are both notoriously tricky retail-wise. With original vintage dresses, they are very often made of heavy polyester so the design team behind Lucy in Disguise have been clever to use lighter, floaty fabrics for their vintage-inspired designs. I think I’d still prefer the real thing, but then with those prices I have no choice!

Yours,

Whisty Xx

Forever 21 Spring/ Summer ’11 Preview

Hey All,

Short of throwing on a bikini and throwing myself off the 40 ft at Sandycove, I could hardly be readier for summer. So I was delighted to get the chance to look at the Spring/Summer ’11 at F21 last week.

After a ridiculously busy start to European trading, Forever 21 is now shoppable and probably worth a visit. Not only are the staff helpful, but they actually know what stock they have and, if not exactly where it is at least, which of the three floors it’s on. (I went in a couple of weeks ago looking for these leather shorts; there were only three pairs left which were behind some other stuff. The staff couldn’t have been nicer in helping me find them).

F21 have also gone al out to cut the prices since they opened too, (By about 30% in some cases) bringing it more in-line with the US and UK stores. Their Spring/Summer ’11 collections are now in store and I got the chance to have a look at some of it last week.

So apart from wanting to buy the midi-length Cowboy boots, the full-length lace dress and the crochet & fringed waistcoat. And wanting to steal the metal-fringing, polka-dot prints and velvet / lace detailing; I tried on one or two other pieces…

An alternative take on colour blocking; clash prints in bold colours:

With braces, two-tone brogues and a cropped tee it all felt a little bit Blondie and a little bit The Specials / 80′s Ska band, and I liked it.

Triumph Lingerie Inspiration Awards at Brown Thomas

Hey All,

Charity fashion shows don’t come in this shape and form very often. To celebrate 125 years in the business of keeping certain parts of the female anatomy from heading southwards, Triumph have themed this years’ Inspiration Awards (TIA), ‘125 of Celebrating Women‘.

Design students from around the world were challenged to conceptualize and design a unique lingerie showpiece in that theme. 19 students from Griffith College and Limerick School of Art & Design (LSAD) entered the competition to represent Ireland; the winner will travel to Berlin this July where winning designers from each country will compete in the global finals.

The 19 Irish student designers presented their concept showpieces in a fashion show in Brown Thomas, Dublin on Wednesday evening. It was quite the glitzy event; judges included Brix Smith Start, Brown Thomas Lingerie, Buyer Mary Mullin, Triumph Head of Marketing, Purminder Mondair and Sunday Independent Columnist, Triona McCarthy. The M.C. for the evening was T4‘s three-piece-suit wearing, George Lamb.

The results: Runner Up #1: 3rd place Svitlana Andriyets – ‘Feline Fantasy’

Runner Up #2: 2nd place Stephen Foley – ‘Why Do Dishes When You Can Do Daquari?’

Winner: Sarah Ryan – ‘The Edge Of Euphoria’

Interesting that all three finalists were inspired by the feminine eras of the past – the prim ’50′s and  the bohemian ’70′s. The judges were looking for designs that were both innovative and wearable (the basic necessities of most successful fashion design concepts, no?) and the final three designs offered both. Designs from previous years were translated into high street pieces, and I’d love to see how Sarah Ryan’s winning piece will look.

It’s quite unusual to see a catwalk / fashion show and see a single piece that stands out so markedly from the others. That’s exactly what Sarah Ryan’s concept did; I had visions of an on-stage Stevie Nicks as the intricate leather braiding and chiffon sleeved design went past. It did smack of the laid back femininity of the ’70′s but without looking remotely dated. Congrats Sarah.

Winning Designer Sarah Ryan with her design. If this is the future of underwear, I’m in.

All the designs will be displayed in the lingerie department in Brown Thomas Dublin for the next week.

L-R: Triumph Inspiration Award winners – 2nd place Stephen Foley and his design, 1st place Sarah Ryan and ‘The edge of Euphoria’, 3rd place Svitlana Andriyets and her design.

All monies raised at Wednesday’s event in Brown Thomas will go to The Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal.

Yours,

Whisty Xx

A Style Post: Irish Fashion Awards – The final Choice

Hey All,

You may or may not have seen the coverage on last week’s Irish Fashion Awards. Bloggers, The Licentiate, S-oh-S-ew, Style Isle and myself attended the event in support of two winning bloggers; People’s choice category: Glamrocks,  and Judges category: What She Wears.

As with many observers of the awards; be they nominees, attendees or those with a curious interest, I didn’t really know what to expect. Of course I was excited by the prospect of an event that would raise the profile of people in the Irish fashion industry. The list of nominees seemed to reflect a more alternative take on Irish fashion. Hairdressers, stylists, new designers and bloggers among other categories were each given their well-deserved props.

The MC on the night said that the people being celebrated were those who made other people, including those in the public eye, look good. Granted, stylists, make-up artists and hairdressers do indeed make us all look great, but there was more to the awards than that.

Working in fashion is a hard-fought career; one that if you don’t put your heart and soul into is likely doomed to fail. Working long hours for little or no pay is par for the course, a fact that sees many give up when their chosen path into fashion isn’t the glamorous, ‘dream job’ they imagined. These awards were a nod to the people who have struggled on through periods of no financial gains (and in some cases are still struggling – see bloggers) and have still managed to achieved success in their chosen field.

It gave credit to those people who through talent, determination and a little bit of luck are able to push the boundaries of Irish Fashion; by thinking outside the box and showing others the way forward through their creativity and genuine love of fashion. It is hard to fight against the mainstream, and having read comments about the awards, before and after the event, damn near impossible. So to all those who won, were nominated and showed their support on the night, I take my hat off to you. It is definitely not easy.

All outfit details at HerApparel.

Yours,

Whisty Xx