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

A|wear A/W’11 preview

Hey All,

A nice change to write about a preview relevant to the season for once. I went along to the A|wear Autumn / Winter 2011 preview today. A mix of textured 60′s & 70′s pieces in autumnal and jewel tones, means that A|wear is in-tune with the rest of the high street; (its lower price points being the thing that will pull in the shoppers).

Highlights Include, Faux Furs, Especially Black

Classic Tasselled Loafers

Textures, Prints and Chunky Knits

Patent Mary-Janes and 3-tone leather bag

For me the two real stand out pieces; grey cigarette pants with ‘leather’ trim to the waist line and pockets…

…and the green tweed jacket, with bow detail being my favourites.

Bow detail.

Yours,

Whisty Xx

Pieces of A|wear: It’s not all about the 60′s.

Hey All,

I’m sure at this stage you’ve seen the recent photo campaign from A|wear’s AW10 collection. You know the pretty ones with the girl who’s dressed a bit like Duffy with a scruffy beehive? Lovely right?

The thing is, as cute as they are, there’s so much more on offer in-store than the beatnik vibe of pretty 60′s shift dresses. These are the pieces of A|wear, I really want right now.(I am actually dying for a pair of skinny corduroy trousers).

NB: I haven’t been too greedy and have only picked one bag and one pair of shades!

Price range for featured pieces: Accessories €10 – €20; Tops €15 – €45; Trousers / Shorts €28 – €35; Dresses €35 – €65; Outerwear €55 – €70.

If you’re a student then it’s 20% off (5% more than usual) next Wednesday, September 15th at the Henry Street Student Lock In event.

Xx

http://www.awear.com/browse/awear_dresses?ex=co_wizr-locayta&collate=atrxsize&collate=price&refine_sort_alph=atrxsize&sortpdxtsortorder=ascending&sortrelease=disabled&sortprice=disabled&sortname=disabled&sortorder=pdxtsortorder:release:price:name&fieldcatrestrict=xancestorid&termtextcatrestrict=shop&typecatrestrict=exact&fieldrtype=type&termtextrtype=invt&typertype=exact&fieldpcatid=pcatid&typepcatid=exact&termorder=catrestrict:rtype:pcatid&template=wz_locayta_icat&pagenum=1&perpage=16&threshold=0&spellcorrect=1&datasource=awearen&setpagenum=1&typeprice=rangefilter&fieldprice=price&minprice=30&maxprice=50&refprice=30-50&setlocn=eur&log=4

Dunnes and Dusted for Cheap Festive Glam

I don’t think I have ever bought a single item of clothing in Dunnes Stores, let alone a party frock. But last month a friend of mine bought a really pretty dress in there for a graduation we both went to. Since then I have been meaning to have a look at what other festive frocks they have, (if any). I had a quick look on their website, which turned out to be hugely disappointing, the styling is really off and it’s all a bit old fashioned. Not only that, looking back they only have a small selection of their collections on-line, which might explain why I had never been to their clothing department in the first place.

Anyway, I went into Dunnes in St. Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre and was met by an onslaught of sequins. In fact it was a bit of over-kill if I’m honest, everything from trousers, jackets and tops, to shoes bags and other accessories but I endured. Parting the sequinned sea, I began to see a few gems hidden amongst the rails, including some great dresses, faux furs and cropped tops. First off I grabbed two lace cropped tops to try on. The one on the right was actually reduced to €3 (but they only had size 14′s left, which worked in a slouchy Topshop kind of way) and the second top with the sequins was €20.

Next, I picked out 4 dresses, a fitted bandage-style one, a Jacquard-type strapless and two with rouched detailing; one black, one nude. The draped / rouched detailing  kind of reminded me of the Burberry Prorsum SS10 collection which didn’t translate well in the nude once I had it one but looked OK in the black (see below). The Jacquard dress fitted fine and I really liked the fabric though is a totally wrong colour for my pale skin!

I liked the effect of the draped rouching on the skirt part of this dress (below), (though the gathering around the tummy area doesn’t look great). I’m also thinking maybe the length could have been shorter and the top half of the dress had one studded shoulder, which I wasn’t keen on. If I did buy it I’d probably cut the top off and wear it as a skirt!

The bandage dress (below) fitted well and I really liked the sheer pieces over the shoulders. The length was longer than the other dresses I’d tried, coming down to just above my knee which created a really nice silhouette.

With my current obsession being fur, I couldn’t resist trying on this faux-fur, leopard pint coat. It’s a good shape and nice length but the sleeves were too short and would annoy me incessantly. Still it’s a bit of a bargain at €30 and is perfect for wearing to a Christmas party with some insanely high heels! I’m thinking cheap Dynasty Chic.