It Pays to be Prudent

Hey Readers,

I hope you’re well.

Last week was a kind of crazy one. Sometimes I find myself, even as a blogger, in a kind of everyday routine; last week really shook me out of it and I liked it! I know some people need routine but I’ve never really been one for it. I find it too easy, plus when every day is the same time flies by so quickly you can barely remember what you’ve been up to.

The fact that I was all over the place last week meant that I’ve only just managed to pick up the May / June copy of Prudence Magazine. Featuring yours truly in a feature about Frugal Fashion Bloggers, along with the stylishly talented, Becky Gray of beckdazzler.blogspot.com; Lauren Dare of www.stylebynumbers.info and Blanaid Hennessy of www.blanaid.com.

The article is called The Prudent Guide to Fashion Bloggers, it’s author is Kirstie McDermott. She chose the four of us because we’re “all about creating super-stylish, high-fashion looks on prudent budgets”. I feel totally honoured to be included for this reason too. The buzz I get from buying something amazing, or creating an outfit that looks great on a tiny budget is second to none fashion wise.

A snippet of the article:

Signature Piece: “My taste changes too often”.

Favourite Shops: “Absolutely everywhere and anywhere. At the moment, however, I try to stay with vintage because it’s usually incredibly well made.

Lust-have investment piece: “It would have to be something with a story behind it, history. Something Queen Elizabeth I or Mick Jagger wore when they did something incredible. Seriously, I would pay millions.”

Can’t live without: “There is nothing I couldn’t live without in my wardrobe.”

Prudence magazine is out now, priced at €2.95

Xx

I came to get down, I came to get down…

OR… I’ll serve your A$$ like John McEnroe

OR… White girl can’t jump… Not in these heels anyway.

Sometimes I just can’t decide on a blog title.

Don’t you just love an impromptu party weekend? The girls arranged a bit of a do in town, involving one or two cocktails, I hasten to add. Anyway, I knew there’d be a bit of a boogie involved too and having just bought this skirt & blouse, I jumped (soz) at the chance to wear them.

Both are made of really light, sheer fabrics, (if you can imagine a kind of faux silk-chiffon) which it means that they move really well when they’re worn… like when I’m dancing.

The skirt was about 2/3 inches longer until I chopped off the hem and taking inspiration from Hermés SS10 pleated tennis skirts, I left it rough-cut so it would fray slightly.

The blouse is a few sizes too big which I think is a good thing when the fabric is this sheer, more fitted might be a little tacky? It also means that the sleeves stay up on my arms without rolling which gives a much nicer looking effect I think. I tried opaque tights first and the whole look was too dark and a bit witchy, I opted for fishnets  instead.

Seeing as it was all looking a bit ‘saucy-secretary’ (unintentionally), I added bright red lips, a thick slick of Kohl on my eyelids and, I think, the highest heels I have.

All outfit details at HerApparel.

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

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!

Coveted by Many, Owned by You… Now

There are loads of reasons why most of us don’t by a designer gown for every special occasion… Ah who am I kidding, we all would if only we could afford it. That’s why when the Covet boutique opened in The Powerscourt Centre this august it gave us all a more realistic chance of wearing a designer gown for any special occasion. Covet basically allows you to hire a designer dress or accessories for 3 days. With prices ranging from €30 to €300, that is a relatively small amount compared to buying the same.

This weekend however Covet are hosting a sample sale of these same dresses. I.e. for this weekend only, dresses that have previously been hired out can be bought to keep. With a 95% discount, I reckon you could overlook the fact that other people have ‘enjoyed’ them. Designer dresses in the sample sale include, John Galliano, Stella McCartney, Diane Von Furstenberg and Marc Jacobs as well as a huge collection of vintage pieces. Opening times Sat: 10-6pm and Sun 12-6pm. Not long after Covet opened photographer Barry McCall and styllist Niamh O’Rourke created this gorgeous shoot. More pics after the jump.

Super Macs and Rainy Days

… Or every cloud has a silver lining…

S’up November?

So far, so rainy but I don’t really care too much. Living in Ireland means that downpours are inevitable and being caught in one, shouldn’t really happen to any of us. If you don’t carry a brolly (I NEVER remember) then you will get drenched… (and yes I do).

The best thing about days like this:

Are looking for these:

And doing this:

I LOVE jumping in puddles.

And an excuse to dress like this:

Holly Golightly puts on her rain mac to search for her missing cat. Ah, I love a happy ending, somewhere in that clinch is a very soggy moggy too.

Every girl should have a mac and if you can’t afford a Burberry (€700 approx.) then try Tesco. I got this classic one for €35.

Got an AW09 wish list? Try Vintage.

After creating a AW09 want-list earlier in the week I realised there were so many things on there that I still have to get, which on a shoe-string budget is going to prove a little tricky. Yesterday morning however, the Cancer Research shop in Rathmines came to my rescue for one item on the list however. A fantastic faux-fur gilet in my size for €6, fabulous. I teamed it with a (p)leather dress, a vintage 80′s O.M.D. T-Shirt and my new favourite footwear; socks and sandals, to go for lunch at the Hilton, Charlemont. It is the warmest thing I’ve ever worn.

I teamed the outfit later that evening with the new plaid shirt I bought last week.  I went for an Alexander Wang-inspired loose side-plait to keep the look more casual. More pics here and close-up of gilet below.

Secret Boutique Sale Preview

The internet has been buzzing away for the last week or so with the news that the Secret Boutique pop-up shop is holding their latest sample sale this week. I went along yesterday to preview the pieces, take a few notes and pics to post on the blog and, to basically window shop. I.e. try on a few of the amazing Pauric Sweeney bags and Pink Soda pieces and wish I could afford them, even if they are being sold at more than 60% off. Funnily enough, I did exactly that with the bags. The soft python leather in gold, silver, mustard-yellow and brilliant blue are exquisite; Pauric Sweeney’s trademark overnighter’s are reduced from €1900 to €650-€700. It is the new AW09 collection however, that I really fell for. Currently being stocked ‘exclusively’ in Harvey Nichols, the new ‘mini-overnighter’ is a smaller version of the trademark bag. See picture 4 below, the price in-store is €1404, the price at the Secret Boutique, €520. Still, it was never going to happen in Whisty world.

Pulling myself away from arm candy heaven, I got chatting to the fabulous John Mohan who was representing the Pink Soda side of the sale. He explained that the collection is all sample pieces from the company’s AW09 collection. A collection that unfortunately didn’t make it into stores before the company folded earlier in the year. This basically means, that all the pieces, that is; the beaded cocktails dresses, the silk blouses, the cashmere and grosgrain cardigans, the sequinned trousers and tops and all the winter coats, that are on sale for the next two days will not be in any stores anywhere.

Toshop created a fuss!

This was the scene outside Topshop last night as the doors opened at 7pm for their Student Shopping event. The queue of stylish ladies (and the odd boyf. in toe) stretched from here to Dawson Street as they waited for their double discount of 20% and free goodie bag. The goodie bags were small canvas bags, a black cotton make-up bag, notebook, Dermalogica products, lollypop and a can of dry shampoo (best beauty product ever if you have a fringe / fine hair!).  I popped in after the Loft Market Fashion Show at around 9pm and there was a fabulous atmosphere inside because it was still full of peeps shopping!