Katrantzou & the IMMA – A celebration of fashion & art

Hey All,

Brown Thomas honours the 20th anniversary of the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA); having created an art/fashion installation in the store‘s Grafton street windows. The showcase, called the ‘Art of Fashion’, combines the talents of fashion designers, like Mary Katrantzou and Irish / Irish-based artists Perry Ogden and Alan Phelan.

At the Brown Thomas SS11 showcase it was undoubtedly Mary Katrantzou‘s SS11 collection that stole the show, so it seems only natural that her latest (AW11) collation is featured in such a big way.

The window went in yesterday and I stopped by this afternoon to grab a few snaps.

Mary Katrantzou and Perry Ogden

Mary Katrantzou with Alan Phelan’s ‘Cabbages’.

Details: Jewel and rose encrusted skirt.

Goldfish prints and floral-printed trousers:

One of the now familiar Lampshade skirts:

Here are a couple of (professional) images:

Mary Katrantzou’s SS11 collection at LFW:At the Topshop venue.

Image via: Getty.

Backstage at LFW SS10:Image via Zimbio

I love this last shot, long gone are the days where it takes 4 people to dress you… sigh…

Yours,

Whisty Xx

Jack Wills Reaches Dublin

‘Fabulously British‘ clothing store Jack Wills finally opened in Dublin last month and I for one couldn’t be happier. Their outlet in Kildare Village has been open for about a year and Harry Street, Dublin 2 (opp. the entrance to the Westbury Hotel) is now home to a gorgeous new flagship store. The brand is effectively aimed at young, student types, the full brand name is Jack Wills – University Outfitters. It definitely has a college feel to it but with a country pursuits vibe; think Polo shirts, worn with striped blazers, ‘sweatpants’ and slouchy scarves.

It is a kind of British Abercrombie & Fitch; the look is all about layering and mixing traditional British boarding school-style with casual elements making it universally appealing. It certainly helps that all the models are of the beautiful, girl / boy next door type and you will always see pieces from the collections, often mixed up with Topshop pieces, on sites like lookbook.nu. There is definitely a bit of a preppy / posh element to the branding itself too, for example, the labels have ‘Outfitters to the Gentry’ written on them and the logo is a little Pheasant wearing a top hat and tails and carrying a cane.

The price point is a little higher than some high street stores but at the end of the day the clothes are exceptional quality and that’s all that matters. Think tweed and tartan fabrics and rich cottons and knits; I got a polo shirt from the Nottingham store nearly a year ago and wear it all the time, it washes amazingly but at £50, I should think so to. Speaking of prices, they are marked up a bit from the Sterling, £59 translates to €79 but the Kildare Village outlet store is fantastic for a bargain. I got an amazing purple and white striped shirt from there, reduced from €79 to €24. Each new collection is released with a ‘handbook’ catalogue, the current one is The Christmas 2009 handbook, sign up here to get your copies sent to you free.

Last image courtesy Irish Times

Peter O’Brien for AWear, AW09 will be His Last.

Or, cakes, walks and window shopping…

After getting a thorough soaking yesterday afternoon, Aoife and I dashed into Queen of Tarts for a catch-up and a slice of cake. Aoife is one of those friends who I always find I have so much in common with and is such good fun to sit down and gossip with. Inevitably our quick afternoon coffee and catch-up, turned into an evening, turned into a night. When the rain had finally stopped we went for a walk; having devoured some seriously bold desserts we really thought we ought to! We went along Dame Street, through the grounds at Trinity, up Kildare Street and ended up at Grafton Street for a spot of window-shopping. I may sound a little whimsical here but Dublin is just such a fabulous city to be in when the rain stops. Everyone just seems so grateful and the atmosphere totally changes from grouchy pessimism to an, ‘Ah sure why not’ kind of attitude. Which goes some way to explain how Aoife and I stayed out quite as late as we did I suppose…

Anyway, we arrived at A|wear and both stopped to oooh and aaah at this Peter O’Brien coat. I was sorry to hear that the designer’s collaboration with A|wear would be ending with this final AW09 collection, but it seems he has finished on a high. I did a bit of research when I got home and the collection is very much a classic, grown-up, wardrobe but with a super-feminine edge. The jacket is a perfect example of this concept; clean, classic lines from the neck to the hip, almost like a gentleman’s frock-coat, then a burst of frills from the hip to the hem making it anything but masculine.

There are 22 pieces in the collection, which has a trademark palette of duck egg blue, navy blue, mink, grey and black. There are also the staple pieces that you would expect from a Peter O’Brien collaboration, the prim but sheer blouses and beautifully tailored dresses, but a chunky-knit long line cardigan and taffeta skirts have been added to enhance the collection. Prices range from €60 – €200 ( for the coat) and will be online and in-store from Wednesday, October 14th.

Get layerd up in Plaid for Autumn

So it’s Autumn, hooray! I love this time of year, especially October, and here is why:

1. Low, bright sunshine, today is no exception

2. The trees are all golden and orange and yellow

3. Layers rock

4. It’s chilly enough to wear tights so no more unsightly fake tan streaks

5. Halloween

Speaking of layers, I’ve jumped on the glamour / grunge bandwagon for the time being. You know, the trend that has revamped the mid-90′s music-inspired way of dressing with some added luxe elements; think, wearing plaid shirts teamed with sequins and smokey eye make-up while listening to Nirvana. Some stores / magazines have combined the two elements by calling it ‘Glunge‘, which is a horrible word but you get the idea.

With this in mind I found the perfect plaid shirt (€35) in River Island on Saturday, I wanted to buy one that was slightly over-sized so I can wear it in different ways, either in the true grunge way on top of all the other things I wear or cinched in at the waist with a skinny belt. I chose green, which surprised me, I was thinking I would go for red before I shopped, but the fabulous sales assistant in River Island on Grafton Street, helped me out and showed me the green one which I loved immediately! I teamed it with some sheer tights, my trusty buckled ankle boots, a short skirt and messy hair, see here.

Brown Thomas is Definitely F.A.B

No matter how skint I am I always feel a little bit wealthier by going into Brown Thomas. It’s so weird, I get all precious and check my lipstick and straighten myself out before I walk in there. It’s like going back in time when you’re inside; it’s like you can imagine how it was at the turn of the last century when all the elegant ladies in there would have been showing off their furs and silks and high heels.

Mostly now it’s tourists and bedraggled, be-suited businesswomen hiding from the rain. But I love department stores, and I love designer fashion so it makes sense that I love BT’s. Their Fashion and Beauty (FAB) event starts today and runs untill October 4th. Now before you dismiss this as, “just another in-store promotion” then wait just a sec. There are actually some pretty good goings on:

Today and tomorrow (10th & 11th) is Make-Up by Dior, giving us the chance to have a consultation with Dior’s make-up artist, Martin Aitken. For €25 (redeemable) you get first hand tips from a man who’s done the faces on the BAFTA red carpet for the last three years. Good non?

It’s the fashion part of FAB that I like the sound of;  mini fashions shows will be hosted each saturday afternoon (12.30 and 4pm) of the new collections from: Diane Von Furstenberg (12th Sept) Hugo Boss (19th Sept), Moschino Cheap & Chic (26th Sept) and Escada (3rd October). This saturday you also get to see a special showing of the AW09 collection from Maxmara whilst enjoying a glass of Champagne from midday.

They are also doing the cutest idea ever; from next Saturday (19th) for a week they have installed an Hermès Silk Installation in the Designer Room Level 1 where you can go and learn how to tie your scarf in dozens of different ways. The BT site has all the info anyway.