A Style Post – Monochromatic Fanatic

Hello,

I had a lovely weekend. Lots of work and lots of hanging out with my lil’ sis, who is possibly the coolest person I know. Naturally she thinks blogging isn’t cool, so I did the photos for this style post sans sis. After last weeks’ colour-heavy post, I thought the only way to counterbalance that was to make like Charlie Chaplin and go Black & White.

The outfit is a complete high-street honey-trap. There isn’t a bit of designer or vintage added to the mix. It’s all high street, and it’s all now.

Refreshing?

Jacket and faux leather trousers, River Island

Contrast sleeveless shirt, Penneys / Primark

Boots, Korky’s

Yours,

Whisty Xx

River Island – S/S’12 Preview

Hi!

All the retro inspiration of both runway and street style over the last few seasons has translated into some interesting High Street collections. River Island‘s S/S’12 collection is a mash-up of ’90′s RnB culture and Versace – inspired pieces Vs 60′s Chelsea Girl and psychedelic prints. Makes me want to dress like Salt’n'Pepa and listen to the The Velvet Underground.

Chelsea Girl was originally a British High Street store that opened in 1965, before transforming itself into River Island in 1988. The design of the modern Chelsea Girl collection is headed up by River Island 2007 Bursary winner, Lucy Moller. A graduate from Dublin’s NCAD. The collection includes original print designs taken from Chelsea Girl pieces that were both bought from eBay, and sourced from staff members at River Island.

Versace Face-Off

Mother of Pearl Pastels

Neoprene Monochrome

Chelsea Girl

P.S. I want this glorious vulgarity on me. (below)

Sarah Morrissey.

Yours,

Whisty Xx

River Island Christmas Showcase

Hi,

So I have one thing to say when it comes to the pieces that River Island have in store for us this Christmas season, it’s so 90′s Dahling. Think Ab Fab and you have it.

All bright Versace-inspired prints, black velvet Lycra and body suits with sheer panels.

I was also given the chance to pick two pieces from the collection and photograph models on the roof of the Morgan Hotel in Temple Bar. I couldn’t not have the Spire on O’Connell street in the background could I?

The stretch velvet & lace body suit and the (tiny) jersey & lace mini dress. (Back photo above). Too 90′s; Too fabulous.

Yours,

Whisty Xx

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

NCAD 4th year Graduate Fashion Show

Hey All,

Last week I posted some promotional shots from this years National College of Art and Design (NCAD) 4th year graduate fashion show. It was held last Saturday at the stunning Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin.

I went along to see the show in the afternoon, it was a pretty fashion-heavy crowd too. I spotted Stellar & Irish Tatler fashion eds, stylists like Aisling Farinella, The Sunday Business Post fashion columnist & blogger Ruth O’Connor, designers like Peter O’Brien and last year’s NCAD River Island bursary winner Sile O’Shea, as well as TV presenter, Sonya Lennon.

There were seven parts to the show, including 2nd and 3rd year students’ capsule collections; River Island denim collection, and Persil ‘Red’ competitions. As well as the 4th year Menswear, Textile, and Fashion Degree Collections. The show featured the best part of 250 pieces, so obviously I can’t post them all, but here are a couple of highlights / favourites.

3rd Year Fashion – Capsule Collections

Chain detail, (nicknamed the Jellyfish collection) from Katie Earley

Dozens more photos after the jump…

A Style Post: Prints Charming

Hey All,

… After a month or so, wearing black which has been heavily reflected in my blog posts. Summer seems to be waiting, for something… so I think it’s time to go a little brighter. Clashing prints being the main objective. Florals and feathers being the two prints; Palazzo pants and a sheer tie-front blouse being the pieces.

I love the huge 70′s-inspired, almost psychedelic, poppy print on the Palazzos, and the fact that most of the trouser is white. It made mixing it with the mainly blue, tribal-inspired, Navajo Native American, feather print sheer top really simple and quite effective.

Print Details:

Top, A|wear; Palazzo Pants, River Island; Suede Platform block-heel sandals, Carvela.

Yours,

Whisty Xx

Irish Fashion at the NCAD Fashion Show

Hey All,

Happy Monday!

I just wanted to share these incredible designs from this year’s 4th year National College of Art & Design (NCAD) graduate students collection. A fashion show will be held this Saturday at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham (May 21st) at 3pm and again at 8pm for a gala evening to showcase the collection.

Aoife Conroy

Concepta Boyce

Gemma Daly

Jemma Duong

Katrina Elliott

Laura Gilensan

Mona Atkinson

Rebecca Gray

Stephen Lawless

The pieces will be among those showcased at the show, being held at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham.

The show has been sponsored for the last 13 years by Peter Mark and River Island will announce the winner of their bursary for this year at the event.

Tickets for the 3pm show are €25 and 8pm tickets are €35.

See last year’s exhibition post here.

Yours,

Whisty Xx

A Style Post – Going Against the Green

OR: Happy Birthday Whisty. You are Two.

Hi All,

On this day in history, 2009 whisty.wordpress.com was born. I loved it as much then as I do now and over the last 24 months, I have posted a mere, 523 posts but, more importantly I’ve received, 2,253 comments. And it is without a doubt the comments I receive, that make the blog so rewarding. So thank you, all.

So… a style post it is. The third post in a row I’m in a hat… The boots are about 5 years old, and until two weeks ago they were pretty much destroyed. I bought some brown boot polish in Dunnes and gave them a well needed shot in the… um arm. The Fisherman’s jumper, however is brand new. (River Island). It’s in a really loose knit-stitch and stretches and moves as you wear it; sort of sagging to a much looser jumper by the end of the day. (It goes back to shape when you take it off though).

All outfit Details at HerApparel.

Yours,

Whisty Xx

River Island SS11 Showcase

Hi All,

I’m pretty certain by now that you all know what we’re going to be wearing between now and Autumn. I’m not going to go into which new season trends I’ve fallen for or even what each trend is because there’s no point and it makes for boring (and lazy) blogging.

I know what I like and will probably wear, you know what you like etc… So I think it’s just a matter of seeing how the high-street has interpreted the trends and whether we like them or not.

River Island had their Spring / Summer preview on Wednesday, which featured two main themes; a kind of casual, luxury line, and a neutral-heavy textured collection.

Textured Neutrals

(From RiverIsland.com)

Casual Luxury

I really like this jacket. Were I a 9-5 office-goer I would absolutely be adding this to my wardrobe. I like the way it doesn’t scream “SPRING 2011” at me; it’s great to find pieces that you can buy and wear for time.

I was wearing a huge tuxedo jacket previous to trying it on, had no idea that the River jacket would suit the same outfit.

Yours,

Whisty Xx

Stellar Magazine: Trend Hunted

Hey All,

I’ve got loads to blog about this week. I had such a great weekend in the Dublin sunshine; I went to an amazing gig on Saturday; if you get a chance to see Dublin band The Revellions at some point, do it. I spent the next day making the most of the sea air at Dun Laoghaire seriously, Teddy’s ice cream is the best cure ever.

Yesterday I was flicking through my copy of Stellar Magazine, and was honoured to discover they included Whisty in their Trend we Heart pages this month. I frikkin love Stellar anyway so being included in the mag is amazing.

I teamed the dress with vintage leather – Docs,  jacket and belt – and the lace bolero in this photo. But I wore it at Dun Laoghaire on Sunday, on its own with a leopard-print wrap. (Pics to follow during the week – promise). I love when clothes are that versatile, I reckon I’ll be wearing this dress right through till winter.

Xx

Outfit info:

Dress, Topshop

Lace bolero, River Island

Jacket, Vintage Topshop

Bag, AWear

Boots, Doc Martens

Necklace & Skinny belt, Thrifted

Xx