Stick Around, It’s Just Getting Interesting

On Monday I went to the first talk of the eBay Online Fashion Week series, where Eilis Boyle talked about her work and making it, not just as an Irish designer, but as a designer working in Ireland.

As someone who has been hell-bent on getting the foook out of here for as long as I can remember, it was really refreshing to hear from a talented and successful designer who is happy to run her international business from Dublin. As with a lot of my peers, recession or no, setting up shop in this country is seen as design suicide, and if you want to make it, we were always getting the boat. I have been dreaming of London for as long as I can remember. A working industry (and thus job prospects in my chosen field) coupled with a more exciting city seems like a no brainer, right?

 

Eilis Boyle @ the Ebay.ie Online Fashion Week Talk

Well, I guess. But I love Dublin, flaws and all. I love my friends and my family. And I love how it’s broken, but broken in a way I know how to deal with. I love the Irish way, I love our bars and our little cafés and how popcorn isn’t hard to find*. And wouldn’t it be great if all our talent didn’t have to have this reflex reaction to leave, if we could all stick around and build up our own industry of international renown? Now I know I’m talking ideal-world scenarios here, but hear me out for two seconds.

At the Ebay talk, Eilis was speaking about her experiences both internationally and in Dublin. The pre-crash years were a tale of success, and international buyers and deals with stores around the world and a thriving brand. Which is the dream. However, the post-2008 story that Eilis told was both more relevant and interesting. She spoke about the community that has emerged from our wrecked economy, about the creative people who have chosen, not only to stay, but to take the opportunities this uncertain time has afforded them and build. People have less money, and are willing to be more experimental, which is making us stronger. She mentioned the establishment of a Council of Irish Fashion Designers, a move that hopefully will help to solidify the notion of an industry within Ireland, and thus can help us move forward and compete on a more international stage. She spoke of how Dublin Fashion Week, spearheaded by Sonia Lennon, was a great catalyst to bringing designers together to help form bonds that may not directly help their work, but will fortify their position and identity.

 

Eilis Boyle & James O'Neill at the eBay.ie Online Fashion Week talk

There seems to be a grassroots movement  of designers, stylists & photographers underway, and hopefully it develops and flourishes. In the meantime, most will probably still leave, and cut their teeth in greener (technically, less green, much busier and bigger) pastures. But it’s an inviting prospect to think that there could be a time in the not too distant future that we could come back with a bit of experience and work here, set up shop in my own country, and that there is a working industry to feed into and be proud of.

As it is, there are a group of exceptionally talented, driven, and brave designers who are flying the flag, and representing us on an international platform. Eilis’s work is unreal, sophisticated, beautiful. Her unwearable dress collection is nothing short of couture – she mentioned using €300 PER METRE fabric in parts of her sublime creations. The more that can be done to support them the better.

*A Pret on every corner in London, and not a bag of popcorn to be had when I was living there. I had to get my Irish Mammy to send ration packs of Manhattan, rather than tea!

A Weighty Issue

The Sartorialist seems to have caused a fair bit of controversy and outcry with one of his recent posts. The uber-blogger has ruffled a considerable number of feathers by referring to a girl as sturdy(note: the actual quote is “sturdy, but beautiful”). Now, if someone called me sturdy I would probably want to cry, so I do get that it’s not the nicest way to describe a lady. However, I don’t necessarily agree with the rest of the commotion and I feel like it’s time to throw my two cents into the debate. I would also really like your views on this! And as with everything on this blog, my views are just my own and are not intended to offend or insult anyone, and if you don’t agree with me that is fine!

 

"Sturdy, but beautiful" legs

image via thesartorialist

I normally keep quiet because I don’t really tow the line when it comes to general consensus on this issue. I think it’s a topic that we are a little bit too sensitive to really talk about in an objective and rational way. This is natural, given that it is our bodies and by extension ourselves we are discussing. Let me start off by saying that I firmly believe that the best body shape is a healthy one, where the person has a healthy BMI. I do not believe that there is a magic (dress) number for women, because we come in different shapes and sizes, tall, short, hippy, athletic, booby, petite, etc.

What really annoys me in all the furore about size is the assumption that all women need to be curvy. Some women are. But some AREN’T. Does the lack of wide hips mean that they are not “real” women? Really???? That’s akin to saying that you need a massive pair of knockers to be a real bird. Come off it.

 

Late Afternoon blogger, Liz

image via popcultureafternoon.blogspot.com

The Sartorialist annoyed many by saying that the girl he photographed was a bigger girl than most famous bloggers. From the blogs I read anyway, that is a fairly accurate statement. It is our own insecurities that makes such statements an insult. And in an industry where the standard is a couple of dress sizes smaller, she IS bigger than a model. I missed the part where he said this was a bad thing though.

I suppose my views on size are slightly warped. I am well above average height for a girl, especially an Irish girl. I have always been very tall and have spent my life listening to people tell me HOW TAAAALLLLLLL I am. Now, when was the last time you went up to a short person and told them they were sooooooooooooooo small??? It just isn’t done. Why? It might hurt their feelings. How does that work? If I told a short person that they were short it would be an observation, not an insult. Now, when was the last time you told someone they were thin? And the last time you told someone they were fat? It’s the same.

We are so preoccupied with insulting “fuller figured” people. It is fine to tell someone that they have an eating disorder when they are too thin, but not when they are too fat. I do not encourage being underweight, far from it, but by the same token it is a bit rich for a society to then ignore the other end of the spectrum. And, to be cynical, we don’t have a thin crisis, we have an obesity crisis….

 

the infamous Rumi Neely

image via fashiontoast

Back to my original point. What really really annoys me is women who think that you have to be a size 14 (US 10) to be a REAL woman. Sorry sister, that’s like saying you have to be 5’1″ to be a REAL woman. I feel like the official line on weight and size has become a little bit distorted and that instead of promoting an ideal body based on the individual’s natural shape, height and BMI, we are instead saying that you have to have to have loads of curves to be “normal”. That to me is as misleading as saying you have to have no curves at all. Although the “real women” campaigners say that women come in all shapes and sizes, they systematically ignore any of those shapes that do not resemble Christina Hendricks’. I’m far from model thin, but I’m hardly voluptuous either. I’m athletic I guess, with strong shoulders, (proportionally) small waist and big hips. So does that make some parts of me “real” and others not??? And if so, what are the others, fake?!!!!! To be slender (or in my case, partially slender) is to be fake, is that it?!!

For me, this real woman thing fails to address issues such as eating well and exercise to make ourselves fit and healthy, which should be the ideal, rather than shifting favour from one body shape to another. We are so worried about not wanting to be too thin that perhaps we are leaning too far the other way.

So, the Sartorialist, and that girl. She’s not model thin. And he said that. He also said she has awesome style. Which is again true. And her face is stunning (to be fair when was the last time you saw an ugly girl on his blog?!). She looks healthy and well dressed. There are larger and smaller well dressed girls out there, and ALL of them are REAL women.

xx

Sunday Funday #2

This week has been mad and they are only going to get madder for the next while. The following has been keeping me sane over the past 7 days:

Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid

Saw it for the first time last night….AMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAZING film. Robert Redford was fierce ridey back in the day. And Paul Newman was quite the looker too. The best bromance film of all time? It has been said. And it just oooozes style. Am I gushing? You know it.

 

Enemies

Just literally discovered them this week. Really lovely guitar-y musics from a bunch of lads from Wicklow.

image via irishtimes.com

 

Gil Scott Heron x Jamie XX

I was really late on The XX bandwagon. Well, not late, I guess I just didn’t really jump on it fully. But this really is the shit, dubby and delicious. Also, for years I thought Gil was pronounced Jill, like the girl and not gill as in fish…..how embarrassing.

 

Hats

I went to London on Tuesday, just for the day. *NOTE: two ryanair flights in 16 hours is the modern equivalent of actual hell* I decided on the way that I wanted to buy a hat, as my favourite pork pie was robbed on a night out recently….the high street is awash with crappy straw dealies, so I didn’t buy one, but through the wonders of the internet, I am going to replace my little beaut….

image via sharpshock.com

Perfume

Tom.Ford.Black.Orchid. Giant Bottle. Win. I love the smell of my own perfume a little bit too much. But I’m fine with that.

Perfume Genius

Keeping on a perfume vein, another new music find for this week. Love love love it/him. Maybe you will too.

image via thelineofbestfit.com

Hope everyone had a sunny Sunday, with an hour of added sun (the grumpy part of me is a little bitter that I was robbed of an hour of sleep tho….). I figured out how to embed tracks without resorting to YouTube, are you proud of me?!! Don’t be, it was really easy, I have been stoopid all along…..

xx

It’s Virtually Fashion Week?

So while the international fash pack are taking stock of the madness that is fashion month, eBay have decided to do something a little closer to home. As in, actually in your home, on your computer, via live stream. They are hosting Ireland’s first Online Fashion Week. Wha, you say??? Well, basically, they have gotten together a host of very talented Irish fashion folk, and are streaming live, interactive talks every day next week at 1pm. They are encouraging people to interact via Twitter and Facebook, to submit questions for Eilis Boyle, Angela Scanlon, Aisling Farinella, Constance Harris and Kellie Dalton to answer.

I am really excited to be going to the talk with Eilis Boyle, but I will be tuning in to the others, as it is sure to be an interesting experiment. I styled a shoot for eBay & the Sunday Independent during the summer, under the mentorship of the very talented Andreas Petersson, so I have a soft spot for eBay and the ways in which they promote and nurture creative talent. Not to mention their ability to simultaneously fill my wardrobe full of amazing things and (totally self inflicted) drain my bank balance!! But the talent thing….I like how a MASSIVE global brand are doing things on a local level, raising awareness of the huge wealth of talent that exists within our small island.

So, stay tuned til  Monday, and then check out the the facebook page for the talks. Hopefully I can sneak a few pics, and remember interesting things to report back. But in the meantime, check out Eilis Boyle’s beautiful garments. Makes you proud to be Irish.

Eilis Boyle

Eilis Boyle

Eilis Boyle

Eilis Boyle

images via maggiesbigovershare.blogspot.com, proudfoot.ie,

pivotdublin.com,  and prettyfarwest.blogspot.com

Sunday Funday

It’s been ages since I had a proper music post. and today in typical procrastination fashion I listened to SHIT loads of new stuff. Well, by new stuff I mean mostly old stuff that I either didn’t know the names of or never bothered chasing down.  I would like to share some with you.

Sister Nancy’s Bam Bam is probably one of the most recognisable reggae songs around, although I never really knew the name…thank you google machine.

this isn’t old. one of my friends bigged them up the other day and I am enjoying their tunes.

WATCH THIS VIDEO!!! IT’S AMAZING. I watched Spike Jones’s film Bamboozled there recently, and this kinda reminded me of some of the scenes. Some serious musical history, and pretty amazing blues music.

and finally

Big Maybelle….is a legend. And a VOICE. So evocative. A true inspiration, when you think of all the shit that she would have had to put up with in 1958.

Ok last last one….My favourite band. Ever. I know it’s not cool or whatever, but I LOVE them. Especially the bluesy stuff from the beginning, even if it’s all covers, their sound really suits it. And Mr. Jagger’s not bad to look at, is he…..

Hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday!

xx

I like shirts, ok. And maybe Penneys too. But shh.

The other day I picked up a couple of tops in Penneys. I KEEP promising myself to stop buying into fast fashion, but I keep doing it. I have thought about it loads though, and I always come up with different justifications. But I can never seem to keep my word. I KNOW all the reasons why I shouldn’t do it, but even with my armory of knowledge,  I can’t see to stick to my ethical, pro-designer guns. Here’s how I try to make myself feel better when I am leaving with a bag full of goodies and a heart full of guilt:

1) I ONLY BUY DECENT FABRICS – I imagine half my wardrobe is probably Penneys, with the other half being nice stuff/vintage. If I were to go through the sea of Penney’s clothes that I have though, I’d be hard pressed to find much polyester. I purposely only buy the good-ish stuff, the natural fabrics, the better quality prints, and as a result, the stuff LASTS LONGER.

2) I AM NOT PRECIOUS ABOUT CLOTHES – Basically, I wear my expensive things in the same way I wear my cheaper things. So, I will keep my cheap things for as long (so long as they last that long – see point 1) as my expensive things. If I like something, I’ll wear it over and over, for ages.

3) I’M NOT PAYING ABOVE THE ODDS – I am a serial bargain hunter. And often, the stuff in Penney’s is as least as good quality as the stuff in more expensive high street stores. So, you tell me…..Spend 60eu on a top or spend 13eu on the same-ish top, in the same fabric? Same for shoes, and sometimes, dresses.

4) SOMETIMES A GIRL JUST NEEDS NEW STUFF – ok so this is the weakest argument, but it has the strongest effect on me. Sometimes girls just want new stuff (yes, in this case want and need are interchangeable). It’s one part culture of materialism, with old consumer habits dying hard. It’s one part keeping up with society, which is a healthy thing, signifying that you are not some crazy backwards outsider intent on destroying everything. It is also one part nature, which has been going on since mitosis began. Every creature who needs to find a mate has a natural desire to show off their prettiest feathers. And humans buy our feathers instead of growing them. So, every so often, I need to answer my primal calls, and head to Penneys, where I sate my desire to be a valid, modern member of society. Who looks good. Mostly the looking good part, if we are honest.

Well. Now. The lady doeth protest too much? Perhaps. Anyway. I bought a really lovely shirt and lazer cut tshirt. Although, as if nature was annoyed with me, two of the buttons instantly fell off the shirt. But no matter. It is delicious. In a lovely sienna-y colour, that will do me all the way through to next winter. I have wanted to start colour blocking with my outfits in a more vibrant way, to get away from black on black. I think this shirt might help me get there. For example, I have an amazing pair of aubergine velvet Laura Ashley trousers that I almost never wear, until now! I need to take the trousers in slightly though, they are tailored at the thigh, but about a size or two too big, making my thighs look even bigger than they are, sigh.

Also, my lovely shirt has a wonderful floaty shape, which dips at the back. I got a size 20, so it is SUPER oversize, giving maximum volume and a bit of extra length (good for my weirdly long back!!!). So, I guess I love it! Penney’s or not!

shirt & necklace – Penneys, trousers & shoes – vintage

*In my defense – and I have thought about this a lot – I am not someone who cares about labels for the sake of the label. I am a genuine fan of design, quality and craftsmanship, so when I say expensive things, I mean the things that are expensive because they are so fucking beautiful, ok. See: Givenchy, Balmain, Balenciaga, Celine, Chloe, Moschino, Burberry, etc.

Hope everyone had a super St. Patrick’s day. I drank free whiskey in the Mansion House. Thanks Jameson! :)

xx

Pressure’s for tyres

I have been very remiss about blogging the last little while. However, the reason for this is because I was working my ass off in the real world. It seems to have worked, too (to no noone’s greater surprise than my own!). The reward for my work is a spot for my collection in the fashion show in college, I am too excited about this. In a stress vomit, oh dear god how the hell am i going to do all this work, sort of a way. But I was thinking…what am I going to wear?? I always totally judge designers when they pop their heads out. Too much is, well, too much (Donatella, I am looking at you), but too little is almost worse. Like, you MAKE CLOTHES. As evidenced by the collection that just went down that runway. And I get that backstage is stressful. But have a dress or something to throw on once the first model starts walking maybe. No? I’m just saying.

Anyway, this is what I wore the other day, in my normal, non catwalk life. I love the shirt, even if there is a giant ink stain on it…I guess this look is sort of like goth lite…I remember when I was a teenager I tried to be a goth for about a week, but I realised that I was far too happy to pull it off, all the other goths saw through me, ha!

Dress H&M, Shirt Vintage, Boots Topshop, Necklace Swarovski cross on ribbon

Happy Monday!

I am a sloth

Today I have a giant hangover. I have several good pals to thank for that, cheers girls (and boys), last night was savage. But now so is my hangover. Oh well. I have been appeasing my sore head today by looking at pictures of cute animals on the internet.  Such as sloths, which are super cute. And also appropriate for my state of mind today, which is decidedly sloth-like.

I know, I’m a weirdo. But they are adorable. I mean look at them. They just want to be hugged. And nap and stuff. They are amazing. Also, if someone wants to come over and make me a cup of tea, that would be super. Thanks.

xx

Nature Knows Best

I am a big nerd. Sometimes being a nerd is cool though. No really. Like, science for example, say physics. Honestly, I’m a bit shit at maths so I don’t really understand it, but some of the models from particle physics make really awesome patterns. And the inside of CERN is really cool looking. Don’t know what CERN is? Yea, see, I’m a freaking nerd alright?!

a model proposing the appearance of the Higgs Boson

link

Large Hadron Collider

Large Hadron Collider

See, isn’t it COOOOOL?!

Also, Natural Geographic. It’s not as nerdy science-y as New Scientist (another super cool science magazine that i, ahem, have seen in the shops….), it’s more like Nature Class in junior school to New Scientist’s leaving cert physics. But it’s jam packed full of amazing shit, which, as a designer is amazing for colour inspiration. And you know, nature’s deadly and all that jazz.

National Geographic

National Geographic

National Geographic

National Geographic

National Geographic

National Geographic

See it’s not just all FASHUN, you know. Although I love the way nature can evoke a mood that you can translate into fashion. Like the last image, it just screams WOOL. And the one above it, silk. Ok, so maybe it’s almost always FASHUN. And what of it?

Not many things rhyme with Steichen…

I stumbled across the work of Edward Steichen a little while ago, I think while looking for images for a 30′s wave hairstyle…Anyway, I was struck by incredibly lighting and mood of his photography, as well as the way he captured the stunning beauty and strength of his subjects. I have done a bit of reading on him and it seems that he was a pretty big deal at the turn of the century, in terms of getting photography recognised as an art form, and making waves in fashion photography. But, truth be told, I havn’t done that much reading, and I don’t trust Wikipedia as a reputable source, so all I’m going to say is that his work, most of which was done in the early part of the twentieth century, remains strong and fresh today. His ability to capture a mood in monochrome is inspiring. And LOOOOOOOONG before the days of unlimited digital frames, he absolutely NAILS the composition, as well as the character of his subjects. Or perhaps he’s projecting his own character?

Norma Shearer by Edward Steichen

Edward Steichen

Edward Steichen

This image is SOOOOO amazing!! And the next one too!

Edward Steichen

Edward Steichen

I ADORE this!

Edward Steichen

Edward Steichen

Edward Steichen

Images via flickr, dailydesigndiscoveries.com, lorilangille.blogspot.com,

metmeuseum.org, thedirtythirties.tumblr.com, things-and-ther-stuff.com

Apologies for the different size photos, I dunno how to make them all the same size!!!

xx