Dublin Fashion Festival is upon us…

Dublin Fashion Festival, our answer to Fashion’s Night Out, launches tomorrow, Thursday 8th September and runs to Sunday 11th September. Which is the worldwide Fashion’s Night Out, so I guess it’s appropriate, and definitely nothing to do with coat-tails. Organised by the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, the Festival offers, well, offers and discounts for all to enjoy some retail therapy in perfect time for Autumn/Winter. And as we all know, the only way to get out of a recession is to spend your way out of it (I did economics in college. No, really) so what better way to get people back in the shops than by adding a bit of fun and atmosphere to shopping and the city in general. Anyone who knows me will attest to my love of all things involving the words fun, party and clothes, so I am certainly signed up to this!

Maison Martin Margiela AW11

20% off Margiela is…still not gonna happen, is it…sigh

Stylist, tv presenter and general Irish Fashion Legend Sonya Lenon is the official Face of the Festival, and will be on hand throughout hosting fashion shows, makeover sessions and lots of other sartorial insight in the Festival HQ, the old Waterstones building. Everyone is invited to pop in and enjoy the events and the space for the duration, for a bit of inspiration between hitting the shops.

Kimberly Ovitz AW11

She looks great, I would look like crazy bag lady. No fair

Festivities will kick off on Thursday, 8^th September with a day entitled ‘Street Style/Urban Chic’. The day will feature three fashion shows at 1.15pm, 6.30pm and 7.45pm, which will showcase autumn/winter collections from top Dublin stores to demonstrate how to nail the slick city look, no matter what your style.

Antonio Berardi AW11

Part Joan of Arc, part grunge. LOVE.

Friday at the Dublin Fashion Festival will be all about taking advantage of the wealth of fashion knowledge on hand at festival HQ. Whether you want to complete your look with a killer up-style, take the plunge into the world of red lips or get to grips with taking your look from day to night, festival HQ is the place to be. With industry experts from the world of fashion, hair and make-up, equipped with insider knowledge, Friday’s HQ will become a style school for one and all. Joining the ranks of this team of fashion gurus, Sonya Lennon will host a makeover master class to show people how to take your look from drab to fab, in a few easy steps.

Helmut Lang

Oh Helmut. 

Saturday will focus on ‘Fast Fashion’ and will applaud all that is great about fashion’s ability to keep us excited and interested, with constantly evolving styles, new innovations and revivals from years gone by. With three shows happening throughout the day, this is a spectacle that will inspire and delight, and get you thinking about how you can take the next season’s looks from the catwalk to your wardrobe.

Felder Felder AW11

Swoon. That is all.

 Now, if someone could please get me loads of cash so I can do some shopping of my own, that would be super, thanks.

**PS: This post is also subliminally about black on black, maxis and grunge. Which are are high on the list of my Autumn Winter must-wear list.

Cozy up beside me

Autumn is here, much to my dismay. I am cheering myself up by pondering winter coats. Those that know me will know that I have a teeeeensie coat obsession…to the tune of twenty-odd of the things. Still though, I think I can justify perhaps a fresh one this season. Well, you know, fresh city, it just seems fair!

Giles AW11

Chloe AW11

Giles and Chloe rocking Gestapo chic, DELISH

So this is what I have been thinking….I am in the mood for something functional yet stylish, something that screams – I AM A DESIGNER, living in LONDON. haha. Seriously though, I’m only half joking. I want an oversize, anti-fashion, functional thing. I really like when garments go beyond fashion to become pure design, the beauty is in the simplicity, the lack of superfluous embellishment. A pocket where you need a pocket, just the right amount of warmth, a neutral colour that works with everything, the works.  As much as it is boringly on trend, I am really crushing on Barbour at the moment, if just from a quality perspective. The high street is flooded with imitators, but only the original is as warm as it is stylish….I just can’t decide which one I want more!

 

Barbour Beadnell

Barbour xLiberty Beadnell

Barbour National Trials

 

 

Living in Dublin, London, anywhwere similar,  means that for basically half the year, the most important garment you have is your coat. Because you need to wear one almost all the time. The most well thought out outfits have come undone by forgetting to incorporate the coat. And given that I am the whatever-is-closest-and-cleanest kind of dresser, getting a coat that says the right thing without having to figure out in-depth outfit plans is a major bonus.

 

Simone Rocha AW11

Celine AW11

 

Antonio Berardi AW11

Philip Lim AW11

Alexander Wang AW11

Contrasting textures & colours for added interest

I have been on the hunt for the perfect parka for roughly two years now. I have had terrible luck, because I didn’t want to pay loads of money, because in my head a parka is a casual thing, and casual things should be cheeep. But the high street ones are useless quality, flimsy and just not even worth the more reasonable price tags. Furthermore, the shape needs to be just right, long enough but not too long, utilitarian, just the right amount of oversize and straight.

Turns out I have been a FOOL, because I have found a bucketload of them on the interweb from army surplus style sites. Why I didn’t head straight there is beyond me, but now all I have to do is decide which of these babies is just right.

Aquascutum AW11

Dress Monster via Asos

Won Hundred

Swedish Military Parka

Or maybe a Duffel Coat? Maybe?

Burberry AW11

Christopher Raeburn via Brownsfashion.com

Barbour

 

I LOVE this colour!

Celine AW11

and the highstreet version…

Topshop

 

And finally, it’s not practical, nor affordable, but if someone wants to buy me this, I’ll love you forever…

Alexander Wang AW11

 

Fur crying out loud

Fur is not everybody’s cup of tea. I know and respect that fact. However, this does not change the fact that it is available for sale, and that many designers choose to use it as part of their collections within fashion. The following post reflects my own personal views that I do not wish to force upon any person. Think what you will, but I wear fur. There, I said it.

Fur has always been a hot topic. Ugh, that’s actually a really terrible pun when you consider the warmth it provides in the cold. I apologise, I think I’m in one of those moods…But ANYWAY. Following on from my previous posts about winter coats, I decided to include a post dedicated to fur, simply because there was so much of it on the runway. So much of it that I felt the need to make some form of comment.

I’m not really sure what the message there is. Perhaps it’s a response to emerging markets and a desire for ostentatious displays of wealth. Nothing says “I’m loaded” like a filthy great fur coat and loads of diamonds. Or perhaps the anti-fur lobby has fallen out of vogue and fur is back in fashion. Or maybe, and I’m probably being far too generous here, but there is a small chance that designers are actually using fur because it is a fabric that brings real heat to the body while creating maximum visual impact. There is no denying that real fur keeps you real warm. And for the price of them, they are an investment, which makes them less expendable and therefore in a really weird way more environmentally friendly. Bizarre, I know. But you are far less likely to throw out your fur coat at the end of a season. Synthetic materials are cheaper, but I have made the mistake of trying to save a few euro on a cheaper winter coat – they just don’t work. And it’s just plain no fun when you’re freezing.

I know that synthetic furs have come on leaps and bounds in terms of quality in recent years, so if you don’t want the real thing, you have the choice. Here are some of the fur coats that I found remarkable from this years Autum Winter collections.

Antonio Berardi

Brian Reyes

Costume National

Dennis Basso

Gianfranco Ferre

Marc Jacobs

Michael Kors

Pucci

Roskanda Ilinic

Valentino

All images via Style.com

Skirting the issue

I have always been a separates kinda gal, what with my long back and general dose of tall. Separates are my friends becasue they don’t enforce a waist/hip line that is on the wrong place on my body, which is never a good look. On top of allowing tall people have proper proportions, the great thing about skirts is that you can dress your top half up or down to suit the mood, giving you more scope to wear them. Indeed, this Autumn Winter there were a bunch of super fun skirts playing with texture and volume that are nothing less than covetable. Observe…

Antonio Berardi

Colette Dinigan

Cynthia Rowley

Diane Von Furstenberg

Giambasti Valli

Giambasti Valli

Giles

Miu Miu

Moschino

Yves Saint Laurent

Ok so technically the Moschino and the DVF are dresses, but the skirt is what makes the dress interesting, so they stay! And the Antonio Berardi…..they’re like little disco balls!!! More skirts should be this fun. Just sayin’.