FASHION

Guaranteed Irish: Pop-up @ The Loop!

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Anyone heading out for the airport soon? {Meeeeeeee!}
JoyOfGiving3
If you’re flying out of T1, then make sure to pop in to the pop-up, The Joy Of Giving: it’s guaranteed Irish, just like it says in the headline, and is stocked full of Avoca goodness, as well as indigenous brands the like of Max Benjamin, Clover Rua, Monsoon Jewellery and Ursula Celano. I’ve got a gorgeous print of the Dublin Bridges from Clover Rua, and I just love it — and I’m currently torn between the Irish Lighthouses and Georgian Doorways prints… at €12/each, though, I could end up splashing out and buying both.

The folks at The Loop make every effort to keep in touch with customers, and this shop is in direct response to feedback. With so many of us heading away for The Christmas, it’s excellent to have the option of bringing along something Irish and stylish!

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See theloop.ie for all your pre-flight shopping needs, and/or avail of their Shop & Collect service.

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Hallowe’en Happiness: A Miscellany

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I LOVE this time of year. Love. It. Here’s a bunch of things that make me feel even more of the love.

DEALZ
Just everything in Dealz. Everything. This is the sort of stuff you can buy in a pound shop < using this as the catch-all term for ‘value-priced product store’ and not get The Rage because you don’t need it to last more than a day. Photo slightly blurry due to excitement.

LUSH pumkin
My lil’ LUSH Pumkin Bubble Bar LUSH soot ball {€3.50} didn’t make it through the post in one piece, but he was fated to be merciless crumbled under hot running water anyway. He made a glorious, orange-coloured, orange flower absolute and ylang ylang scented bath, full of froth and refreshment. The little guy on the right is the Soot Ball Bath Bomb who apparently will not turn the bath black. I don’t think I would have minded, just for the sake of novelty. He will, in fact, turn the water gold, and the scents involved here are frankincense, tonka and sandalwood. I may run out and get one while they last!

IMPRESS
Oh, if only I was capable of doing these super fantastic imPRESS Nails {€8}! My nail beds are so unsuited to these long and thin shaped yokes — I’ve tried, I’ve tried! May this inspire you to do a ghoulish manicure that you can then peel off as if it had never been there, just like a ghost.

GALIBARDY
Oh, yeah. I enjoy skulls in the general run of the year, and become fairly delirious around the end of October. This gorgeous piece of statement necklacery is via Helen Galibardy via galibardy.com… Soz, just got lost in the website all over again. C’mere, I think this cost about €50ish, I can’t remember because I don’t care, and I love it, and will wear it all year round, but with especial pride on the 31st.

Tesco Halloween CostumesCopyright Fennell Photography 2013
Have ye childer? And do you suffer from MARTINI 1999 cropprocrastination? I’d say you’re probs SOL at this stage, because if the costumes at Tesco haven’t been all snapped up, I’d be utterly shocked. I have a fondness for this Gold Witch Costume {€7} because A} witches; B} the pose reminds me of one of my better efforts at a costuming, which was the year {1999!} I and my pal Ames went as martinis. Simple and effective! We made skirts out of… taffeta? Sparkly something — organza? and I went with a twist, as you can see, made from wire and foam and acrylic paint.

And then we went to a party and we were the only people that had exerted themselves, which at the time hadn’t bothered me much, but I haven’t dressed up since. In the digging through the archive for that photo, I realise that I’ve never actually worn all my showjumping gear — the white jodhs and the shirt and the tie and the jacket. Ah sure: if worse comes to worse, there’s always my collection of crops…

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Happy Hallowe’en!!!!

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Beautyfull Brightness: Thomas Sabo Glam & Soul

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Two words: Rose. Gold. Or four: rose gold and silver.

Seven? Rose gold and silver, by Thomas Sabo.

One word: gorgeous.

PE641-rose

“Heart Locket” from the Sterling Silver Collection; inside is a small heart made of 925 Sterling silver. €279

A1093-PE639

Bracelet: 925 Sterling silver with freshwater pearls, €98; this heart locket is 925 silver with a rose gold heart inside, €339.

EC0005-rose copy

Feather ear cuffs (from left): 925 Sterling silver and 18K rosé gold plated with white zirconia, €198; 925 Sterling silver with white zirconia, €128

WA0177

Man’s watch: Rose gold-coloured stainless steel, with rose gold-coloured mesh bracelet, €279

There is so much more; this is my personal wishlist. If you go here, you can browse the full collection.

Also:
TS CHARM ROSE INTENSE lo
I love my Thomas Sabo charm bracelet, as you may remember from here and here, and I liked the first iteration of Charm Rose Eau de Parfum well enough, but I *love* Charm Rose Intense {€49.90.} My EDP tastes tend to run to the non-flowery end of the spectrum — your chypres, your musks, your vetivery-vibe — so this really appeals to me: whilst the first hit is pretty flowery, the base notes are amber, vanilla, patchouli and rosewood, and this dries down deep. It is tailor-made for autumn, in case you were looking for an A/W13 scent.

I have fewer mixed feelings about autumn this year. We did have a mainly proper summer — I wore all the clothes I hadn’t had the chance to wear over the last four years — and plus, my birrrrrthday is at the end of September {see above!} So: basically okay with the idea of autumn. At least I will smell intensely interesting as we transition into the new season.

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http://www.thomassabo.com

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ATTENTION Royal Baby Enthusiasts! Thomas Sabo Commemorative Charm

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Thomas-SaboI may have scoffed at the all the mugs and plates that accompanied the British Royal Wedding, but I am allll about the babby — which I think is a girl, and in whose name I predict that Anne will figure largely — and looooooook at the cutest iddle charm in da worrrrrrld!

You may remember the potentially traumatic loss of my beloved Thomas Sabo charm bracelet, a saga which had a happy ending, and as such, know of my love for the charms of Mr S. I also found myself, yesterday, googling royal baby is it born yet?, which is not at all creppy, nope, not one bit.

We have had an arrival, at least in the form of this adorbz wee charm. And it is wee, so if you’ve got some crazy shame around being excited about this, you can be subtle in the demonstration on your interest.
ROYAL BABBY CHARM

Will the actual baby be as cute as this?!?! One expects so…

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€44; where all Thomas Sabo charms are sold.

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Talk about Aspirational: A Day of SS13 Launches

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In a parallel universe, I live in the first season of Revenge. {Not the second season, even though Nolan got all weirdly ridey, in a Nolan-y way? Was it the haircut?}

In that life, I toddle around in shoes like these, with a bag like this swinging from my shoulder.
TH shoes n bag

Oh, Tommy Hilfiger, you always get this yacht-y vibe spot on. Can’t you just see me swanning around the gardens of Grayson Manor in those? Or in this?
TH skirt

That’s about as close to wearing orange as I can get, without looking like I ought to be carried feet first out the door. And with friends like Victoria — ha! One would get quite used to being prepared for the worst.

Rah-rah skirts don’t really suit me either. And the fabric is silky and I’m sure I’d ruin it in a heartbeat. But the combination of those sherbet-y colours is simply irresistible. I’m sure Vic would let me borrow Ashley to drop all my fancy clothes down the cleaners. {See, that’s why you really gotta have a fantasy life in S1, ‘cos Ash was still on tap, as it were.}

Over at Hacketts, it was, obvs, all about the menswear. Why hello… hmmm, Frederico. You’re looking well in your tighty whiteys.
HACKETT polo man
BTW, I know exactly how to use that mallet.

The trends are towards the bright and poppy, whilst still balanced by expert tailoring and layering. I don’t know, though, could I go for a man in vermillion chinos?
HACKETT silver fox
Yes, indeedy! Plus: zebra!

Aspirational turned a bit perspirational as I legged over to the Marks & Spencer launch. I’d already seen bits and pieces on Twitter, but there was nothing like seeing it in person.
M&S jacket
Love the nipped in waist, and I love leather {Frederico, take note} and I’ve been wanting a little leather jacket, but haven’t been able let myself indulge in the trend. This looks like it’s got some serious staying power. Not sure the non-lapel thing works with my frontage though. I guess I’ll just have to go try one on.

I didn’t get a snap of the big bucket-y shoulder bag they’ve got going on — I liked the red one. No, the blue one! No, the red one. Definitely. How about this little little bit of structural genius in teal?
M&S teal bag

Ah, fashion! How I love/hate you! You make me wish for things I may or may not actually need.

Speaking of need, I look good in blue.
HACKETT my other life
A classic Aston Martin convertible. Surrounded by dudes. Outside a gracious country mansion.

Hmmm, may trade in the Revenge fantasy and start shaping up this one…

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Spring/Summer 2013 is here! And dammit, we are going to have the weather to support it!

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Green Angel and Barnardos: Win/Win

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Typing too quickly, that title came out ‘Win/Wine’ — which is not exactly wrong.

I’ve been off the Green Angel frequency in the last while, and am looking forward to giving some of their new products a go. In the meanwhile, here’s some infoGREEN ANGEL event about their fundraising fashion show in conjunction with Barnardos, at the Ballsbridge Hotel on 22 March.

{Click on the image to enlarge.}

The company use a lot of seaweed, which I love love love. I’ve gotten me paws on some Seaweed Cleansing Lotion with Cucumber and Sage Extracts, which I am gasping to pry out of its package and take it for a spin {TWSS!} There’s also some Seaweed & Aloe Eye Gel that I’ll be happy to test, as well. Sure, I’ll try anything! {She also said that.}

Do support the initiative above, and make a day of it: go and get a blow dry, and/or your makeup done, and then take your bad self out and show it all off.

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The Green Angel website is under construction; email them at shop@greenangel.com for stockist information.

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A Blast of Warm, Delicious Colour on a Cold, Cold Day

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ISAAC MIZRAHIBright, and beautiful. I don’t know* how I got on the amazon.com relentless email list — <3 U amazon.com! for obvious reasons — but I got a comprehensive link to many, many gorgeous handbags, and this one popped.

The Ava by Isaac Mizrahi is a medium-sized satchel in pumpkin and fuchsia. Or orange and pink, to you and me. There are no measurements listed, and I suppose I could go a googlin’, but I am utterly captivated by the lusciousness of this object.

I have gotten over my object-orientated yearnings, or so I thought! Walking down to the West Village from Hell’s Kitchen with a pal, during my flying visit to Manhattan, I interrupted myself in full-flow as we passed a shop, the window of which was just stuffed with bags in a glorious array of colour and styles. I said, over and over, ‘Don’t need anything, don’t need anything in there’ and we laughed and kept going.

I don’t need an orange and fuchsia satchel. Well, I do need to be able to carry my stuff around, and in carrying my stuff around, I could be doing a public service: if you saw someone walking around with this bag, wouldn’t colours just go straight to your heart and warm you up all over?

Having this bag is pure altruism.

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Many beautiful bags live here. The Ava is in stock, and retails for $188. Sigh.

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I do know. I was looking at FitFlop boots, which were astonishingly priced far more cheaply via the American amazon than they are here, in shops.

A New Favourite Outfit

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There’s a Clarins launch tonight, that I hope to get to — feeling like I am battling off that stupid tummy lurgy that has been felling people left, right and centre. Anyway, I am reminded about an outfit I liked so much that I took a photo of it. {Reminded because I wore to another launch hosted by the lovely PRs I hope to see tonight.}

Circles! And a nice semi on the toe of my Dué Ballerina FitFlops about which I have yet to blog… because they don’t really fit all that well. And I am still in denial about it, a bit.

Anyway! The dress is from Penneys, and the hose is Wolford, and I can tell you truly that they cost exactly 3.69 times the amount of the dress. Which just goes to show… something.

This ensemble: definitely making the trip across the water with me at The Christmas.

Also, circles are my favourite shape.

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What’s your favourite shape???

More Jacket Lust. Yes, I Do Have a Problem

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The problem is that I want all the jackets!

From F+F, the Waxed Four Pocket Jacket.

I had one waxed jacket once, because: horses, and it was so unflattering that I gave it to a charity shop. This is potentially sooo flattering because of the belt.

I wish this image was better, but it is the best I can find at this stage. This is priced around €35ish, maybe €40, which is still fairly amazeballs, considering. Given our Current Climate, economic aspects notwithstanding, a stylish way to repel the rain is going to score high on my own personal sheet.

This is a very equine-inspired olive, which I fancy somethin’ rotten.

Excuse me while I wander off down the local Tesco, I’m sure I’m almost out of eggs.

@*!&$# Penneys! Want, But Know Better!

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I have an obsession with jackets and coats. This came down in my DNA — I had a conversation with my auntie once, about how many jackets and coats we had, and that we couldn’t seem to stop buying them.

Jackets and coats are lovely. They are smart. They have snaps, and buttons — and my favourite, zippers — and collars and cuffs and are car length or full length or cropped. They can be anything!

They are amazing.

Now this. This, I look at it, and I gasp and sigh, but oh holy night: if there is anything in this world designed to make me utterly unattractive, it is a furry coat.

I can’t even wear velvet! Too curvy; end up looking like a plush toy.

So I can only dream, but I bet there are one or two of you out there who can pull off this look.

Grrrrr.
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Penneys Animal Faux Fur Jacket €35, in stores mid-September.