Giles AW15

The Victorians hold less interest for me than what came before. Regency, or even Baroque, is much more my cup of tea. Not only did they throw a prudish spanner in the works and set gender equality back aeons but their version of lace and modesty was just too fussy, too contrived. It's all embroidered velvets in garish shades and poor proportions.

Yet reinventions of Victorian fashion, like that at Giles AW15, hold boundless appeal to me. A little bit Lestat, a little kinky and wonderfully dark. I mean, the leather frock coat? I could wear that all day, every day and never get bored or love it less. High lace collars with mini-skirts. Waists falling at more natural points. Menswear tailoring for female garments. Making being very much covered up into something overtly, palpably sexy - taking sensibilities of that period into the hands of an empowered, assured woman of ours. Theatrical explosions of ruffles and bows. Vampy black lips and little else in the way of make-up.

The success here is in the re-imagining. The heart of the garments, and even their purposeful containment of the body, remains the same but the way it is expressed and how it is interpreted is different. The woman who wears Giles is choosing to leave more to the imagination but she is a bit of a minx, she winks at us. She knows what she is doing rather than being forced to conform to standards of the time. And she has a flair for the dramatic - you won't miss her when she arrives at the party.

It's enough to make a wanna-goth swoon.

(Images via vogue.co,uk by Indigital)

P.S. It's great to see Andreja Pejic stomping the runway once more x

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Zoe Jordan AW15

Alpine, a little androgynous, very wearable. 

For AW15, Zoe Jordan gives us the knitwear staples the brand has led us to expect, plays with proportion, bedecks us in oversized faux fur and presents tailoring that is to die for.

Trop cool.

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ID15: In The Fold - Ireland at LFW

London Fashion Week AW15-16 marked the fourth International Fashion Showcase. Ireland was one of the twenty-five countries represented at the exhibition, presenting an installation of works by eight emerging designers and representing Irish design and culture - Caoimhe Mac Neice, Jocelyn Murray Boyne, Laura Kinsella, Michael Stewart, Naoise Farrell, Oliver Duncan Doherty, Richard Malone and Rory Parnell-Mooney. The installation was presented by Irish Design 2015 with LFW marking its launch before it is to tour internationally. Curated by Gemma A. Williams, the installation demonstrates how the isolation of island living can give rise to an entirely indigenous design identity - one that is clean, restrained and presents seemingly minimal but complex designs. It is very much a case of the more you look, the more you see. 

The hang of the installation allowed for room to observe the construction closely and views from multiple angles. And the "white box" gallery space for the Irish installation allowed for an oasis of calm and reflection in the hive of activity of the exhibition. The clothes were the focal point, being presented without distraction. 

And, damn, if they weren't things of intricate beauty that referenced traditional craft and design while signifying what might be made of the future. 

Michael Stewart

Oliver Duncan Doherty

Laura Kinsella

Caoimhe Mac Neice

Richard Malone and Naoise Farrell

Rory Parnell-Mooney and Jocelyn Murray Boyne

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ID15: Danielle Romeril AW15

Impeccably dressed. devastatingly cool girl gangs are kind of a thing with Danielle Romeril now. Last season they were encamped in the wilderness and for AW15 they're warriors. The collection, entitled Survival, presents a mixture of textures and fabrics in a range of natural tones - browns, black, white, tan with tartan, denim, leather, lace and quilting. Armour-like scaling and fringing abound. And the presence of tartan among elements seemingly borrowed from Japanese and Native American tradition blends cultures so that it all reads a little of a samurai Pocahontas by way of the Emerald Isle.

As always, an absolute treat of a collection, encompassing a strong vision with wearability.

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LFW - I

So, today was my first day of London Fashion Week! I'm exhausted from travel and running around London and seeing friends and now writing stuff up but, damn, if it isn't everything I dreamed and more. My first show, Youjia Jin, blew me away! I've spent the say with two of my favourite people that I don't get to see half enough, bought a cool top, seen lots of the city and eaten great food.

Here's some pictures of my day, my food and my outfit!

Trench - Zara, Capelet - Paul Costelloe for Dunnes, Jeans - Topshop, Boots - Topshop, Jumper - JW Anderson, Bag - Mel, Sunglasses - Topshop

I'll be back with more tomorrow. For now, I must sleep!

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Packing for LFW!

So, I'm off to my first fashion week in the wee (far to wee) hours of tomorrow morning. This time tomorrow, I'll be there! I'll post about shows I go to and my outfits over the course of the weekend but I thought it might be interesting to post about packing for it too.

I'm only going to be there for two full days and have had my outfits planned for sometime. This being said, it was still tricky to ensure I was packing as light as possible. Outfits can be planned but the unknown can't be and this is something to consider especially when you're as clumsy as I.


In order to keep things to the minimum, I stuck to those two plans, one to be worn to the airport and that day, the other to be packed away with a pair of jeans to swap out the second more formal trousers, if necessary, a dressy top in case of evening activities and a spare basic tee. Shoes, considering the trotting around required, were kept to the slip-ons I'll wear over and a pair of flat black ankle boots.

In addition to these we have a pair of pyjamas, delicates, skincare and showering items, make-up, make-up brushes, jewellery, cables and portable charger, laptop, camera and a backpack containing travel documents, passport, wallet, day planner, map, journal and reading materials.

Note the use of Cos dust-covers to hold smaller items - keep these if you get them, they're so handy for keeping things together!

The bags I'm taking are a Samsonite stolen from Dad and my Mel backpack that he brought me back from Singapore.

Inside the Mel are the journal and diary, a plastic pocket with all my documents so they can be kept together but still scanned readily (my passport lives in there too), wallet, pens, spare batteries for my camera and my map of London that everyone's been mocking me about but, hey, you can't always depend on technology! And I don't want to get lost, if I can help it.

Inside the suitcase we have the laptop on top with pouches of toiletries just underneath for going through security with ease.  

In the flap on the top, I have my boots and headphones and cables, again ready for security but also to keep everything in order and clean. Cos bag being implemented for cables here.

Tucked next to my clothes are the toiletries bags, as mentioned, and two more Cos bags with jewellery and delicates.

With the toiletries and make-up, I kept any samples or minis I've been given for my next trip so I had loads of stuff ready that was more compact than my normal extensive skincare regime. The toiletries are in a clear travel bag I got in H&M and the make-up in a sandwich bag I've popped into my Betsy Johnson make-up bag so they can be removed easily.

And there you have it! Trying to pack light and for quick passage through the airport without missing out on style or comforts. 

Talk soon! With lots of LFW news and insights!

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