No tears necessary - Boohoo AW14 is perfection.

Colour me impressed by the AW14 Boohoo Press Day! Within the wonderfully kooky-majestic setting of Lost Society (so weird to be in a nightclub during the day) in Powerscourt Shopping Centre, Dublin with beautiful evening light streaming through the big Georgian windows and bloggers and press floating about with fancy lemonades or prosecco...it was kind of exactly what the doctor ordered! Sadly, I had my research in tow, weighing me down and making me the weird girl with all the bags once more but a glass of lemonade to cool me down, some sweeties snagged and nails done by the lovely people at Tropical Popical, I was human again and ready to peruse what was on display.

It was kind of love at first sight overall. The impact of the room upon first approach had me a wee bit swoony and weak at the knees. I mean, so gorgeous and affordable! Hello. Yes.

As always with Boohoo, there are key trends within the overall collection with princessy pieces, party pieces, AW boho, Boutique and punky tartan all coming together beautifully. I have my eye on quite a few pieces and all from a mixture of the collections which is somewhat unusual for me; a tartan bralet and trousers co-ord that screams a grown-up version of what I was constantly dressed in as a wee one, another co-ord of a gauzy top and skirt, a drop waist paisley number, a beyond oversized sheer plaid shirtdress, a fringed LBD and a dusty pink duster that makes me die. Plus shoes I could never walk in and hats I'd be slapped by my friends for wearing.

I'm pretty excited for it all!

But I'm really, deeply excited by the menswear. Yep, I'm not leaving you guys out for once! But I may start stealing your clothes. The menswear is pretty fashion-forward for such a mainstream highstreet brand as Boohoo and that thrills me; let's all get to experimenting with our looks. Think sport-luxe for dudes, longer hems to tees, slogans that don't make you cringe and bombers to make you gasp. It's all there.

Anyway, I've babbled for a while now. Check out the photos below and Boohoo for the items once they come on sale!

Thanks to the lovely peeps at Boohoo for having me. I ate everything...as per.

For the dudes

What collection/pieces are exciting you?

PS If you wanna get instant coverage of events like these in the future be sure to check out my instagram and twitter accounts and give me an auld follow!

AW14 Shopping List

I've already posted on the looks I'll be going for this AW but I thought I should also mention some of the key pieces I'll be injecting into my wardrobe. To me, these are indispensible for the coming season and some will also be great investment/non-agey pieces to boot!

1. Penney's/Primark Coats.

Love the Irish landscapes of the AW campaign, love the outerwear even more. They killed it this year. I want all the coats. The three I've gone for here are a pale pink Celine-esque number, a vintage-inspired faux-fur mod-like piece and a timelessly androgynous navy duffle.

2. Sailor Moon themed everything.

Because that equals cute, ne? This tee is from Lookhuman.com and is one of many, many tees, sweathers, bags and pieces of jewellery centred around Sailor Moon that I've fallen crazy in love with. Gimme.

3. A solid midi.

The mini may be the cut of the season but I like the proportions of a midi more at the moment. The khaki Topshop number is cute and manageable but the Lennon Courtney is the real one I'm after.

4. A pair of New Balances.

They've been on my list for a while now. Practical enough to run in...cute enough to wear when that inevitably doesn't work out.

5. Witchy/Nineties School Shoes.

These types of shoes were all the rage when I was eleven or twelve. I direly wanted a pair but my much-cleverer-than-I mother refused to buy them for me as she knew I'd never be able to run around the playground in them (ie What was I thinking?) Now I think (probably) I could do it. Vagabond were the brand of the day and I kinda wanna commit to the full childhood dream and get a pair now.

6. Grown-up heeled Chelsea Boots.

I live in ankle boots in the winter/always and I've been working my way up to a kinda proper heel so a classic Chelsea with a bit of height is what I'm after next. 

7. Hats.

I always want more hats but I've two sorts in mind: A classic Irish tweed number specifically from Evelyn the Arty Weaver and a stetson like this one from HIGH. NEED.

8. The Statement Jumper.

Specifically, this one from NATALIEBCOLEMAN. In love from the moment I first saw it.

9. Capes.

Yes, they're a thing again! I'm still searching for the perfect one but this Lennon Courtney capelet would sure go a long way towards quenching the need!

So, what will you guys be buying this AW?

DFF Creative Quarter Show

Despite being low on time what with dissertationing and all, I wanted to attend at least one event over Dublin Fashion Festival. I eventually chose the Creative Quarter show because it both suited my schedule and tickled my fancy - plus, the "Creative Quarter" happens to be one of my favourite parts of the city! The show took place in the gorgeous surrounds of the Powerscourt shopping centre and the MC was the face of the festival herself, Angela Scanlon.

The show was brief enough, just a half hour, but packed so much into that time! Despite being a mixture of highstreet, vintage and Irish designers from multiple sources, it managed to be cohesive and was seamlessly put together. The styling was on point - wearable here, experimental there. It was comprised of both womenswear and some men's looks and largely followed a theme of evening or bridalwear.

Sadly, I won't make it out to anything else this year but see you next year, DFF, you've been swell!

Did you make it to any events? Loving DFF?

Brand Crush: HIGH

I stumbled across the HIGH lookbook recently, in the window of a shop near where I work. The cover of the hardback lookbook was so gorgeous that I had to go inside and ask about it. I was told the brand was called HIGH and was made in Italy, designed by an Englishwoman, Claire Campbell.

Dat cover.

When I went to research the brand and see more, I discovered that their campaigns are always this gorgeous and conceptual. In fact, I have to say that they're some of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Which makes the fact that I'd yet to hear of them hard to grasp - how are people not raving about these clothes, these images and (dear God) the accompanying videos.

It's also uber-rare for me to want every piece from a collection - even for my most favourite designers - and, yet, that's the case here. They're the contemporary classics, the wearable loveliness, that the brand aims to produce. I never thought I'd utter this phrase...but...Damn, I wanna be a Scandinavian Cowgirl.

Which is the best way I can describe the AW14 collection.

I mean: Dat Stetson. Srsly. Gimme.

Set against a beautifully bleak landscape in Iceland and featuring to lovely, minimally made-up models with moody shots and music....it's really everything I want from a campaign.

Also, the hair is perf throughout.

Sigh.

So in love. Check the images and video below. You shan't be disappointed!

(Images via HIGH)

So, what do you think? As obsessed as me?

I'm off to run around in giddy circles. 

Dublin Fashion Festival.

So, here's a wee post about DFF! I was asked by the lovely peeps at evoke.ie to share my thoughts (below is the infographic I'm part of) with them about the annual event which is set to take part on the 4th to the 7th of September city-wide this year. I thought I'd put something here about it too in case any of y'all had yet to hear about it!

(Soz to all my readers/most of you who aren't based in Ireland or Dublin)

As I mentioned in my quote, Dublin and Ireland will probably never be able to support a viable fashion week. However, that's no reason for us to be left out! Dublin Fashion Festival is a fun way to celebrate fashion and fashion lovers in Ireland.

Each year, a "Face" is chosen and this year it's the lovely Angela Scanlon who features in the lookbook produced for the event and will be opening the festival. Over the four days there'll be loads going on all/almost all being free of charge all over the city with super-cool stuff like shows on the LUAS.

Still not sure what I'm going to head out to yet but I'll definitely be hitting up some events! How about you?