Satin rouge corset by Cadolle

Susan Hunter lingerie will celebrate an astonishing and admirable 27 years in business this month and to mark the occasion Susan will have 20 percent off all stock as well as lots of half price bargains.

The sale at her Westbury Mall boutique in Dublin starts at 10am on June 13th and runs for two weeks.

www.susanhunterlingerie.ie

Matthew Gidney
Photography & AV Technican
Limerick School of Art and Design
Clare Street
Limerick

Sisters Lily Allen and Sarah Owen launch their vintage inspired Lucy in Disguise collection at Brown Thomas Dublin. Photo: Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland.

Delighted to attend a lovely breakfast in the Brown Thomas Brown’s Cafe on Saturday morning for the launch of Lucy In Disguise – the new label by Lily Allen and her sister Sarah Owen.

Myself and fellow fashion hacks consumed copious amounts of great coffee and yummies whilst waiting to chat to the lovely pair who are both unassuming, approachable and cool – Lily sporting a red handkerchief dress with rockabilly overtones, Sarah wearing the long blue silk maxi dress.

it must be said we were well impressed, not just by the sheer flawlessness of Lily’s skin, but also by the quality of the merchandise.

Models Sarah wearing a pink silk chiffon dress €355 and Jayne wearing a black lace dress €475 as Sisters Lily Allen and Sarah Owen launch their vintage inspired Lucy in Disguise collection at Brown Thomas Dublin. Photo: Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland.

The pre-fall collection, available now, is a fantastic selection of styles referencing every era from the 1920s through to the forties, the sixties and seventies and right up to the 1980s.

It’s a vintage-inspired collection so they have taken styles they love and updated them using modern materials and adding details such as pockets as well as accounting for the change in shape of the average woman over time.

What’s great is that you can pick up a vintage-style garment in any size you need which sure beats the hell out of trawling around the vintage stores for once!

Some of the dresses such as the 1950s-style printed tea dress and the 1920s-style flapper dress were particular favourites and items that are simply not going to date in your wardrobe, therefore making good investment buys if your budget allows.

If the pre-fall collection impressed I think most of those present agreed that the AW collection is even more lust-worthy. Luxurious silks, velvets and embellishment all featured, my particular fav being the black velvet dress with embellished high neck which is a real classy number.

Some of the long dresses would also make great choices for the discerning, yet slightly rock n’ roll, debuntante this season.

Prices around €180 – €500 approx.

The website and blog of the brand is  pretty funky too.  Check it out on: lucyindisguiselondon.com

Models Jayne wearing a Red Jersey Jumpsuit €230 and Sarah wearing a Silk Sequin dress €475 as sisters Lily Allen and Sarah Owen launch their vintage inspired Lucy in Disguise collection at Brown Thomas Dublin. Photo:Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland.

Border print maxi dress with sash, €115 Straw sunhat, €60 Ruby stone gold chain, €27 Gold multi chain bracelet, €13 Straw gold clasp bag, €27 Two tone block heel sandals, €60

Today’s Sunday Business Post featured the new Per Una Designer Speziale collection from Marks and Spencer which has just launched at M&S Mary Street, Dublin1.

According to M&S, the collection seeks to bridge the gap between their existing Per Una collection and the M&S Designer Speziale range, a limited collection available in just five stores in the UK. The well-priced Per Una Speziale collection features quality fabrics, intricate embellishment and printed designs. The collection sees a mix of tailored dresses in metallic brocades, beautiful coats and jackets and printed silk dresses with real chutzpah.

Per Una Speziale will see 10 collections per year with 35 key styles in each collection.

Per Una chief designer, Helen Low, says that the Per Una Speziale collection is for the “grown-up, fashion-conscious woman who wants to stand out from the crowd”. “We pay great attention to the detailing, to the cut and to the fabrics in a nod to the Italian heritage of the collection,” says Low.

Shimmer jacket, €95 Shimmer trousers, €67 Navy tee (just seen), €8 Wooden multi necklace, €22 Wooden cocktail, €7 Aztec bag, €27 Red suede tan-trim sandals, €60

Model: Karen Fitzpatrick

Hair and Makeup: Billy Orr

Styling: Angela Scanlon

The comprehensive consumer guide takes information compiled from all 22 maternity service providers in the country to create an easy-to-understand guide for parents to be.

100 percent of the service providers answered a series of questions regarding induction rates, Cesarean section rates, breast feeding support, episiotomy rates and other birthing statistics and policies and practices.

The study shows a lack of standardisation across the board with practices varying hugely between institutions, with particular reference to rates of c-section, induction and other intervention where some maternity units have almost double the rates of others.

Part-funded by the Citizens Information Board and the HSE and by sponsors Pampers, Bump2babe.ie is the ultimate consumer guide for expectant mothers, their families and for anyone involved in maternity services.

Dress €43. Topshop Maternity. Shoes €76. Topshop. Bag €61. Topshop. Bracelet €12. Oasis.

Check out today’s Sunday Business Post for my investigation of whether or not one can be pregnant and truly on trend at the same time.

Yes, I conclude, but only if you know where to look!

On the high street, Topshop perform best in the quality and fashion stakes, in my opinion.

Other high street shops do well too and, though I didn’t get to mention them in the piece, a recent trip to Dorothy Perkins reveals an on-trend collection which is high on the brights and great prints, sadly lacking in the collections of other stores.

Other shops do well in terms of standard denims and your typical smock tops but need to inject a bit more fashion direction into their designs for expectant mothers. After all, one doesn’t lose one’s sense of style or fashion for the nine months of pregnancy.

H&M is quite good – I picked up some great little shorts yesterday along with a cute striped dress, the fabrics aren’t going to blow your mind, however the prices reflect this, and they are good value for the short time you’ll be wearing them.

New Look and Red Herring at Debenhams offer some on-trend items, though New Look (in the Liffey Valley Dublin store at least) tends to favour very casual items and has a penchant for tracksuits which is not to my taste.

Dress €98. Nelo Maternity. Bag €33. Topshop. Wedges €106. Topshop. Ring €6.95. H&M.

Over all it must be said that there can be no replacement for the specialist maternity boutique in terms of service, convenience and choice. We took Nelo maternity as a case in point.

Shopping online can also be a good way to take it easy when pounding the pavement gets too darn tiresome. Irish website Haute Mama is a good place to start.

Read the feature at The Sunday Business Post here.

Many thanks to the Morgan Hotel Temple Bar for providing a location for our shoot.

Photos: Rory Moran

Stylist: Linda Conway

Make-up: Lauren Enright at Makeup Forever

Hair: Eilis Malone at Peter Mark

Laura Gilensan. NCAD.

It was with great delight and anticipation that I attended the NCAD graduate fashion show this afternoon in the splendid setting of The Royal Hospital Kilmainham.

Produced and directed by designer Ciaran Sweeney and with hair by the Peter Mark creative team headed up by Michael Doyle, the show was impecably professional as always.

The creative zeal of the students was ever apparent from the second and third year students right through to the graduates and the standard of design is a credit to Dr. Helen McAllister Head of Fashion and Textiles at the college and all her colleagues.

Some of my favourite collections included those of Laura Gilsenan, Aoife Conroy and Mona Atkinson. I also loved the prints of Anne Carey, the beautiful outerwear of Mary Lennon (also winner of this year’s Persil design competition). I want that one sleeve hooded cape!!

Laura Gilsenan sites circus, performance, proportion and dark as key influences in her collection. For my part I loved the masculine look of the clothes – massively oversized shirt/ shirt dresses, larger than life pussy bows, freaky trousers and chelsea boots.

Mona Atkinson also has elements of subversion in her fairytale, spooky, whimsical collection.

Aoife Conroy

3rd year student Hannah Furlong’s collection really stood out to me and played, I feel, with notions of traditional menswear, in a subversion of the tux – think tailored trousers that were subtly sheer, shirt collars and monochrome – very Alexa Chung methinnks!

Mmm… not sure… but think I might be on a masculine buzz today. The more masculine collections just seem so right right now!

So much more to say, so little time right now – will have to re-examine later…

In the meantime look out for the graduate show at the college in Dublin’s Thomas Street. I never fail but to pick something up at the exhibition, whether it’s an item of textile, a fashion piece, a print or painting.

Always bargains to be had from the hands of some of our most inspirational and creatively aspirational minds.

www.ncad.ie

Tipu the Tiger Trunki from ibagsit.com

When it’s a Trunki of course!

If there’s one sure fire way to get excited about trips away it’s this little case by Trunki.

They come is a variety of styles from the basic model (which is still pretty cool) to more detailed ones resembling tigers, bumble bees and even The Gruffalo.

The tiger style case arrived at our house yesterday evening and has already been christened ‘ToyToy the Tiger’ by a really excited three-year-old. It (sorry – that should be he!) even had to come to the bathroom to help brush teeth and onto the bed to listen to bedtime stories.

If that much fun isn’t worth €35 I don’t know what is.

Oh and it’s useful too – fits quite a lot more than you’d expect (18 litres) and is sturdy enough for children aged 3 to 7 to ride on when tired.

We ordered ours from Wicklow-based company ibagsit.com who also stock a variety of nifty items including laptop covers, insulated lunch and picnic bags and handbag organisers.

Check ‘em out at www.ibagsit.com

Here’s what happened when Trunk took Tipu the Tiger to meet his mates at Longleat Safari Park where the film BBC children’s show Animal Park!