Let’s be merry!
Need some original design, sparkle or bling to give you an edge in the pressies or style stakes? Enter Om Diva, where age is just a number and girliness reigns supreme
Dublin was recently named in a survey as one of the worst cities for quality of life, a fact which needs to be taken seriously by the city’s planners, businesses and employers. I have long complained that the city centre offers nothing for children, and that is never a good sign of a culture.
However, Dublin is a beautiful, magnificent-looking capital city, and at Christmas time, it feels very special. One of my favourite places is the area of Castle Market, Drury Street and the George’s Street Arcade
— a veritable treasure trove of unique businesses and street life.
One of its gems is Om Diva, on 27 Drury Street, a retail world full of feminine joy, fun and difference; of colour, bling, sparkle and bubbly (if you time it right). It’s a place where people actually have fun at work.
“Christmas in Om Diva can be pretty fantastical. It’s chaotic, but fun chaos! Essentially, we could sum it up with Champagne. We have Champagne every evening for ourselves and the customers, and Christmas music. I love the old crooners,” the founder of Om Diva, Ruth Ni Loinsigh, tells me.
“We are about creating an atmosphere of magic. A genuine atmosphere. We don’t ever want to feel we are manipulating the season to make money. We want to feel part of the season. I want the staff to feel like they are having a great time, too.” The lower ground level of Om Diva is vintage — currently full of lush velvets and sensuous kimonos. The ground floor is contemporary — a balance of winter and party wardrobes and fab, fab jewellery. Then, on the first and second floors, is Atelier 27, a designated retail space for Ireland’s emerging talent in fashion design and accessories, including Squirrel Versus Magpie, George Murray, EmMarie, Arvydas Designs, Sarah Murphy and Janice Byrne Goldsmith.
Om Diva is a place to cheer oneself up. I go in to have a potter, and quickly am reminded that no matter what age I am, I am going to want neon plastic pony earrings or fabulously OTT brooches.
“Just because you are older doesn’t mean you don’t want something youthful. Our demographic is everybody. People who want to look good, feel good, for themselves,” Ruth says.
“If they don’t know how to wear colour, we will help them introduce it into their wardrobe. Because we have the vintage, the contemporary, the Irish designers and jewellers, there are no restrictions. There is no ‘demographic’. There is just ‘all good’!”