Love in a cold climate
With its mix of European style, American labels and Irish heritage houses such as Magee, Arnotts’ DNA of taking care of the unique style needs of Irish women remains at its core
Idon’t think any woman can resist the romance and textures of the clothing on our pages today, which is all from Arnotts.
Fashion is having a love affair with tradition this season, but in a whole new way. Over the coming months we will see divine tweeds, cosy knits, beautiful prints, sumptuous fabrics, luxury details, all with a more playful and a lighter attitude than before.
What I love — apart from the new beauty, lightness of being and luxurious fabrics such as velvet, lurex and teddy-bear faux fur — is the smartness of all the looks. This is style in the true sense of the word.
While fashion has its tribes, from grunge to sportswear, ultimately, fashion’s real value is about supporting the wearer to look their best self, as one reader wrote to me recently.
But let’s be frank, fashion doesn’t always do that. This season it does. Or perhaps it does when guided by the capable hands of a good buyer such as Valerie O’Neill.
To catch up on the news for the season, I met Valerie in The Kitchen on Arnotts’ second floor. Valerie is always enthusiastic, but I think this kind of season is really her forte.
“It is an exciting season,” Valerie tells me. “The Irish woman loves autumn/winter. She loves the colours and fabrics and layers and details and I think this season, with its jewel colours, rich prints, velvety fabrics, dresses and coats, will be a real hit with her.”
“But also, being a working woman, she wants beautiful workwear,” Valerie elaborates. “She likes to get good use from her wardrobe. This season is great for that kind of flexibility. Coats and tailoring are a big story this season, but you can deconstruct it, wearing a great jacket or coat over jeans with a T-shirt. Or put the trousers of a suit with a sweater and make it funky with a bold bag. We have such a collection of brands and so much news, it is hard to get it across to people just how much we have.”
Arnotts is one of Ireland’s biggest department stores. I can appreciate what Valerie means — there is a lot to take in. News such as Michael Kors ready-to-wear and Persona by Marina Rinaldi, to indie labels that Valerie sources to give the fashion floor uniqueness, such as the fab Essentiel Antwerp and DMN, and then Irish ones such as Tissue, Electronic Sheep and Triona. Fashion wouldn’t be fashion without a bit of
Ab Fab madness. My vote goes not to animal print, which frankly I adore, but to Freddy’s; for creating gross-looking-on-the-hanger jeans to create the Kardashian butt. So Eddy.