Sunday, October 3, 2010

Dolls

Now that Catherine has pissed off to London we don't really get to see each other all that often. All attempts at ringing each other have failed miserably and our emails have been pretty lame,and along the lines of 'no news today, just working,uggh I hate Dublin'. Things must change Catherine. I'm proposing that we use this fairly neglected blog as a place to swap our news, yeah?



Diversion over, I went for brunch a couple weeks ago with Cillian (actually he's written about this already and does a much better job than I will). We headed to Dolls on Emorville road, just off South Circular. 'Hmm Dolls that's a boutique right?', you're not wrong but the newer of the two Dolls boutiques also has a lovely cafe attached. 'South Circular Road that's a bit out of way?', again you're not wrong, but when you're not wrong you're only sometimes right. The location is fairly brilliant, out of the way of noisy town, filled with tourists, the residential setting makes the busy cafe seem really relaxed. Cillian likened it to Hackney, which is where you live Catherine, that's great isn't it?



I very stupidly left my camera on in my bag so the battery was dead by the time I remembered to take any pictures. You'll have to take my word for it that the eggs Benedict looked lovely and was delicious.



Really oddly, a friend of mine once lived in Dolls. Obviously before it was a boutique, back in the days when it was a ridiculously dodgy student flat with a door that couldn't lock. Sitting in the cafe downstairs was pretty funny, when I remember a drunken night trying to boil water for tea on the hob when the nob fell off and the place filled with gas.



This place is first on the list for chats and coffee when you come back for a visit.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Think Pink



I love this clip from Audrey Hepburn's 1957 film Funny Face, it came to mind as I recently received a gift of Clarins Rouge Prodige Miami Pink lipstick. A very Barbi doll colour that I never would have thought to buy for myself but is actually really nice on.


-Catherine

Blog Friendly


Stephen from Stitches/Fabric/and Soul stopped me recently in town for this picture. Really nice guy and nice blog too.

-Catherine

Irish Examiner Millinery Shoot

These are the pictures from the shoot that I recently had the pleasure of assisting Annmarie with.


All jewellery by Boodles, hats by Philip Treacy, Edel Ramburg, Tootsie Royale, Linda McKay, Sarah Mc Gahon and Brett O'Mahony from Covet, lace headpiece from A Rubanesque, shoes by Nini DiVito, Mahnolo Blahnik and Miu Miu, gloves from glovedup.com and Jenny Vander, red silk wrap and black organza bolero both worn as collars by Bonzie Crotty.

Styling: Annmarie O'Connor
Photography: Miki Barlok
Hair: Susan Corcoran @ John Geaney for Hair
Make-up: Kate O'Reilly
Location: The Westbury Hotel

-Catherine

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Poster Girl



I'm probably a bit late with this one, but after a trip down to Kildare Village with my mom last week I have fallen in love with the Bernard Villemot prints for Bally. Bernard Villemot did the Bally advertising campaigns back in the 80's, and created 'The Bally Blonde' that you see in the first picture. Now, I might be wrong but as far as I can tell the collection came out this time last year and included a range of bags, shoes and scarves all with 'The Bally Blonde'. It was one of the bowling bags that I spotted in the shop in Kildare Village. The print is so colourful and the patent leather edging makes a nice contrast. It's also, at 50% off, ridiculously good value.


-Catherine

Addicted To Little Luxuries

So here we are again, another Chanel nail varnish. This one is part of the summer collection of pop colours which include Riviera, a perfect summer pink, and Mistral, a candyfloss colour with a tiny bit of sparkle. I am new to high fashion beauty products. I only wear make up that you would find in your local supermarket and I still buy my shampoo in the pound shop. However, I have recently fallen victim to an excellent marketing strategy-limited availability. There is something about the exclusivity of these colours that gets me. It's not as if I couldn't get my hands on an identical version in Urban Outfitters or American Apparel (both shops do great selections of coloured varnish), but I don't want the imitation, I want the Chanel. I know this is a very common strategy for most high-end products, one of the building blocks of luxury brands is that they are exclusive, but I can only participate at this level. My dress might be from Penney's, but my nails are always Chanel.

-Catherine

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Things we learnt in Barcelona

1. Our first trip to Barcelona was five years ago. Five years ago we loved vintage clothes and so when we happened upon Carrer de la Riera Baixa, it was kinda like we had found heaven. I have no idea how much money I spent on that road during that trip. It was literally vintage shop after vintage shop. Le Swing in particular was incredible. So when we were heading back to Barcelona for Primavera I checked up to make sure our favourite shop was still around. Turned out there were two of them now, oh Lord were we excited. We spent a whole day wandering around looking for the mysterious street (were not very good with maps), that's hours of tired leg syndrome, only to find that what was once a vintage haven has turned into an entire street of tat. There was absolutely no selection process on behalf of the shops and the prices were outrageous. There was only one exception, Motel. A shop not filled with crap and very reasonably priced, the only reason to bother to go back down that street.

2. The second thing I learned in Barcelona is something that I've suspected for quite some time. I hate festival fashion. Can we all not remember a time when going to festivals was about going to see bands you like not posing in outfits you spent hours thinking about. It was quite depressing looking about and generally seeing a uniform of bare legs and stripes . It got pretty cold out there, why weren't these girls wearing pants or a jumper? I don't understand at all.
I can't claim I've not become more concerned with how I look at a festival in recent years. Back in the days of Witness I spent the weekend without make up and always caked in mud and there was the glorious week long camping trip to Glastonbury without showers (that's more disgusting than anything else and I really wish I could have showered but its a bit difficult when you cant be bothered to queue for hours in the rain to feel clean for about ten minutes).

RealDublinStreets.blogspot.com
have great pictures of the hipsters of Primavera

-Lil

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Style Crush

I won't lie to you, it's not just a style crush - I think I am in love with Carey Mulligan.

First, she was in Pride and Prejudice, which i love.


And then she was in An Education which is not only a great film but also full of wonderful outfits, like this one.


Then she continued to turn up to events wearing some fabulous dresses, like this one she wore to the Directors Guild Awards.


And this one to the Oscars. The embellishments are little knives and scissors.


And this one to the BAFTAS.


Then she did leather for the Independent Spirit Awards.


Then she did this shoot for Wonderland magazine. Which is AMAZING.


And now i want to look just like her.

-Catherine

Monday, May 3, 2010

Fashion Celebrities

Can't believe I never mentioned that Lillian and I went along to the Face Hunter book signing in Noble & Beggarman on South William Street and totally met THE Alan Taylor who signed my book - AMAZING. Yvan was pretty nice too.



-Catherine

FAVOURITE


I want to meet this guy. He must have a great sense of humour. Photo from Jak & Jil.

-Catherine

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Paris, je t'aime

Our lovely room

The breakfast room

I meant to post about the hotel I stayed in when I was in Paris back in February but of course it slipped my mind. Better late than never I suppose. Hotel Arvor is the first hotel i've stayed in in Paris because generally when I visit I stay with friends but I cannot recommend this place highly enough. It is not only very good value but it's in a great location and is also wonderfully stylish. Breakfast is not included and is pricey enough at €11 but considering we only paid €400 for four nights it certainly wouldn't break the bank. It's properly cool too, We Have Band were being interviewed in the lobby when we arrived and Marina of Marina and the Diamonds was checking in as we were leaving.

-Catherine

Catherine Recommends


Ziaga Natural Skincare Range. A colleague of mine gave me a gift of a selection of Polish beauty products for Christmas. Now, I was never too bothered about what kind of shower gel or moisturiser I used until I started using this stuff. It's incredible and it smells amazing. I have the shower gel, body balm and hand cream from the cocoa butter range and you can get it from all good chemists and it's usually between €3 and €5.

-Catherine

We Have Friends In Design


Our friend Anna (I am all about plugging friends projects this week) is a graphic design graduate and has a blog called Puking Rainbows where she does some very amusing design criticism that i'm sure you'll all love.

-Catherine

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

We Have Friends In Fashion

Picture from Avedon Fashion


Some of our friends have decided to start a little fashion blog over here. I know they're our friends but we really like it and think you will too.

-Catherine

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Shameless Self Promotion

Myself and Neil have entered the Ultimate Job in Ireland competition and we'd be really happy if you could vote for us. Here's the link. Thanks in advance.

-Catherine

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Things to be excited about this week:

1) Two days off from work - IN A ROW

2) Face Hunter book signing tonight in Noble and Beggarman books on South William Street from 6-8pm

3) Nokia Young Fashion Designer exhibition in the Powerscourt Centre until the 28th

-Catherine

Friday, March 5, 2010

A Very Chanel Birthday




Yves Saint Laurent bangle

House of Holland tights
And then the American Apparel jazz shoes

-Catherine

And, and and...

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

2010 A Space Odyssey

Rodarte scored by No Age directed by Todd Cole and set in a jet lab owned by the guy that founded Paypal.



Lil

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Aha!


Just a quick post to boast about my new purchase. For the last month i've been on a waiting list for the new Chanel Particuliere nail varnish. That's right, a bloody waiting list. So when I was in Paris over the weekend i popped into BHV, straight to the Chanel counter where I had to wait about four minutes for the lovely shop assistant to have it all bagged up for me and ready to go. It might seem silly to some, but that made my day.

-Catherine

Monday, February 22, 2010

Good Morning


I woke up this morning to a text message from Lil telling me we'd been nominated for the Irish Blog Awards. As you can imagine I was in a great mood all day. We are very excited.

-Catherine

Oh, and silly me, thanks to the lovely people who nominated us.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Im all edge

I think I'm taking this whole lux grunge thing a bit too far but with the spring summer collections taking over the shops I've very little time left before I'll be expected to wear nudes and florals SO I'm making the best of grey and black and studs while it's still acceptable and before I look like an annoying angsty teenager. Saying that, if I did have a couple hundred quid to splash out on a pair of shoes I'd most certainly be buying these, sure they're mens shoes I dont think I care.
Lil

Friday, February 12, 2010

These New Puritans

I spend a lot of time going to see bands and really its not their outfits that I'm paying attention to but it is nice when a band are very good as well as being very stylish. Not the Marine and the Diamonds'over the top I'm trying too hard stylish' but just naturally immensely cool. These New Puritans are just that sort of band. After seeing them play Electric Picnic a couple of years ago I was well impressed. Can you imagine wearing that chain top thing at a festival?Well done sir
Of course other people have noticed their brilliance, Hedi Slimane to be exact. They've written music for his Dior Homme shows. Watch this video its really very good.


Lil

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Christmas Presents

Sonja Rykiel for H&M body.
Chanel Vendetta nail varnish.
Smythson Panama diary.

Lauduree Macaroons. Yummers.

-Catherine

Circus Master

So this is what i got when i went down to the Circus closing down sale last week. Sad time for them, great bargains for me. Green silk draped back Marjan Pejoski dress for €50 and i got this sweet little wooden doll pendent for €25.




I would have put up a picture of me in this dress but it's very cold at home today so i'm keeping my dressing gown on.

-Catherine