Fashion Intern Needed

"If you have a passion for all things fashion and are searching for an summer internship with a difference then we want to hear from you! We are looking for a confident, passionate, enthusiastic and professional individual to assist in the day-to-day tasks of running a successful online retail company. As well as working across the Irish and UK retail landscape, there will also be an exciting opportunity to work behind the scenes on one of Ireland's fastest growing fashion concessions. This is not a tea and photocopying position, this is a position that requires dedication and hands on work. If you think you fit the brief then please email your CV and a brief description of yourself to irishboutiques@gmail.com. Please note this position is unpaid."

Alila Pop up Shop at Dakota

Celebrate the release of Sex and the City with €5 Cocktails & shopping in the one spot!

Yes that’s right Alila and Dakota are coming together for Style Nation to offer customers the ultimate shopping experience – cocktails and discount!!

This Thursday from 7-10pm Alila will set up a pop-up shop in Dakota as part of Style Nation. There will be a special Sex and the City theme in conjunction with the release of Sex and they City 2.

All cocktails are €5 and Alila will be offering 20% discount too!

You can also get your make-up done by professional make-up artists and lashes too if you like! Its the ultimate beauty and fashion spot for Thursday nights!

We will have shoes and outfits suitable for every character so whether you are a Carrie, Charlotte Miranda or sexy Samantha, Alila has it covered!

For more info see Stylenation.ie

The Fashion Industry Insider

The Fashion Business that I started working in many years ago has changed in a huge number of ways. When I started as an Agent there were definite Seasons, forward ordering and a few major fashion fairs that all the buyers attended. Harrogate was a huge and extremely popular show and the many nights on the Konegsalle in Dusseldorf bumping into Irish buyers and sharing stories and beer brings back lots of good memories.
Now we have a year round buying event, shorter and shorter lead in times and lots and lots of shows with buyers travelling the world. In some ways this has made life difficult for both buyers and agents. On the other hand the choices now are many and where once a few large companies used to take all the major budgets we now have lots of smaller fashion labels offering more and more choice.
This recession (my second serious one) has brought with it huge challenges, which have come upon us very quickly, and this fact alone means that many retailers have had to make big adjustments in quick time.
On the plus side there are lots of new boutiques opening and there are lots of older ones doing a fantastic job of serving their customers and bringing the best fashion to every town in Ireland.
The principal companies I work with are always amazed when I tell them that Ireland has a population of 4.9 million and that none of my customers have postal numbers. They often query the very short addresses that I send them and I constantly have a chuckle when they quiz me on this fact. It seems Irish women love fashion and I am sure that per capita we spend more on good clothing than in some other countries.
That all bodes well for a business that I love. I’m lucky that I am flexible as an Agent to be able to adjust to the changes and challenges as needed.
This week the showroom is buzzing with the expected arrival of Heidi Higgins new collection. Flights are being booked for meetings in London and Milan later in the month, orders are being processed and new customers keep on coming.
Have a very fashionable week ahead……

Camille Boutique Launching in Malahide

This Thursday 27^th Camille Ingoldsby will officially launch her brand new Malahide store ‘Camille Boutique’. The launch itself will take place at 6.30 pm in the trendiest restaurant in town, Cruzzos. Fashionable ladies from all over are expected to flock to the Malahide marina eatery to get a real taste of what Camille has in store. Kathryn Thomas will be MC for the evening while Jenny Lee Masterson and Vogue William strutt their stuff in dresses to die for!

Camille Boutique stocks the chicest apparel, including celebrity loved ranges from StopStaring, MINAUK and the incredible ‘Charming’. Celebs spotted lately in Camille Boutique’s lables include Kathryn Thomas, Miriam Ahern, Amanda Brunker and Jenny Lee Masterson.

The owner, Camille Ingoldsby is “very excited to be showcasing her range of contemporary yet timeless top range clothing without the designer prices.”

Camille Boutique also offers a ‘made to order’ service where customers can make their very own dress from scratch. The choice is theirs completely.

Guests expected on the evening include Miriam Ahern, Celia Holman Lee, Una Gibney, Tara O’ Leary and RTE’s Sandra Byrne

Pia Boutique http://www.piaboutique.com

www.piaboutique.com

Amy Huberman at the Launch of Bow and Pearl Boutique

All Pictures by Richie Stokes

We went along to the opening night of this fabulous new boutique in Dublin's Ranelagh vilage. The gorgeouse Amy Huberman was theri to launch the night and is picture above a Bow and Pearl vintage inspired outfit. The boutique opened by young Dublin entrepreneur Bronagh O' Sullivan has allready being creating a stur on the stylescene, since the store opened its doors last month, bringinga refreshing and timely offering to the market-Unique and beautiful fashion labels such as Sugarhill Boutique, Fever, Darling and American Vintage at genuinely affordable prices


www.bowandpearl.com

The Fashion Industry Insider

I was away on holiday last week on the beautiful Island of Ischia off the coast of Naples. It was a wonderful break and half of me is still there walking the winding streets, window-shopping and sipping prosseco.

It was back to work today refreshed and ready to wade through the hundreds of emails and phone calls that needed immediate replies to. There is something about holidays that makes the brain so relaxed that it is very hard to jump straight back at full steam ahead.

This week my blog posts will have a decidedly sunny flavour and I will post great pictures and information for anybody who might think of visiting Ischia. The wonderful thing about blogs is that they are essentially anything you want them to be. There are no rules and nobody says what I can or cannot write about. Since most of my working life is centred on the fashion business that is what I write about most often but every now and again I break out and choose other subjects. So this week it’s travel tales.

The showroom is about to be transformed next week as Heidi Higgins brings in her new collection for Autumn/ Winter and customers will be coming to view the range. I am really excited to see what she will be showing and I’m looking forward to presenting it to the new customers from around Ireland who wish to view it.

At the same time the Yummie Tummie Holiday collection has now arrived and it’s looking fantastic with the new addition of leggings, tops and dresses which have the shape wear panel completely concealed inside. Judging from the amount of food I consumed over the past week and my expanded wais t line I can’t wait to order some for myself.

Working in the fashion business one would automatically think that I have access to lots of interesting and wonderful clothes. The truth is that it’s often too much trouble to order specials and I tend to forget until it’s too late. I tend to buy my own clothes in the same way as everybody else and that I think is why I think like a member of the public (which I tell myself) keeps me up to date with what’s in the shops. It also makes me very price conscious and value for money is something that is top of my personal buying agenda. That doesn’t mean cheap but it does mean clothes that will stay in my wardrobe and get worn over and over again

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Forgive this rambling post, I’m sure that by next week I will be fully back in the swing of things with my mind firmly on the business ground and memories of Ischia will be consigned to blog posts, photographs and my fading tan. Have a fashionable week ahead……..

http://www.nickysragtales.com
twitter.com/nickysragtales

Trollied Dolly

Trollied dolly – Quirky, flirty frocks for dollies who dare!

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, two sisters vowed that they would never go back to their jobs in the office and that they would instead, search for an altogether more enjoyable way of putting wine on the table. So one sister journeyed North and the other journeyed South and inspired by their travels they decided to live for the day and start up their own business. They had always longed not to be really ugly sisters, to always have something fabulous to wear at the ball and coupled with their weakness for getting trollied, they founded Trollied Dolly Clothing for sista’s all over the Kingdom.

They mixed up retro inspired designs and made them fabulous and fresh by the use of unusual and beautiful fabrics, not to be found anywhere on the high street. The Trollied Dolly range reflects the colour and vibrancy of far flung places, lively cultures and perky people, all shaken up with a slice of London Town and a splash of getting’ down! They believe in a land where bad outfits, dull fabrics and boring basics are banned and dreams of utter wardrobe brilliance really can come true!

For wholesale enquiries or a list of stockists please contact Aoife@zuku.ie