Fash Mob »

• LDN: photo diary

  July 18, 2011 @ 1:30 pm | by Rosemary Mac Cabe

  I was just wondering what exactly I was going to put in my London post, seeing as I didn’t take any photographs with my real-life camera, as I was too busy, you know, “being in the moment”. (Lately I’ve been getting the rage when people photograph everything, especially at gigs – I wonder what they’ll remember, the gig, or the repetitive strain injury in their shooting finger.)

  Anyway, I was having these thoughts when I decided to have a look through my iPhone for a few measly shots I could throw up for the craic, and I realised that I had loads of pics, all taken on Instagram (aka the best thing ever)! So hurrah!

  That was a huge digression before we get into the purpose of my trip, which was to see what John Lewis has in store this A/W, as the store has recently started selling online to European customers. Check out the site here. It’s in its infancy so do comment on what you like or don’t like, and I’ll report back!

  Basically, the British superstore’s PR team wanted to invite a host of bloggers from various European countries to come over, have a look at what they’re offering, and have a jaunt around the store – and who am I to say no to a trip to London? Plus, we were staying in the amazing Sanderson Hotel, where Cheryl Cole had just one week previously celebrated her 28th birthday and maybe got back with Ashley to boot!

  

  Here’s a goodie bag we received right after we arrived – well, first we headed to see the A/W presentation, then we got our goodie bags, then we had a bit of a lunchtime chillout – which was just as well as I’d been at the airport for 6.30am. Yawn. (As an aside, Terminal 2 is an oasis of calm, but it hasn’t even got a Starbucks!)

  After the morning session I ran off to Cos to see what they had going on, and bought two black tops (very inventive, I know), and almost purchased an amazing leather skater skirt, but for the £295 price tag . . . (more…)

• Forever 21 revisited

  June 29, 2011 @ 12:30 pm | by Rosemary Mac Cabe

  A couple of weeks back – or months, where has the time gone? – I wrote a post about how I just can’t get on board with Forever 21. I had tried. Ish. I’d gone in, you know, looked around, and I’d gone back out again. It wasn’t for me (I’d decided).

  But no sooner had I published the post than I got a communiqué from young James at Thinkhouse, the company that does PR for Forever 21, saying that he’d love for me to come in and have a walk around with one of their stylists, to see if they could change my mind.  Hello, PR companies! If there was a clever way to do something, this would be it. THIS RIGHT HERE [because I can’t go bolder than bold, unfortunately) is good PR. James didn’t send me a gift card or an item of clothing; he didn’t try to woo me with discounts and freebies. Instead, he took time out of his day to go, “you know what, I’m sure we can change your mind”.

  But did they?

  (more…)

• Make Your Own Havaianas at BT2!

  June 27, 2011 @ 10:30 am | by Rosemary Mac Cabe

  So. This post is a little . . . late, given that I went to make my own Havaianas approximately a month ago. I’m really behind, and today (Sunday – hurrah for scheduled posting!) is the day I have dedicated to going through the tonnes of press releases and various items I need to get published for the blog in the immediate future. SO! Havaianas is it, but let’s get started with what I’m listening to right now (and what will, surely, go down as one of the anthems of summer 2011, for those of you actually going on holidays):

  

  (I feel, as another point to note, as if that Janet Jackson ad has been running on YouTube for roughly 10 years.)

  So a couple of weeks ago I was invited by BT2 to head in and check out the MYOH bar in their Grafton Street store – it’s a pop-up concept that, as far as I know, launched last year, and basically allows you to create your flip flops from scratch, with a whirlwind of colour combinations available.

  

  See?! Seriously, more colours than you could shake a stick at. Unless you had a really big stick. First off you choose the colour of your sole, then it’s the colour of your straps – and you have a choice from the get-go, of the top straps or the slim straps. I opted for the top straps, my reasoning being that the slim straps would serve only to make my feet look chubbier. Yes, that’s how my mind works. (When I used to smoke, you know, six months ago, I refused to smoke Vogue cigarettes for the same reason – if some sneaky individual snapped a shot of me smoking them, I looked like a giant smoking a regular cigarette. Not flattering.)

  

  The setup of the stand is really cute, I should add – I love the tropical fruit elements, and the guy and girl who helped me (or man and woman?) were really friendly and chatty, and helped me when, really, I shouldn’t be allowed customise anything.

  

  And I’ll tell you why. When faced with too many choices, I lose all sense of logic and reality and choose really badly. In this instance, I went for purple and green, which are lovely together when you’re in Brazil, but go with nothing when you’re in Ireland attempting to pair them with jeans and a T-shirt. They basically go with black and white, and that is it.

  

  Why didn’t I go for baby blue and white?! WHY! Anyway, they are still lovely, if not as wearable as I’d fancied. I’d never owned a pair of Havaianas before, although friends swear by them as being really comfy (as far as not cutting your in-between toe area in half, shudder). How about you? Do you have a pair of Havaianas? Would you get a customised pair, or does that seem like a lot of effort? Let me know! Oh, and, prices, innit! Because we’re not in Celtic Tiger any more, Toto.

  

• A giant burger walks into a restaurant, with a model-slash-reality TV star and some unidentifiable toppings

  February 3, 2011 @ 4:26 pm | by Rosemary Mac Cabe

  

  I just don’t know what to say about this photograph. It begs to be captioned, but with what? It is, apparently, a photograph to launch a new restaurant on Suffolk Street – which apparently serves burgers, although I’m not quite sure what with as I will never be darkening their door. Furthermore, Vogue here apparently thinks it’s July and has chosen to pair her hotpants with a T-shirt and . . . a pair of court shoes. The mind boggles. Then, of course, there’s this.

  

  (I know, I spoiled you today. This post was going to wait until tomorrow, but it just seemed too . . . juicy . . . to hold back. Enjoy!)

• The dirty world of photocalls

  August 10, 2010 @ 12:30 pm | by Rosemary Mac Cabe

  Ireland has a bad habit of making the most sexist and offensive photocalls imaginable. Have something you want to say about waste management? Well, how perfect! Let’s get an Irish model in a bikini and stand her in front of a wheelie bin! Got a new promotion going on at a budget opticians? Let’s get an Irish model in a bikini and, eh, whack a pair of glasses on her.

  Which is why this photocall, for Haagen Dazs‘s summer days, was quite refreshing. A fully-clothed woman, with a man, having fun? Well, if this is the revolution, you can count me in.

  

• Hot damn, summer in the city

  May 21, 2010 @ 6:26 pm | by Rosemary Mac Cabe

  On Friday last, the Dublin City Business Association invited a group of fashion bloggers, journalists and general media types to a lunch to launch Dublin’s summer fashion programme, in an old Georgian home adjacent to the National Gallery. I could wax lyrical about the amazing lunch served up by the Gallery’s catering company, but instead I should get to the fashion aspects – which started with a short fashion show, offering up a taster of what Dublin’s retail destinations will have on offer this summer (which, if today is anything to go by, is set to be a scorcher – am I wrong in thinking that I heard a good forecast?! Fingers crossed . . .)

  

  Top and skirt from French Connection, from Arnotts

  It was a really lovely opportunity to see a range of outfits from different Dublin retailers, and there was also a great talk from Tom Coffey, chief executive of Dublin City Business Assocation, about how the recession has provided people with an opportunity to excel, to prove ourselves as a fashion, tourism, culture destination and to look forward, rather than looking back. It’s always nice to see some positivity, even when you’re kind of expecting them – it was a publicity event, after all – and Mr Coffey’s talk was just really heartfelt and inspiring.

  

  Playsuit from Julien in the St Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre

  What was also great was to see a selection of outfits from stores and labels that you kind of forget, so saturated as we are with UK brands like Topshop. Penneys even got a look in, which is always a little bit unexpected at a fashion show – when an outfit costs under €50, it seems folly to spend money on models and make-up to showcase it, but it was definitely a welcome addition, and I overheard several people comment on how nice it was to see some homegrown fashion on display.

  

  Red dress by Manoush, shoes by Carvela, both from BT2

  The show itself was great, although I do still have problems with the propensity of Irish models to think that jutting one’s hips forward equals good posture, when it blatantly does not. But the makeup was lovely – a really nice contrast with the summery clothes, in the form of theatrically bright eyes and lips – and the music was great, too. I’ll be keeping a keen eye on Dublin’s fashionable events coming up, and I’ll keep you informed as best I can!

• Food for (morning) thought . . .

  May 7, 2010 @ 8:52 am | by Rosemary Mac Cabe

  Here’s an excellent post from Damien Mulley on how PR companies can connect with bloggers. It might be interesting for those of you who neither blog nor work in PR, too – to see how things work from the other side. It gives some good insights into why and how bloggers / PRs would do giveaways, promotions, previews . . .

  Last night, in a move away from my fashion obsession, I watched The Bourne Ultimatum – hallooooo, Matt Damon. This morning, I read Rolling Stone; did anyone else take issue with the feature on Glee? “Entertain me!” Um, how about no?!