Deirdre McQuillan's style file
GOING SWIMMINGLY
Greystones is not the sleepy place it used to be. Today it's a shopper's paradise, with speciality boutiques offering everything from French china to surfwear. Ella Blue, the town's first lingerie, swimwear and nightwear store, is on Hillside Road. It's run by sisters, Jane and Richael Hehir, who are both in their 20s and come from a retail background. The family's lingerie and fashion shop, O'Brien's in Wexford, was established way back in 1892. The Greystones shop offers a broad range of lingerie brands such as Lejaby, Chantelle, Triumph and Berlei, as well as swimwear. There are Wolford tights, flip-flops, beach bags and little satin purses to tempt the customer, who could be any female, they say, aged from 11 to 90. Ella Blue is at 3 Hillside House, Hillside Road, Greystones (01-2878591).
HIGH ACHIEVERS
It doesn't take much to make a big girl look great, particularly in summer if she's got a bit of colour. This little black and white floral skirt, which costs €34, is worn with a simple, black knot-neck top (€30), a cool pair of red peep toes (€49), red handbag (€12) and a large pearl bracelet (€14). All for €140 in total from Marks & Spencer's Plus High Summer. The range also includes a cool black T-shirt embroidered with a pink stiletto, a bit of fun for €25, as well as a very slimming chocolate brown tankini top and bikini bottom for €25 and €17.
A PIECE OF ITALY
A blast of Brazilian glamour hit Duke Lane in Dublin with the opening of Tulia Lopez's lovely corner shop selling all kinds of jewellery from her native country. Now, to add to the lane's developing international flavour, comes Sole Luna, a shop selling a selection of Italian accessories, mostly sourced from Milan. These include handpainted bags by the Italian artist Luigi Mulas Debois, who moved from painting canvasses to painting leather bags, each one individually signed like a painting. They cost from €270-€470, but the shop also has other less expensive handbags, shoes, scarves and lingerie - all specially chosen by its proprietor Sole Lenassi and exclusive to her shop. Lenassi, who came to Ireland from Milan on a work project, decided to prolong her stay, and she now makes monthly buying trips home. "Fashion has always been my passion," she says.