Frontlines . . .

Sign up for the Great Rail Sale:IF PRESSED, most people will admit to having a large section of clothes in their wardrobes that they never wear: the impetuous sales purchase, the dress that doesn't fit; the blazer that didn't turn you into Alexa Chung.

The Great Rail Sale, taking place in Molesworth Hall off Dawson Street, Dublin 2 on May 7th provides an opportunity to have a proper clear out and make some cash at the same time.

For €25 you can hire a rail on the day (€20 if you book in advance) to sell off or swap clothes, bags, shoes and accessories. All the organisers ask is that you be reasonable with the prices charged and that the items – whether vintage, high street or boutique – be in good condition.

If you don't think you can fill a rail, which can hold up to 30 items, you can join forces with some friends. Along with the clothes, expect stalls selling home-baked treats, tea and coffee and a DJ. Anything not sold on the day will be donated to charity. Email greatrailsale@gmail.com to book a rail. Róisín Ingle

CALLING ALL FRANCOPHILES

Today and tomorrow, at Dublin Castle and at the Alliance Francaise in Kildare Street, the annual Franco Irish Literary Festival will be pulsating with discussions, readings, signings, lectures and interviews. All events are open to the public and admission is free. This year’s theme? Generations. For the schedule see francoirishliteraryfestival.com. You might catch Paul Murray today or the literary brunch at the Alliance tomorrow from 11 am-1pm with Claude Arnaud, Eric Fottorino, Virginie Linhart, Keith Ridgway and Micheál Ó Conghaile

A TOUCH OF CLASS

Dún Laoghaire’s Royal Marine Hotel is hosting a vintage fashion and decor fair on Sunday, April 17th from noon until 6.30pm.

Now in its third year, the fair will more than 40 dealers in vintage fashion, 20th-century memorabilia and décor to south Dublin, with classic cocktails, rocking sounds and retro makeovers. Sounds like a vintage day out to us

Raise a mug

Tea is the most glorious substance known to man. It gets us out of bed in the morning; it helps us avoid work by creating excuses for non-unionised 10-minute breaks; it builds bridges and solves disputes. So why would you denigrate this manna from heaven by serving it any old sloppy mug that comes your way? Instead, treat it with the respect it deserves with one of these fine mugs from the Irish Design Shop. To celebrate the fact that 2011 is the year of craft, the shop has commissioned this set of six mugs, featuring designs by Dave Comiskey, René Mullin, Paget Scott-McCarthy, Olga Tiernan, Trevor Vaugh and Yellowhammer. They are €10 each or €50 for a set of six, and you can find them among the design shop's other treasures at irishdesignshop.com or in the shop itself on Bow Lane East in Dublin 2, behind the Stephen's Green shopping centre. Lawrence Mackin

PENCILS AT THE READY

When you think of a bootcamp, images of fitness instructors roaring at a sweating, bedraggled group of unfortunates spring to mind. But not all bootcamps are the same.

The Illustration Bootcamp, run in Dublin by artist and illustrator Adrienne Geoghegan, is a far nicer sort. Meeting once a week, the six-month course offers tuition in various forms of illustration, a lively and productive atmosphere with discussions and workshops and even some gentle coercion to launch a career in illustrating.

Adrienne also runs a Picture Book Creation course which combines illustration with developing and writing children’s books. Part lecture, part workshop, this course takes participants through the process of writing, editing, illustration, experimentation, and finally submitting a children’s picture book to publishers.

An exhibition opens at 3pm tomorrow in The Exchange, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, to showcase the work of students from both courses. See exchangedublin.ie. New courses begin in May. For more information, see adriennegeoghegan.com. Rachel Collins

Best foot forward

Dubliner Maud O'Keeffe is a shoemaker making a name for herself in London. She launched her first men's footwear collection last year, fusing "Irish heritage with Italian craftsmanship". O'Keeffe has clocked up years of experience in the trade, working with designers such as Patrick Cox, Jimmy Choo, Jonathan Kelsey and Alexander McQueen. Her 15-style collection includes brogues, loafers, desert boots and Oxfords in suede and calf, nine of which are Goodyear welted. In Ireland, three of the brogue styles can be found in 99b in Rathgar in sizes seven up to 12, at €495 a pair. Deirdre McQuillan

Polyester: A wrinkle in time

For 70 years it has ruled the world like an easy-wash, drip-dry monarch. We’ve worn it, decorated with it, and, if we were very unlucky, slept in it. In 1971, two British chemists, John Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson, created a synthetic polymer they snappily called polyethylene terephthalate. The substance was soon used to create a new super-fabric, easy to wash, needing no ironing, and so hard-wearing it was essentially indestructible. It was called polyester.

By the 1960s, the fabric was being mass-produced, and turned into everything from shirts to sheets to party frocks. It’s easy to see the appeal of durable polyester in a time when household mending was a part of every housewife’s workload, and when laundry day still involved lots of physical labour. Over the years, polyester became the most-produced fabric in the world, and despite our 21st-century love of natural fibres, it remains so today: 30 million tonnes of polyethylene terephthalate is produced for textiles every year. Its ability to draw sweat away from the skin means that it’s used for sportswear (that’s why a room full of polyester can be a pungent place).

As one who was born in 1975, I have fond memories of polyester. Not only was I inevitably surrounded by it in early childhood (my cousin and I were awestruck when we discovered that if she pulled her Snoopy nightie over her head really quickly, it appeared to light up), but as a student in the mid-1990s, I was quite often dressed from head-to-toe in charity-shop polyester, as were many of my friends. Gaudy 1970s shirts and tracksuit tops, brightly patterned 1960s and 1970s frocks and skirts and even Sta-Prest slacks were not uncommon sights on the Arts Block ramp. Considering the intense flammability of most of these garish ensembles, and the fact that many of us smoked, it’s a wonder we all made it to graduation without going up in flames.

Polyester has advanced greatly over the years, but although today’s synthetic fabrics may look and feel more sophisticated than their slithery forebears, they may be even more environmentally dangerous. On its own, polyester may be based on petroleum, but it can be thermoformed and recycled into anything from a plastic bottle to a fleece jacket. Pure cotton, meanwhile, biodegrades.

However, combining the two substances into a polycotton blend – now used to make millions of products – creates a fabric that can’t be recycled and essentially lasts forever. Which wouldn’t be an inherently bad thing if it weren’t for the fact that in today’s disposable fashion culture, few polycotton garments are built to last.

So what's the solution? Well, buying much less polycotton, and only doing so when we know we'll keep the garment for a long time. And if we really want to keep polyester garments in circulation, well, I've still got a few of those charity-shop frocks at the back of my wardrobe. Anna Carey

LOST AND FOUND

Louise Brooks (pictured) was a star of the silent era and made 17 films, but is perhaps best known for her three feature roles with the director GW Pabst: Pandora's Box(1929), Prix de Beaute(1930) and Diary of a Lost Girl(1929). Brooks became an icon for several reasons: on screen, she is mesmeric, and even now her trademark bob haircut still looks like the height of edgy fashion. Her acting style was also naturalistic and subtle, in contrast to the histrionics of many silent-film actors. Tomorrow, a screening of Diary of a Lost Girlwill be shown in Dublin's Button Factory with a live, original soundtrack composed and performed by 3epkano, which was originally commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Doors are at 7.30pm, the show starts at 8.15pm, and tickets are €12 from tickets.ie. Bob haircuts optional.

WORD ON THE STREET: MANBAGGING

What it means:Remember when men fought in a manly way, with bare knuckles and cocked pistols? These days, however, it's more likely to be manicured claws out and man-bags at dawn.

Manbagging is men being bitchy, and getting into a girly-style catfight that would leave Posh or Jordan in the ha’penny place.

But it’s hardly ever mano a mano – most manbagging these days goes on in the blogosphere, on BBC arts programmes or on Joe Duffy on RTÉ radio.

And it’s usually over something trivial such as whether the new Radiohead album is any good or whether Jonathan Ross should shave off his goatee.

Where it comes from:It's not clear when manbagging made the leap from fashion pages to discussion forums, but a bout of "severe manbagging" broke out recently in the Irish Times letters page when playwright and novelist Eugene McCabe took umbrage at lit-crit Eileen Battersby's review of Dermot Healy's new novel, Long Time No See. McCabe used a Joycean epithet to describe Battersby's own literary efforts, prompting novelist John Banville to spring to her defence.

Gentlemen, choose your manbags!

How to say it: "Did you see Oireachtas report last night? It's all-out manbagging!" Kevin Courtney

The cream of ices

For those passionate about ice cream, the definitive bible is Caroline and Robin Weir’s Ice creams, Sorbets and Gelati, first published 12 years ago.

Acclaimed as the most comprehensive and authoritative work on the subject, a new expanded edition has just been published, with more than 400 recipes and all sort of additional information and illustrations. The authors, relentless in their pursuit of perfection, have spent over a decade on research. They are forthright about the low standards in mass manufacturing. They argue for the quality of the home made product without additives, emulsifiers or stabilisers and stand proudly over the reliability of their recipes. It is published by Grub Street and costs £25/€28. Deirdre McQuillan

Oven gloves off

If cleaning the oven is your idea of domestic hell, help is at hand.

Dublin-based Cleanoven caters for those who love cooking, but loathe cleaning. A professionally spring-cleaned cooker is a great present for an enthusiastic home chef or a busy parent reluctant to face this hellish chore. It is available in Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and Meath. Cleanoven usually take about 90 minutes to do the job, and uses non-caustic and eco-friendly products. It costs from €70. It also cleans barbecues, hobs, extractors and ranges. Contact Eimear at 086-8299066 or 01-4588885, or see cleanoven.ie. Deirdre McQuillan

WHAT’S HOT

Bus stop time alertsFinally we know when the next bus is coming, thanks to the new electroic boards. Dublin Bus has finally caught up with Luas and Dart technology.

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera at ImmaLots of wonderful masterpieces by the fiery, talented painting spouses - we love Frida's self-portraits (left). Runs until June 26th

Naughty AliceTo celebrate Vivienne Westwood turning 70, treat yourself to a bottle of her signature perfume. Surprisingly sweet and – gasp – girly

'The Crimson Petal and The White'Oh, sumptuous period dramas, we wish we knew how to quit you. Stars Chris The IT CrowdO'Dowd. BBC2, Wednesdays

Simon's PlaceTucked inside the George's Street Arcade and still the purveyor of the best doorstep sandwiches in Dublin. Not to mention the divine cinnamon buns. Nom

Feckin Spiced Irish WhiskeyA hot whiskey made with this single malt with a hint of spices and vanilla is the perfect antidote to those spring sniffles and runny noses. From the Celtic Whiskey Shop, Dawson Street

'I'm a Homebird (It's Very Hard)'At The Project now. Comedy theatre about your guilt when all your friends leave the country. Nostalgic and nervous laughter

Jince: Vincent Brown and John Grimes (Jedward)We're waiting to see their new TV3 show together

Fundit.ieGet people to fund your idea and give them something back in return

Leinster vs LeicesterAt least one Irish team is still competing for the Heineken Cup

WHAT’S NOT

Obama spending only five hours hereTo think the amount we did for America! We built the cities

'Killing Bono'Reviews have been colder than U2 look in the snowy video for New Year's Day

'The Kennedys'The controversial (and badly reviewed) US TV series started midweek on the History Channel. Best thing about it is Katie Holmes in Chanel suits

Facebook placesI really don't care you've checked in at that bar

The IMFWatch out, they're back in town

Viral videosStop trying to make them

CALLING ALL FRANCOPHILES