DEIRDRE MCQUILLANtalks to Michael O'Doherty, publisher
DESCRIBE WHAT YOU’RE WEARING
The black cord jacket – known in the office as a party jacket – is by D G. I got it in Brown Thomas in the January sale for half price – look how frugal I am – and at 400 quid, do you know what, it will last. The Duchamp white shirt, my favourite, was a birthday present from Andrea Roche two years ago, and the Dunhill cufflinks were a Christmas present five years ago. The black jeans are from House of Fraser. I have about six pairs of black shoes that all look the same. This pair is Christian Dior, but I don’t remember where I got them.
DO YOU SHOP A LOT?
I am a classic male pattern shopper. I shop on a need-to-buy basis, something women can never get their heads around. I need something, I go out, I have exactly what I want in mind, and I buy it. I never impulse buy. I shop twice a year in BTs, Harvey Nichols, House of Fraser – I must start going somewhere else. On weekends in the sun in Marbella I would probably sniff around a couple of shops there.
DO WORK AND WEEKEND WEAR VARY?
In terms of work, I think clothes should give off an air of being modest and sensible. At weekends I wear casual versions of the same clothes I wear to work. I have always been a conservative dresser. At school in Sandford Park, I remember in fifth year, when we could wear whatever we wanted, I wore black trousers, white shirt and a black tie.
HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THAT?
When we were making our First Communion, my mother dressed me and my brother in matching denim Wrangler suits, mine was yellow and brother’s light blue. I have been traumatised by that ever since.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR GREATEST EXTRAVAGANCE?
In 1984, when I was 25, I bought a black leather and suede sweater in Paris which cost the equivalent of €400 today, and my father had given me the equivalent of €500 to get me through the summer. And do you know what, I still have it and am waiting for a 1980s theme party to wear it. It still looks as outrageous as it did when I was 25.
YOU OBVIOUSLY WENT WILD IN THE 1980s
I bought a pair of cream leather trousers from Alias Tom when I was in Trinity – I could see nothing wrong with them – I wore them with a white shirt and a white sweater around the Arts Block, and I didn’t stand out in those days.
DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST SUIT?
Yes, it was tailor-made for me by Adrian Copeland and my dad paid for it. It was a double-breasted suit – everybody then looked like extras from Miami Vice.
DO IRISH MEN HAVE STYLE?
Most people dress conservatively. People get weaned on the two-piece suit at an early age. We are hung up on bland, blue, two-piece suits in Ireland. Men don’t necessarily look better in a suit – they make everybody look uniform. I wear a suit two days a week, and never at weekends. I’d wear a suit meeting somebody we’d be getting money from, a client maybe, but it’s not always the case.
ARE YOU FUSSY ABOUT JEANS?
I wear jeans until they get holes in the knees and then I throw them out. I keep stuff for years and years. Nothing is cheap, but they will last and I won’t throw them out. I have enough stuff that I can rotate.
HOW DO YOU KEEP FIT?
I exercise a bit and I walk a lot to places. I find it convenient as opposed to the unbearable stress of being stuck in traffic.
GROOMING?
I go to the barbers around the corner from work in Pembroke Street every three months. I have a mental thing about grooming. I just do it myself and I am not too fussy about having other people doing it. I hate spending money on things that I can do myself. For me being pampered is a lie-in on Sunday.
HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE?
Conservative to the point of mind-boggling tedium. If I looked at myself in the mirror I would think:“Would you ever wear something different?” I am neat, never dishevelled, and would never go out in a tracksuit. There is an inner banker in me trying to get out. I am not flamboyant.
NO EXTRAVAGANCE?
My only extravagance is cars. I have a bright orange Lamborghini which I bought when I turned 40, but I don’t like speeding. I’ve had five cars in my life, yellow, red, blue and orange, and the first was a two seater when I was 17. I have worked out my fixations through cars not clothes. Eventually, I may only wear black and drive a black car.