When you're feeling blue, don't wear black, the stylist behind RTÉ1's new drama, Bittersweet, tells Alanna Gallagher
SONYA LENNON, fashion stylist and adviser to many a star, has been busy. She worked on the award-winning film Garage, as well as this year's IFTA winner, Prosperity. She did the costumes for Sam Shepard's Fool for Love at the Peacock, and now appears in the credits for Bittersweet, a tale of three women in their late 30s who try to rekindle an old friendship. It will be shown on RTÉ1 on Easter Sunday.
"It's a look at what goes on behind the scenes, behind the veneer of 'having it all'," she says. "It's about the diversity of friendship." To give the production a stylish interpretation, each character was colour-coded to make it look as glossy as possible.
Actress Una Kavanagh plays Carmel, who ostensibly has it all, four kids, a lovely husband and a nice house. She's low-key and lustrous and well-dressed in rich mustards, tobaccos and oranges. Gerry, played by Catherine Walker, runs a successful PR business. Her husband died very young and now she finds succour in toy boys. "She's tough, with a very strong sexuality, and knows how to use it," continues Lennon. "I picked nature's warning colours of reds and purples to dress her."
Marie is played by Deirdre O'Kane and forms the third corner of this friendship triangle. She's a divorcee returning from England and is the reason the women rekindle their relationship. O'Kane is dressed in blue tones, including midnight blue and French navy. "It's a much softer option than black and really good on Celtic skin," says Lennon.
Any emotional upheaval takes a physical toll, says the stylist. "We tend to wear our emotions. So when you begin to heal you can use style and clothing to help you feel better about yourself."
It's easier, of course, if you're blessed with confidence. A lot of women are very hard on themselves, she says. "I think you have to be selfish, but in the best possible way. If you are happy then everyone round you is likely to be happy, from children to partners to pets."
Whatever your crisis - divorce, mid-life worries or lack of confidence, don't go back to black, which she calls the safe uniform of the undecided. "Black worn on a day-to-day basis is a comfort zone and it's dreadful on Irish skin."
She attributes the reason women don't try new things to fear - fear of failure. "People are afraid to try new things, and that includes new styles of clothing. Your body-shape changes all the time and so does fashion, so you need to constantly rethink what suits you. But you have to want to change the way you look. The more interested you are in looking good, the better it is for your head. The two are interlinked - looking good means feeling good - and the power you can derive from that becomes contagious."
Many women are demotivated because they're two sizes bigger than they'd like to be, says Lennon. "There are two ways to deal with that. The first is to lose the weight that's causing you this unhappiness. The second is to find a look that flatters your form as it is now. By choosing the second option you'll often find that you will start to lose the weight as confidence in the way you present yourself to the world increases.
"One way to kick-start the process is to buy lots of magazines to see what looks you think you like and where you might get them. Then take a day and go and try on as many styles and colours as you can. You need someone to offer impartial advice to you about your choices. Either invest in the help of a personal shopper or ask a friend who will steer you towards things that work. What you need to bring to the equation is an open mind to help you experience new shapes outside the box you've put yourself in. Leave anyone who doesn't have your best interests at heart at home."
This is about enlisting the buddy system, she explains. "Your own eyes often can't see the style habits you've formed. And instead of being terrified, let yourself get excited. If you're honest enough to say to someone 'I don't feel great about myself, will you come shopping with me?' I don't think any true friend will refuse."
And Irish women are good at friendship, she says. "They're the best girlfriends in the world. For the most part we're not men's women, we're women's women. Take a long hard look at yourself," says the stylist. "Be good about your good parts and realistic about your shortcomings. Life is long. If you love what you're doing, it shows." And Lennon is walking proof of that.
Bittersweet is on RTÉ1 on Easter Sunday at 9.30pm. Sonya Lennon operates the Luxury Workshop, a style initiative for women in business. She's also planning a limited capacity public event. For further details contact sonya@luxuryworkshop.ie