Dress up for a special occasion, without breaking the bank, with these discounted fashions from Kildare Village outlet centre, photographed at Imma by Alan Betson.
THESE ARE WHAT might be called “going out clothes for trying times”. Smart outfits for a wedding, an opening, a summer party or a day at the races, but with a modern twist. No fancy hats or bags or mitchy-matching. Dresses are the main players; scattered throughout are prints and colour, and the occasional discordance in the dressing-up, such as the flash of a sequin cardigan over demure skirts and peep-toed stilettos, the shot of blue with a discreet clutch, an offhand, off-the-shoulder green number. A cheerful brightness to the look overtakes the sombre edge of black or navy. It’s about a fresh start. It’s about spring.
Everything featured here is drawn from shops in Kildare Village outlet shopping centre, at prices marked down by up to 60 per cent from boutiques such as Reiss, Karen Millen, All Saints, LK Bennett, Jaeger and Coast. On a recent trip there, keen-eyed bargain hunters were on the prowl, many of them mothers and daughters, others husbands and wives or just friends on a day out.
One of the shops drawing the biggest crowd at the moment is the chic new outlet of Anya Hindmarch, which not only has a selection of her bags at knockdown prices, but also, exclusively in Ireland, stocks footwear and clothing, including cashmere sweaters. A latticed leather bag in camel leather with striped straps and brass fittings was down to €243 from nearly €500, for example. In Bally, good-looking black or brown leather handbags with chunky handles were a giveaway at €199, down from more than €400.
Bally, NPeal, TSE Cashmere, Kenneth Turner and Jack Wills (a UK brand with Abercrombie Fitch-style preppy classics), can only be found in Ireland in Kildare Village. At NPeal, manager Bridget Hamill said that customers who used to order online now come to the shop, where cashmere shawls in all colours could be picked up for €30, down from €139, V-neck sweaters were a bargain at €99 and a classic camel cashmere coat was reduced to €495 from €1,250.
There is very extensive choice to be found in the new Jaeger shop, with classic navy and white combinations and lightweight summer coats.
Newly-opened outlets also include All Saints, North Face and Cath Kidston, the latter coinciding with the launch of its first stand-alone shop in the Dundrum Centre, while shops such as Quiksilver, Ted Baker, Polo Ralph Lauren, Nike, Reebok and Tog 24 (snowsports) continue to attract younger unisex customers.
The mix of shops includes everything from kitchen ware (Le Creuset, Home Cook) to underwear (Myla, Wolford and Calvin Klein), and home furnishings (Descamps, Designers Guild, Orshof). There are also good bargains in menswear, from Savoy Taylors Guild, Ted Baker, Café Coton and Thomas Pink.
Dunne Crescenzi’s L’Officina is a restaurant and food shop, and its new Chocolateria boutique offers coffee and all sorts of chocolate treats.
Don’t bring a suitcase; find one in Samsonite at a knock-down price. A top-of-the-range carry-on suitcase, lightest of all at 2.6 kilos, carbon fibre, with a 30-litre capacity, was down to €330 from €475. An alternative cabin-sized number in shiny black, green or grey polycarbonate was €136, down from €195.
Finally, there is an exhibition of John Minihan’s photographs of Irish writers which is unmissable. Minihan is a photographer whose gifts have been described by John Banville as “at once penetrating and discreet, probing and respectful, close-up and personal”. Along with his famous images of Samuel Beckett, there are extraordinary black and white portraits of Michael Hartnett, Desmond Hogan, Edna O’Brien, Seamus Heaney and Brian Friel.
See www.kildarevillage.com
FASHION
FASHION