Designer clothes sale aims to save

FASHION:DESIGNER CLOTHES shopping that's easy on the pocket and guilt free is promised at a fundraising fashion sale in Dublin this weekend.

Some 2,500 garments will be on offer in the one day SALE (Save a Life in Ethiopia). The event is being organised by fashion buyer Tara Corristine with proceeds going towards children at risk in Ethiopia through NGO Concern.

It will be similar to a warehouse sale but "a blitz with no reasonable offer refused", Corristine said. She added that people would get "amazing value" as most items were worth more than €250 but with no overheads there would be "flexible pricing". Clothes and accessories were donated from boutiques and wholesalers countrywide. ''

Notable items include Maria Grachvogel dresses worth €1,250, a Joanne Hynes jacket worth €400, Alannah Hill Keogh dresses worth €500 and Lainey dresses worth €500. "It won't be the normal rummaging," Corristine said as clothes will be on rails, ordered by size (eight to 22), with changing rooms available.

Corristine got the idea when she heard on a radio news report earlier this summer that the lives of some 120,000 children in Ethiopia were in danger from acute malnutrition.

She was born in the Irrawady Delta, Ethiopia, when her parents worked there as a doctor and nurse for Concern. "I had a sense I had to do something" she said.

She phoned many of her contacts and was amazed by the reaction and the generosity.

SALE is scheduled in the ballroom of the Stillorgan Park Hotel this Sunday from 9am to 6pm. No entry fee or tickets needed. wwwsavealifeinethiopia.com