Dunnes Stores has put its faith in denim: it runs throughout the spring ranges, whatever the style of the clothes. It's no longer the rough, tough stuff of cowboy jeans - now it is soft, light, and well spiced with lycra. And there is none of the old washed-out blue.
There is a denim dark group with a burnished sheen worn with camel, which makes for semi-smartness: tight trousers, bat-wing jumpers, shiny gold tops, co-ordinated with camel jackets. Denim looks very different when it is in hot pinks and reds, quite French in style, especially when a blouson and pleated skirt, in dark indigo, is trimmed in red. The real fun is in the bold mixes of colour and geometric prints that turn up in all kinds of figure-hugging fabrics. In a yellow-and-brown diagonal stripe, a shiny, sleeveless top, priced at £20, is teamed with a skirt of a different stripe, for £30. It looks all the better when a gold chain belt and lizard-skin clutch bag are added. Shoes are fetching throughout: glamorous high-heeled mules and ankle-strap sandals come in pretty colours and add a flirty touch. The way to wear these clothes is to go for the bold mixing of patterns, putting flowered prints with stripes, spots and houndstooth checks. The best results are when a strongly patterned black-and-white flower print is worn with a black-and-white striped skirt. That is what Dunnes Stores dressing is about: quick, easy results and, of course, plenty of variety.