Spirit of Folk 2013

Spirit of Folk 2013: what a beautiful time! Dunderry Park in Co. Meath became a Mecca for all things folksie and hippe-esque last Saturday, 21st September. Travelling there with fellow bohemian girls certainly got us some strange glances on the bus there with one man even heard to remark: "They're hippie girls, son!" (which we were both humoured and delighted by) as we indeed took the folk-festival fashion-vibe to heart. 

Hippie girlos

This event called for laid back/chilled hippie clothes and we were only too happy to oblige. Tie-dye, floral patterns, wellies, flower power, scarves...we had it all. We were also blessed with a sunshine-filled day, therefore, the good vibes were indeed reflected in our summery clothes. 

Our friends in the band 'No Bread' felt slightly left out in the fashion ranks, therefore, took the matter into their own hands and adorned themselves in bohemian garb. We thought the end result was pretty groovy, even if we do say so ourselves! 

No Bread fashionistas

Along with enjoying the musical talents on show, we were able to experience various folksie activities such as storytelling, hoolahooping, bike jousting, and viewing/desperately yearning to purchase all of the handmade jewelry and clothes goods.

Hoolahooping workshop

festival flare and handmade hoodies

Festivals (or 'Feastivals') are an excuse to unleash your hidden facepaint/glitter ambitions. Hazel, Aoibheann, Cait and I enjoyed painting the boys' faces but also relished in the opportunity to show off our own festival faces (and backs!)

After the day of live music, we were treated to a tent disco! Familiar tunes were given the folk treatment and we all quite literally danced the night away in our wellies.                                    
                                                   

devil's in the detail

After camping the night and packing up the next morning, what better way to rap up the weekend than with bubbles! A fabulously folkie time was had and I look forward to next years feastival with great excitement. 

Peace & love.

Student Vintage

As we're coming back into the college year, I was asked by The University Times to write an article on student vintage and charity-shop-shopping!

Hope you enjoy it!

http://universitytimes.ie/?p=19226

Electric Picnic 2012 Revisited (mostly nostalgia with some festival tips!)

With the impending 10th Anniversary of Electric Picnic, I would like to take this opportunity to recall Aisling and I's adventure last year and offer any fun ideas or tips for those (lucky lucky) people going this year! 

Everybody's gotta have their tent! My advice would be to get a tent that you've either practiced putting up already or one you know is simple to assemble. During one rainy night before the festival, we tried and failed miserably to set up a lovely, spacious 6-person tent...it got the better of us and we switched to a much more manageable 2-person model. Also, it's a good idea to set up and find a space in the campsite as soon as you get there. Believe me, you may not be in any condition to navigate your way through tent instructions after spending the day at a festival! 

To quote one of my favourite musicals 'Hair', 'flow it, show it'...your hair styling skills that is...Experiment! On the first day, I washed mine in the morning and put it in two french plaits and held them in place on my head with a festival-favourite-flower-garland. As I had my hair up all of Day One, this meant I could take it out and let the waves be free! Day Three consisted of dry shampoo, lots and lots and lots and lots of dry shampoo and praying. But to be honest, basically everybody's in the same unwashed boat by the third day so just go with the crazy fro flow! 

Along with having amazing music arenas, EP also boasts a brilliant 'Body & Soul' area. Whether yoga or simply chilling the camp-fire is your thing, it's got something for everybody. After long nights of jumping around, screaming until your lungs give out or dancing to random reggae, this was mine and Aisling's haven after getting our morning smoothie. If you're looking for a little lying-down/recuperation-time, check out the chimes area! 

There's also a super-chilled stage filled throughout the day with emerging acts. 

Along with a must-have list that I will include at the end, here's some things Aisling and I did and would recommend to any EP-goers this year....

Ok now the fun part's over, here's some more practical items: 

1. Toilet paper and antibacterial gel/wipes. You will thank me. 

2. Tiger balm/deep heat. Dancing/camping can cause severely sore bodies. 

3. Painkillers - same reason as above. 

4. Earplugs - if you want any sleep at all. 

5. Suncream - even if there's nothing but rain forecast. 

6. Snacks - festival food can be expensive.

7. Drink - festival drink can be too. 

8. Warm clothes for cold nights. 

9. Bum bag/money holder - mind your stuff during the day. 

10. Old phone - they have charging phone areas there but they charge you and it works better to bring an old phone that you wouldn't care to lose. 

11. Torch - for those fun-finding-the-tent-in-the-dead-of-night-times. 

12. Some sort of marker for your tent - they all look the same otherwise.

13. Babywipes - your showers for the weekend. 

14. Toothbrush/mouthwash

15. GLITTER! 

Have fun, be safe, make new friends, get lost in the music, wander around with a friend for hours, eat some falafel! 

My Ha'Penny Flea Market Stall

On 20th July, I secured myself a stall in The Grand Social as part of the weekly Ha'Penny Flea Market. 

As I am known as somewhat of a garment-hoarder by my friends and family, this came as quite a shock to them after hearing of my impending entrepreneurial adventure. 

In the beginning, I found it difficult to pick out clothes to part with and sell but I soon got over this hesitation at the prospect of receiving actual money. 

Also, in a moment of creativity, I decided to make jewelry to display and sell as part of my stall. 

Helped by my loving mother to transport my goods into town, we set up my stall and got ready for the day ahead. With blisteringly hot weather, I sat and watched many a tourist go by and occasionally purchase an item from myself. 

Some lovely friends visited me in the den of vintage clothing, jewelry and general items of bohemia and cooled me down. 

Good day had by all! I'd definitely recommend any students out there to give a flea market stall a go when looking for a bit of extra cash and a fun experience. 

Longitude Festival Fashion

So my timeline is slightly messed up but I hope you shall all forgive me...I am back in the lovely (and shockingly sunny) Emerald lsle after holidaying in Boston for three amazing weeks, however, I'll give a snippet of my Americana style in a following post.

Myself and a MOAMH (shortening my blog name and trying to say it out loud is too much fun by the way) regular, Miss Lara Phillips, attended the Longitude music festival on Friday, 19th July. 

As a lover of all things hippie-ish and bohemian, I am, of course, a keen festival-fashion enthusiast. 

As we were going to be basking in the sunshine while travelling about and singing our little hearts out, shorts were the call of the day! Lara had a chic black tailored pair which contrasted interestingly with my Urban Oufitters distressed denim and embellished pair.

We both agreed that nobody should totally sacrifice their own personal style for the sake of looking 'festival-y'. The key is taking your own everyday look and translating it to a different environment.

I kept cool in my simple cream tank top and red lace undertop while Lara went for a striking stripped pattern.

Fedora hats became our new best friends. From being skeptical at first, I quickly began to feel myself enjoying the Fedora way of life. Keeping cool and looking cool: it's pretty much a win-win situation, you must agree.

Our accessories included Lara's great, patterned head scarf (courtesy of her Mom's wardrobe) and my collection of mismatched jewellery including a long feathery earring and bead bracelets.

The beautiful music and atmosphere also perfectly complimented our chilled out festival style.

Dublin Shakespeare Festival - Willy's Suitcase

During the period of 3rd-8th June, myself and a few friends took part in the Trinity College 'Dublin Shakespeare Festival 2013'.

Taking part in two shows was indeed tiring as it meant double the amount of rehearsals but it was also one of the best weeks of my life! (*cue emotional music) We're first year drama students and took our production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' to primary schools during the week along with a few shows in Trinity.

Four of us (Alex Christle, Colm Summers, Conor Nolan and I) involved in the play also decided to adapt and perform a selection of scenes from Shakespeare's best loved plays. As this is primarily a fashion blog, I thought I would comment on our choice of costume for our outdoor scenes, collectively known as 'Willy's Suitcase'.

on location in St.Stephen's Green

Our concept was to have a set costume even though
we were changing characters with each scene. However, our suitcase of props allowed us to portray our character changes to the audience.
For example, Alex used a hat and waistcoat to signify that she was playing a girl pretending to be a boy (Shakespeare likes his cross-dressing).
One audience member commented that you could tell that we had done a module on 'Modernism' as our costumes evoked many elements of 'German Expressionism'...basically they're very dramatic!

the sexy crew 

 From our lovely headshots here to the left, you can also see our darkened eyes and cheekbones - again to heighten the expressions in our faces. We were going to be in outdoor sigths so we wanted to stand out from the crowd, so to speak!

 

Monochrome was the name of our fashion game.
Thanks mainly to Penneys for all our classic garments! Alex, Colm and Conor all wore black skinny jeans while I rocked a black leggings/skirt combo which Alex acquired for her 'female' roles too. The guys borrowed black bowler hats from myself which we all used as props in the show and wore white tank tops with black braces.

As the great man Shakespeare said himself 'Youth is wild' and we certainly had a colourful and wild time in our black and white garments!

Midsummers stylin' to follow...

Hazel's Clothes Stall Stylin'!

Hello dear friends! Excuse my absence, I was Shakespeare-ing it up...thespian posts to follow! 

A little while ago, a stylish friend of mine who goes by the name of Miss Hazel Scully decided to sell some of her threads at a stall in a flea market in Dark Horse Inn on George's Quay, Dublin. 

Myself and another stylin' friend Jack, paid the market and were delighted by the variety of different items and craftwork, and, of course, by Hazel's gorgeous collection!
                                                                                         

Hazel's wonderfully crafted sign.

The lady herself, holding the fort!   

Hazel being helped out by Aoibheann

The lovely Jack and myself admiring our spoils. 

After walking around the crowded market a few times, we kept returning to Hazel's stall as our sort of headquarters and I even bought a fabulous patterned 'Sisley' jacket of Ms Scully.
It's very much a stand-out item and I loved the mildy coarse texture of the fabric.

Jack and his love of sunglasses is well known around these parts. Therefore, luckily, he was successful in acquiring a groovy pair of floral sunnies that are perfect for the (hopefully) sunshine-y weather!

Another lovely seller had intricately crafted jewelry at her stall so I, naturally, being a crazy-accessory magnet, simply had to purchase a necklace!

Excuse the shoddy photos, but you can see how the shape of the necklace reminds me of a heart (*cue aww's) and being a statement piece, it would add interest to any simple outfit.


Summer tip: grab a friend and hit up a market!