Lyon Loring is a little vintage boutique that ploughs its own furrow right in the heart of trendy Stoneybatter, one of Dublin’s oldest districts, with placenames dating back to the Vikings. The shop is a mix of vintage clothing, potted plants, greeting cards, local skin creams, earrings made of buttons and some vintage shoes and bags. It’s a bit like walking into someone’s eccentric house with its needlepoint pictures, cross stitch badges with cute motifs and chest of drawers. The clothing rails are made of industrial copper tubing, and the back area with a changing room is sealed off with old sewing machines and plants. The vintage clothes are a mix of tweed jackets, 1940s-style dresses, white silk blouses and knits with a St Bernard tag – vintage Dunnes Stores. There was a particular attractive printed, pleated red and black silk-look polyester skirt and a black velvet dress that could be trimmed of its elaborate decor. Owned by vintage-loving Canadian Joshua Moreno and his Irish husband, Paul, the boutique is open from Tuesday to Saturday at 32 Stoneybatter, Liffey end of Manor Street.
THE POET COAT
A centrepiece of Inis Meáin’s latest collection is what they call the Raftery coat, called after the 19th-century blind wandering bard Antoine Ó Raifteiri from Kiltimagh, known for his long frieze coat and corduroy breeches. Inis Meáin’s version, a long cardigan-style jacket (€750) comes not in coarse frieze, as would have been common then, but is knitted in luxurious soft cashmere merino yarn and can easily double as a coat or be worn underneath one. On a modern metropolitan, it would certainly cut a stylish dash and can be found in Barneys New York; Robert Jones, Toronto; Grey Flannel, London; Doherty Evans & Stott in Manchester; Frans Boone in Holland; Battistini in La Spezia Italy; Mr Porter UK and US. There’s one client in Ireland – Mark Joyce of Joyce’s in Recess and the coat is also on sale in Inis Meáin itself. Mr Porter’s film made on the island about this collection is now online.
