Compiled by Deirdre McQuillan
BUY A WINNING DESIGN
Colette Moore (left), this year's winner of the Irish Heart Foundation Award for Best Designer, credits her commercial experience working for Castle of Ireland's Elvira label, as helping her succeed. From Bagenalstown, Co Carlow, Moore graduated from Limerick School of Art last year with a menswear degree collection and promptly landed a year's contract with Castle, researching the retail market. The brief for the Irish Heart Foundation award was to design a range for a new boutique for the 30-plus woman, and she came up with three tailored but feminine outfits, which included a coat made from striped upholstery fabric, a shaped floral jacket and a chiffon shift trimmed with velvet. The three outfits, all size 10, "are hanging in my wardrobe", she says, but if any boutique is interested, they are for sale. Moore can be contacted at 087-7463598.
OFF THE CUFF
Thanks to Charles Haughey, everyone knows about Charvet, the august Parisian establishment in the Place Vendôme. They're now on sale at Brown Thomas, Grafton Street for €250 (ties €125). Buyer Paul O'Connor says they have no difficulty selling them. "It's the detail in the fabric and the coloration that is so special," he says, adding that connoisseurs look for the slightly larger left cuff, which allows for a watch, and the two-fold premium-quality cotton. The range, which comes in some 15 different fabrics, includes two types of shirt collar. Double cuffs are the preferred choice, and currently popular are pink and lilac stripes.
BELLA FIGURA
When even Top Shop announces a range for stylish pregnancies (called "B"), mothers-to-be can't complain about lack of choice. The best shops are those that have both maternity and non-maternity clothes, and cater for a woman who would choose them even if she were not expecting. The trend is to look neat and narrow, and Lycra is the key to shape. This is the philosophy of Suzanne King of Bella Mamma in Ranelagh, who stocks Diane von Furstenberg wrap dresses, flattering clothing from Nicole Caramel, Earl jeans and other ultra-stylish lines. This knit top, €50, by Noppies, white vest top by Japanese Weekend, €60, and stripe trousers by Nicole Caramel, €130, could easily have another life after a new arrival. Bella Mamma, The Triangle, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 (01-4968598).