Deirdre McQuillan's style file
A BUM DEAL
Do high-end jeans do wonders for rear-end confidence? That's the question to be asked of those bearing price tags of more than €250, commonplace these days, and yet the quest for the most desirable pair and the perfect fit seems unending. Whatever about thongs losing their popularity, there are no signs of the bottom falling out of the jeans market. There are reports, for instance, that there are waiting lists for Lacoste's new denims (not yet in Ireland), said to flatter the posterior. Notify, which launched in Paris a year ago, takes the question of fit a bit further by applying the principles of bra sizing to their new range. Designed in France by the designer of Seven jeans, they are made in Italy and cut like men's trousers. The idea is that you select your waist size, then determine your curve size - A, B or C, which means looking at your rear shape very carefully when making your choice. They call it "sculpt sizing", and the fit is certainly neat. In Ireland, Notify jeans can be found exclusively in House of Fraser in Dundrum, available in blue or black denim at €256 a pair.
TOP OF THE PILE
When the new Top Shop opens in the former Habitat premises on St Stephen's Green in October, four Irish design labels will be included in their very exciting winter collections. Joanne Hynes (email info@joannehynes.com for stockists), Antonia Campbell Hughes, Padraic Sweeney and Jule (the partnership of Julie Peelo and Beatrice McCabe) have all been commissioned to provide exclusive ranges for the Dublin and Oxford Street stores. For Joanne Hynes the break has been "a great boost and it is a new market and I am very excited about being part of the new opening." She has just returned from a month in India overseeing production of the big Top Shop order, mostly consisting of black and neutral-coloured fun dresses and skirts, as well looking after her main line. It's been a good month for Hynes because she will also take up a major new post as fashion course director at the University of Hertfordshire near London on September 1st
DENMARK MEETS DERRY
"We always liked wee knick-knacks and always had a dream of having our own shop," say the owners of the Brown Bag, a jewel of a little shop just opened in Magherafelt, Co Derry, which is already attracting fashion's keen bloodhounds. Three friends, two teachers and a former florist, secured the exclusive rights to stock in Ireland a young and innovative Copenhagen fashion company called CCDK. The range, along with other interesting labels, some great bags and jewellery, has certainly brightened up Magherafelt's Broad Street. Prices are in the middle range, and the shop caters for those wanting smart modern clothes for work or dressier affairs for evening.
A pair of flat black knee-high boots will be one of the coming season's key accessories, and for those who can't afford the delicious tasselled numbers of Christian Louboutin or Eileen Shields, Debbie Dettling at 19 Dunville Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin offers a handsome alternative from Gerald Darel at €265, available in sizes 37-40 only.