Designing down under:This lovely brown chiffon and feather dress worn by the up-and-coming Sydney actress Emma Booth on the cover of the current issue of Harper's Bazaar Australia is the work of Sophia Berman, a first-class-honours graduate of the National College of Art & Design.
Booth is one of the stars of the forthcoming 1960s movie Hippie Hippie Shake (with Cillian Murphy and Sienna Miller), in which she plays Germaine Greer. The dress is from Sass & Bide, the well-known Australian fashion team with whom Berman now works. It's the first time any of S&B's designs, mostly associated with sexy jeans, have made a magazine cover. A Dubliner, Berman worked in London after graduation in 2004 with FrostFrench, Stella McCartney and Roland Mouret before moving to Ungaro in Paris. She was headhunted by the Australians and moved to work with them last November. The cover had an additional significance for Berman; it was published on her 27th birthday. A three-week course at Grafton Academy in 2001 made her determined to pursue a career in fashion design, according to her proud mother, Jill. This is a down-under Irish star to watch. Deirdre McQuillan
More than mattresses
Living Quarters, on South Great George's Street in Dublin 2, which started life 20 years ago, making futons and timber beds, moved last year to a bright new corner premises on Cornmarket called the Bankhouse (beside MRCB Paints), a move marking a change of direction in every sense. At its new production unit, in Bagenalstown, Co Carlow, it is making good-looking, affordable beds and bedroom furniture to order, many designed to provide extra storage for small spaces. I bought a double there some months ago with four capacious under-bed drawers that transformed a cluttered room overnight. The shop showcases various types of beds, such as the Storage, the Zen or the Alpha, and you can choose the type of wood, the size and finish to suit the space or match existing furniture. Given its location beside a prime paint store, you can also select the paint finish you want. See www.living-quarters.ie, 01-6706626. Deirdre McQuillan
The right amount of fizz
Sometimes a glass of fizz can brighten things up remarkably, especially if it's pink. But we don't always require a whole bottle, so it's good to hear that
Jacob's Creek's perfectly delicious sparkling rosé is now available in 200ml bottles, perfect for a midweek pick-me-up. Wine writers really do rate these sparkling wines. The rosé, and the paler-hued sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir, come in packs of three 200ml bottles, costing €14.99, and are available nationwide. Marie-Claire Digby
Capturing the carbon footprint
Sustainable Energy Ireland's fifth annual Schools Photography Competition focuses on what individuals can do to make a difference in the increasingly urgent battle against global warming. Aimed at second-level students north and south of the Border, this year's competition takes "My Carbon Footprint" as its theme, with students encouraged to capture in a photograph the ways they can reduce their impact on the environment. There's €10,000 worth of prizes on offer, including laptops, digital cameras, camcorders, MP3 players and camera phones. The closing date is Friday, March 14th. See www.sei.ie or call 1850-376666. Michael Kelly
Maggie from Mayo
A remarkable kimono that belonged to the great Irish diva Margaret Burke-Sheridan (1889-1958), originally a gift from the emperor of Japan to the famous Italian soprano Maria Farneti, goes on display at the Italian Cultural Institute, on Fitzwilliam Square in Dublin, from March 20th to 30th. Embroidered with gold and silken threads, it is one of a number of costumes worn by the celebrated Irish opera singer that form part of an exhibition mounted by her biographer Anne Chambers, to mark the 50th anniversary of her death. The costumes, found along with other personal possessions and documents by the late Lord Oranmore and Browne at an auction in London in 1962, include ornate velvet cloaks, rhinestone-studded dresses and elaborate kimonos. These were worn in some of her legendary performances in the great opera houses of the world. Maggie from Mayo, as she liked to call herself, had an eventful life that was the very stuff of opera, and a series of events has been organised to commemorate her.
This exhibition will travel to the Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar, her home town, in April. Deirdre McQuillan
Sit, rover, sit
They say never work with children or animals, but that doesn't bother Brendan Burke. In recent months the comedian and actor has embraced a third career, photographing people with their dogs. "I got the idea a few years ago when my own dog died," he says. "I would love to have had a good picture of the two of us together." In December Burke took a National Shield Award for a photograph of his Fair City colleague Jim Bartley with a lurcher. One of his recent subjects was Laura Cleary, reunited in London with her terrier-poodle cross nine months after it had been stolen in Tallaght. Two more were Robbie and Bailey. "I usually go to people's homes or a place they love being with their dog - a park or beach."
The basic package of €175 involves a photo shoot from which you view an online slideshow of up to 60 pictures. Choose your favourite and you get a framed 18x13cm print. So does Burke have another dog now? "No. I was beside myself when my dog died. He was 14 years old; it was a big chunk of my life. I adored him." These days Burke is content making other dog lovers happy. For details call 086-8241761 or e-mail brendan@shootmydog.ie. See also www.shootmydog.ie. Clare McCarthy
Write on
Think you have a Lemony Snicket or Eoin Colfer masterpiece in you? Next Saturday Dublin City Libraries, in association with hostwriters.com, a new website developed by the Verbal Arts Centre, will run a workshop for writers of children's literature. It will take place at Dublin City Library and Archive on Pearse Street, Dublin 2. Barry Cunningham of Penguin Books, the man who signed up JK Rowling, and Mary Byrne, formerly of Puffin, will guide aspiring writers through the process of writing and publishing a children's book. The workshop runs from 2pm until 4pm. Admission is free, but booking is essential. Phone 01-6744873 or e-mail dublincitypubliclibraries@dublincity.ie. Killian Forde
Can't get you out of my bed
Kylie Minogue is the latest celebrity to put her name to a line of bed linen. How much input stars have in the design of their namesake homewares can be hard to tell, but by all accounts Kylie seems to have been involved.
Last month she told Woman & Home magazine: "I was totally hands-on with the design. I invited the design team to my home and walked and talked them through some of my favourite design and furnishing elements of my place. I collated a lot of photo references of all kinds of things, including a lot of fashion."
The range has plenty of elements you might associate with Kylie's image: tiger prints, taffeta, diamantes. There are also lots of metallic colours and art-deco patterns. The quality is pretty good; the best fabric is a very nice cotton jacquard. Apart from the bed linen, there are also pillows, cushions and throws. It's available at larger branches of Dunnes Stores. Eoin Lyons
Fresh food, fine art
One should eat to live and not live to eat, but Molière would surely eat his words if he were to taste one of Orla Fox's cranberry scones. Fox has just opened Providence Market Kitchen, on St Augustine Street in Galway, with the emphasis on local and organic produce, to have there or to take away.
But why would one want to leave when the work of 14 artists is on show? Fox's coffee kitchen doubles as an art space, and her first exhibition involves work by Gia Griffiths-Howard, Jean Purtill (including the painting at right), Betty Quinlan, Dolores McDonagh, Catherine Flemming, Lesley Wingfield and fellow fine-art graduates of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology.
The exhibition of oils, watercolours and mixed media, which continues until the end of the month, also incorporates work by Monica Collins, Mary Doyle, Mary Folen, Tess Higgins, Vera Kenny, Liz McGill, Corry O'Reilly and Terry Smith. Providence Market Kitchen's is open from Monday to Saturday between 8.30am and 6pm; 091-533906. Lorna Siggins