On the town: Fur hats and muffs, Russian doll skirts and babushka-style boots were the order of the day at the A-wear autumn/winter fashion show this week.
From Russia with Love was the show's theme, said Anne Marie Flood, managing director of the Irish company, which has 24 stores here.
"It's up-to-the-minute fashion at really affordable prices for every style," said Catherine Duffy, manager of the A-wear store in Letterkenny, Co Donegal. Her colleagues, Gillian Hart, manager of the outlet in Castlebar, Co Mayo, and Joanne McManus, manager of the Belfast store, in the south of the city, both nodded in agreement.
This year it's all about "opulence - the 'Cossack', with fur trims on the cuffs, military-style epaulettes on jackets and military buttons, as well as the English eccentric look, with pencil skirts, Victorian lace blouses and lots of tweed", said Flood.
The nine-strong female team who make RTÉ's Off the Rails programme were there, including its presenters, Caroline Morahan and Pamela Flood. Kathryn Thomas, presenter of RTÉ's No Frontiers, was also in attendance. Others enjoying the show included PR consultant Sonia Reynolds and her friend, stylist Catherine Condell; stylist turned acting student Graham Cruz; hair stylist Michael Doyle; beauty therapist Anne Boylan and her friend, Shirley Beere; and Nicola O'Donnell, from Dungarvan, Co Waterford, and Lorraine Larmer, from Newbliss, Co Monaghan.
Twenty models lined up backstage to take part in the dramatic show in Dublin's Russian-style Pravda Bar on Lower Liffey Street.
"It's a beautiful show, it's getting better and better each year," said model Kelly O'Byrne, of Assets Model Agency.
"I loved the Russian hats," said model Sarah McGovern, before the marching beat of a Russian anthem started and on strode the babushkas.