The Gloss Magazine July 2011
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Transcript of The Gloss Magazine July 2011
Summer wine and food / creative ventureS / Shapely gardenS / beauty buffet / gloSSip
localbeauty
Ali Hewson
THE irisH TimEsnow every month with
Fashion’sColourful Character
In At the Deep enD
Three Women Learn A Language
july 2011 / t4.50
MaGaZINe
three housesthree looks
summer Living
Summer withoutMen
BOO168-128 Honeysuckle The Gloss DPS_Layout 1 06/06/2011 12:36 Page 1
Boodles Wonderland 71 Grafton Street, Dublin 2 | T: 01 679 0203 | www.boodles.ie
BOO168-128 Honeysuckle The Gloss DPS_Layout 1 06/06/2011 12:38 Page 2
observer 6 Gloss-ip The launch of a special liTerary supper club 8 Off The Record mary davis up close and personal shopping 11 Hunting jungle fever
12 Gathering naTural selecTion 14 Back To Black glamorous swimwear soluTions
16 Wardrobe Update ciTy shorTs: how To wear Them features 18 Summer Without Men women go on reTreaT 20 Look The Business day in The life of a business
woman 21 July In A Different Colour polly devlin recalls The marching season 24 Repeat After Me new ways of learning a language fashion 26 Sea Of Colour make an impacT
wiTh brighTs beauty 33 Local Beauty home-grown skincare 34 Beauty Buffet This
monTh’s gorgeous new producTs home 37 Getting Away From It All summer house
sTyle food & wine 40 Restaurant kaTy mc guinness visiTs mulberry garden plus A Summer Lunch clodagh mc kenna’s simple al fresco fare 41 This Glossy Lifestyle
a moveable feasT: ouTdoor furniTure 42 Wine mary dowey’s perfecT maTches plus This Entertaining Life carina mc grail’s recipe for success travel 43 Man In A Suitcase
Tim magee on london in The summer this glossy life 45 The Heart Of Business creaTive business venTures 48 A View From The Jeep connie reduces The counTry’s debT
plus She Does, She Doesn’t singer, acTor and muse jane birkin on pleasing The men in her life
July 2011
4 | July 2011 | T h e G l o s s M A G A Z I N e
THE GlOSS welcomes letters from readers, emailed to [email protected].
THE GlOSS is published by Gloss Publications Ltd, The Courtyard, 40 Main Street, Blackrock,
Co Dublin, 01 275 5130. Subscriptions Hotline: 01 275 5130. 12 issues delivered directly to your
address: Ireland: t49.50. UK and EU: t80. Rest of world: t115. Printed by Polestar, Chantry, UK.
Colour origination by Typeform. Copyright 2011 Gloss Publications Ltd. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited.
This magazine can be recycled either in your Green Bin kerbside collection or at a
local recycling point.
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ON THE COVER: Multi-colour
crepe dress, VERSuS.
THiS pagE: Navy velvet jacket
and matching skirt, from the
new TOm FORd ready-to-wear
collection, at Brown Thomas,
Dublin, from the end of July.
publiSHER
jane mc donnell
EdiTOR
Sarah mc donnell
STylE EdiTOR
aiSlinn coffey
adVERTiSiNg SalES diRECTOR
Tracy ormiSTon
CONTRibuTiNg EdiTORS
Polly devlin, lynn enrighT, anTonia harT, caTherine heaney, kaTy mc guinneSS, mary miller,
aoife o’brien, PeTer o’brien, Sarah owenS, ThereSe Quinn, roSe mary roche,
luiS rodriguez, naTaSha Sherling
CONTRibuTiNg pHOTOgRapHERS
juan algarin, Siobhan byrne, Sarah doyle, neil gavin, renaTo ghiazza, olivia graham, neil hurley,
liSa lofTuS, barry mc call, joanne murPhy, liam murPhy, amelia STein, Suki STuarT
aRT diRECTOR
laura merrigan
bEauTy EdiTOR
Sarah halliwell
Photographed by daymiON maRdEl.
Styled by luiS ROdRiguEz.
See page 26 for fashion.
To find your nearest Origins stockist please visit the store locator section at www.origins.com
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Wild about Wilde ...
Glossy ladies (and
men) descended
on Dublin’s best-
kept culinary
secret – Wilde
restaurant at The
Westbury – for the inaugural Literary Supper, co-
hosted by The Gloss and The Doyle Collection with
the writerly element presented by Telegraph columnist
and author of Coco Chanel, The Legend and The Life
Justine Picardie. Fresh from her success at the Hay
Festival, Justine’s warmly engaging account of her work
(interspersed with references to her own life, the tragic
death of her sister from breast cancer and the
recent break-up of her marriage) underlined the
intimate atmosphere. Champagne, a wonderful
menu (the best prawn cocktail ever) and copies of
the new paperback edition with cover illustrated
by Karl lagerfeld inspired a deluge of calls to
this office the next day ... As tickets sold out within
a week, watch this space for news of the next one.
If The Hamptons are anything to go by, the mood
in America is definitely lifting. The start of the
season has brought new places to eat, shop and
party, but the mood has shifted from what the
New York Times calls ‘the go-go 2000s’. “Instead of
magnums of Cristal, it’s now about communal seaplanes,
hipster charities and hippie festivals.” The lower key vibe
of Montauk is very much in favour, with Ruschmeyers’
offering of local seafood served at long picnic tables set
to make it the place to hang out this summer. Club-wise,
Elm in Southampton is channelling a burlesque theme,
while South Pointe in Easthampton brings the French
Riviera to Long Island. There’s a Nobu pop-up too, as
well as pop-up shops and galleries. Closer to home, Dun
Laoghaire Rathdown Co Council is working on a project
to re-brand the town and to make empty retail spaces
available as pop-ups. Do you suppose that there’s any
chance that Nobu could be enticed to Ireland?
At least one south county Dublin school for young ladies
doesn’t appear to have heard about the recession. The
Second Year summer maths exam featured a question
which began: If eight girls have a villa in Portugal and
13 girls have a villa in France … Meanwhile, in the
Educate Together NS down the road, they were keeping
it real. There, the Fifth Class end of term test included a
problem which read: if there are five Arctic Monkeys and
three Kings of Leon at a bus stop …
Pity the parents. Not only do they have to fork out for
the cost of post-Leaving Cert holidays to Shagaluf, Port
of Abuse and I’m a Knacker, but they subject themselves
to a week of sleepless nights as they fret about what their
beloved offspring are getting up to while they’re away.
The alternative PLC holiday is, of course, inter-railing –
favoured by those who did their utmost to avoid Wezz
during their school years. Not that it’s all bed-bug ridden
hostels and three meals a day from McDonald’s as it
was in our day. We hear of one group of boys who have
planned their itinerary to take in the best golf courses
around Europe and have rented apartments (some with
hot tubs) in each city they plan to visit. We say that’s the
kind of stuff that got us into this mess in the first place.
Less than a year after their Café Mao chain went into
receivership, rosie and graham camPbell are
back in the restaurant business. The newly-opened Hen
House on the Dun Laoghaire seafront – right next door
to one of the Mao outlets they used to own – is all about
free-range that has had a re-vamp: the Irish chicken and
pricing is in keeping with the mood of the moment.
The good people of Monkstown will have heard
that Avoca is taking over the premises currently
occupied by Seagreen. sarah gill’s operation
is moving to a smaller space a few doors away and
will concentrate on chic fashion labels. Locals can
expect the eclectic retail offering and delicious,
hearty food with which Avoca is associated – and
parking to be worse than ever.
Talking of fashion and reinvention, we met lily allen
and her sister sarah owen, the duo behind new label
Lucy in Disguise (see page 45) when they presented
their collection for the first time at Brown Thomas
recently just prior to the singer’s wedding. Lucy in
Disguise is a collection of vintage-inspired pieces with
more than a little of Allen’s own style DNA – the 1970s
jumpsuits, subtly flapper-ish beaded dresses and 1950s
prom numbers are sure to be a hit, judging by the long
line of pretty young women who lined up to meet Allen
(who afterwards revealed she was pregnant). “Having a
vintage shop in London, we felt there were limitations
with original pieces – the fit wasn’t right, or there was
only one of them,” said Owens. Allen, (stunning in
the flesh, by the way), once installed with coffee and a
strawberry smoothie, was sanguine about being charged
40 quid for not printing her Ryanair boarding pass before
travelling to Dublin. (The fact that she travelled Ryanair
at all was impressive although she did travel with her
monogrammed luggage – sweetly LRC – Lily Rose Cooper,
her married name.) The two sisters say they are massively
proud of their achievement. “We never wanted a celebrity
fashion collection”, says Allen, “we wanted to design
clothes that were fun and fabulous and affordable.” n
A LiTerarY eveNiNg with good food and great conversation ... where irish TeeNsare going for the summer ... plus how re-iNveNTioN is the name of the game ...
Gloss ip~july
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Literary Ladies (Clockwise from top left): Justine picardie; Cara twohig and samantha Libreri; anne o’Connell, Louise Crivon and denise Meade; aisling and geraldine McQuillan; Louise rafferty and Louise stephenson.
6 | July 2011 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
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This summer Mary Davis is seeking a nomination to run as an
independent Presidential candidate. President and Managing Director of Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia, she was CEO of Special Olympics Ireland, running the games here in 2003. She serves on the Council of State, and chairs the North South
Consultative Conference.
Describe your family? Johnathon 28, Rebecca, 26, Emma, 24, Patrick,
22. Johnathon and Rebecca have started their own
businesses, Emma is doing an internship in New
York, and Patrick has just returned from New York,
he took a year out there after college.
The formula for your working wardrobe?
Black and white. With a splash of Rebecca Davis
jewellery, of course!
What gets your goat?
People not treating others with fairness or respect,
particularly the very young, the elderly, or those with
a disability. Everyone should be treated fairly.
What is the single biggest change you would like to see in Irish life over the next five years?Our young people going abroad because they choose
to, not because they feel compelled to.
What is the worst job you’ve ever done?I was pretty bad at pulling pints when I was working in
a bar, trying to make ends meet as a student.
What would you like for your next birthday?Well, four nominations would be good or perhaps a
visit to or from my daughter Emma in New York.
What television (other than current affairs) shows do you like to curl up in front of?
Sex and the City. And Masterchef.Favourite meal cooked by you or by someone else?It’s chorizo stew, cooked by my husband Julian.
Who is a role model for elegant ageing? Helen Mirren.
Are you ever driven to mutter I told you so?Frequently - in fact, every time Julian and I arrive at
an event half an hour early. He never learns.
Is there any aspect of your appearance you don’t like?
My shoulders.
When your children were small, did you take time off work, or did you juggle everything?
I was a juggler! I can remember taking my children in
carrycots to meetings!
What three characteristics do you look for in a friend?
Loyalty, honesty and a sense of humour.
Describe your home in 20 words?
It’s my sanctuary, I try to make it as welcoming, relaxing
and comfortable as possible for my family and friends.
How do you clear your mind and relax?
I go for a run at six o’clock every morning, and I love
playing golf, whenever I get the time. I also adore
rummaging in antique shops.
Do you describe yourself as a Mayo woman?I am immensely proud of my Mayo roots, but I’ve
been living in Dublin for the past 30 years. I’m from
Mayo, but describe myself as Irish.
What incorrect assumptions do people make about you?
I think because of the area I work in people assume
I’m a thoroughly nice person, but I do have a steely
disposition when necessary, and am very determined.
Which previous President do you most admire?I think each of the eight Presidents has honoured
Ireland, but I think the last two have made it a more
modern and public role, and I welcome that.
What could have knocked you down with a feather?Preparing for the 2003 Special Olympics in Ireland,
the fact that it was possible to get 30,000 volunteers
signed up for an event two or three years away.
They often had no real idea of what was going to
happen, but they knew it was going to be something
important and they wanted to be part of it.
You ran the New York marathon, and climbed Kilimanjaro – you obviously relish these kinds of physical challenges?Oh, I do. They bring out the strengths in your
character, your focus and determination. And it’s a
great mind-cleansing activity – that’s why Julian and
I climbed Kilimanjaro after the World Games. I’ve
climbed Mont Blanc, too, and found it much tougher.
What would you do if you had all the time in the world?
Apart from climbing Mount Everest, which I’m
longing to do, I’d read a lot more, I never have
enough time to read.
Do you think the time has come to dispense with the Seanad?I’m not convinced we need to get rid of the upper
house, but I do think the Seanad needs to earn its
relevance today, and there certainly needs to be a
conversation around the democracy of the way it’s
elected at the moment. antonia hart
off the record
maryDavis
8 | July 2011 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
Samantha Browne, created for ThE GlOSS by Annie West p
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T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e | July 2011 | 11PhotograPh by jason lloyd-evans
A fauna-finding mission to the rainforest
may not be the natural starting point
when it comes to making your wardrobe
choices, nor might twinning a pair of
box hedge-print bikini bottoms with
a natty hat and a voluminous hemp
bag (try finding your mobile phone in that) seem like a sensible way to keep
yourself safe on the mean streets. But
looking like the chic Borneo-bound
coleopterists on the Michael Kors
catwalk is a mere starting point for
the expression of one of summer’s
kookier trends. You can’t ignore the
faux-wood prints at Rodarte, nor the
palmy botanicals at House of Holland,
nor the hordes of Panama hats in
every high street store. By tweaking a
little (subsitute a pair of khaki or tan
capri pants, let a leather belt lend your
organic cotton bus driver-blue blouse
an air of casual authority and subsitute
a neat tote in the same eco-fabric),
you have a very do-able urban look.
Honestly.
jungle fever specimen dressing
spotting a trendHunting
green sceneMain picture: Borneo bound, at Michael Kors. 1. Blue silk twill blouse, Carven, d259,
www.mytheresa.com. 2. Handpainted porcelain spider, Kelly allsopp, from d180,
at Vessel. 3. Vital moisturising cream sPF15, Trilogy, d30.95, at Arnotts. 4. calgary
African bead print bikini, Missoni Mare, d261; www.matchesfashion.com. 5. Dream
Touch blush, Maybelline, d10.79, at pharmacies nationwide. 6. elliot hat, bailey,
d90, at Brown Thomas. 7. soho rattan and seagrass chair, The Conran shop, d495,
at Arnotts. 8. Bansi jute bag, £35stg; www.asCension.Co.uK. 9. 100 per cent
recycled silver Hold Me close cuff, la Jewellery, £67stg; www.credjewellery.com.
10. Tan leather belt, lanvin, d475; www.matchesfashion.com. 11. Feather tassle
earrings, d3, at penneys. 12. Madras ‘Made in” project woven goat leather handbag,
prada, d1,620, at Brown Thomas. For stockists, www.thegloss.ie.
channel the trendgathering
12 | July 2011 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
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MiChael Kors
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IN YOUR HANDBAG
‘all to eat and be eaten in their turn’ ... no,
not the world of fashion ... Charles Darwin
explains the laws of
natural selection in
The Origin of Species
(Penguin Classics, d12)
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Natural SelectioN
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Your experience. Our skincare
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Trust science for skin that feels toned, smoother,
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This year swimwear is all about cool, refined glamour – simple, well-cut two-pieces and elegant swimsuits that say chic holiday jet set rather than Eurocash. The slimming effect of a black one-piece is well known. Plunging necklines can hide a thicker waist, highlighting other assets instead. And black, in any shape or style, whether it’s a halter-neck one-piece or an ultra high-waisted two-piece, never seems to try too hard. Simply add a hat and a book and, most importantly, a cocktail.
Back to Black
chanel
For stockists, www.thegloss.ie.
JASON LLOYD-EVANS
Black cut out
swimsuit, d32.99,
at new look.
Printed halter neck
swimsuit, Gucci,
d490; www.net-a-
porter.com.
Print Christiana
silk cover-up,
DVF, d436; at
Brown Thomas.
Black bandeau metal
bar bikini, biba, top,
d65; bottoms, d50;
both at House of Fraser.
Mix and match
bikini top, d12.95;
bottoms, d9.95;
both at h&m.
Bohemia moonstone
and diamond earrings,
d13,000, at booDles.
Spiceblush
paper hat, d42,
at French
connection.
14 | July 2011 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
Black Leigh Maillot
strapless swimsuit,
Lisa Marie Fernandez,
d395.50; www.net-
a-porter.com.
Metallic beach bag,
d19.95, at h&m.
Celine Tribe bikini, £160, at
olga olsson.
Mesh detail swimsuit,
Jets, about d160,
from a selection at
brown thomas.
Silver Treasure bangle, CK
Jewellery, d120, at arnotts.
Lloyd leather sandals,
d140, at reiss.
Black Dior VIII automatic with diamond
set bezel, d6,400, at paul sheeran.
Summer shopping
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PROMOTION
We’re all campers now, aren’t we, now that yurts are so readily collapsible and estate boots are so roomy, now that music festivals have reading tents and foodie stalls where you can get tasters of organic spicy couscous and hand-strangled
sausage? Oh yes, we all madly rough it so long as it’s in no way actually rough.
Arriving at the festival site, finding the ideal tent-pitching point is vital. A hilltop spot will be better from a drainage point of view when the rains come, but on the other hand you do have to schlep up when you come back tired and emotional from your last gig, so do your weights and balances. Don’t spurn your temporary tenting neighbours: raise your Cork Dry Gin and tonic to them cheerily once the sun’s over the yardarm, but don’t corner them, don’t immediately ask for their spare pack of wet wipes, and don’t be overly hearty. If you irritate them they might not defend your zips later on, when someone steals through on the rummage.
Now, the cotton frock and floral wellies is a look of which, I confess, I’ve tired. I do prefer my wellies plain (yes, darlings, no matter what brand you’re advertising on your shinbone), but
I suppose, other than that, for once I don’t mind saying anything goes. The unfortunate truth is that, glamping or not, you’re likely to end up sleeping in your clobber, so just be aware of the self-throttling possibilities of those ropes of beads you brought back from Thailand, the tie-dyed scarf you conjured
into a halterneck top, and the utility belt serving handbag duty.
Gig-wise, it’s really not ok to burrow your way to the front of the eager crowd which assembled half an hour ago. If you were that passionate about seeing the band you ought to have formed an orderly queue when everyone else did. (Nor does sorry equate to excuse me.) You have a programme, haven’t you? So organise your time, which, sadly for you, is not more
precious than anyone else’s.Tucked up in your Everest-ready sleeping pod, whatever stramash is going
on near you, it’s going to feel as if it’s happening in your own tent. Ear plugs, a tranquil mind and a murmurable mantra are really all you can count on if it’s
sleep you’re after, but then if it’s sleep you’re after you may have misunderstood the musical nature of the festival beast, and ought to have donated those precious tickets to someone without a cloth ear.
Ill
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Picking your way through the minefield of manners:
This month ... Festivals
don’’T spurn your
Temporary TenTing neighbours: raise your cork
dry gin and Tonic To Them
cheerily once The sun’s
over The yardarm
Enjoy CORK DRY GIN Sensibly. Visit
What do you love about shopping for vintage? Finding a one-of-a-kind gem. What do you hate? Scouring through rails upon rails of clothing that no-one would ever dream of wearing, in order to find
said gem. Irish online vintage boutique Elsa & Gogo (named after the 1920s fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli and her daughter Gogo) has done all the hard work for you. Owner Olivia Murphy has just launched a vintage clothing section (she started by selling unusual jewellery, bags and quirky accessories) and has a “just one of each” motto. Expect maxi dresses in pretty prints and cocktail dresses with lots of embellishment like beading, bows and lace. The best bit? Everything is under d100; www.elsaandgogoboutique.ie
16 | July 2011 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
British designer Giles Deacon has come a long way: since debuting
in 2004, each collection has grown further from his original fantastical show pieces and closer to ready to
wear, all the time keeping his vision of superior craftsmanship mixed with a good dose of wit. Focusing on wild
prints and pop-culture references that range from Pac-Man to Peter Saville.
Deacon’s irreverence has become his trademark. Check out the lady-like hibiscus-print vanilla and navy
florals unhinged by cartoon eyeballs. Our favourite? The subtle but cheeky
band-aid print dress with feather-light upper layers that playfully bounced up and down as the models walked. Who stocks Deacon? Clever Kate O’Dwyer and Louise Flanagan at Kalu in Naas, who, recession or no recession, have never compromised on their original mission. “We all need beauty in our
lives,” they say. Prices start from D700 at Emporium Kalu, 16 South Main Street,
Naas, Co Kildare, 045 896 222; www.emporiumkalu.ie.
Shoe deSigner Kat Maconie loveS ... French label Sandro – when I go into one of their shops, I want to buy everything! I also love London-based label Felder Felder (by twin sisters Dani and Annette Felder). I am a big fan of Holly Fulton’s use of print, especially her art deco references: her collections have so much energy. I also just met my new favourite swimwear designer in Rio – Olga Olsson (see Shopping, page 14). If I wasn’t designing shoes I’d be living in a beach house in Rio – I am in love with the place! I think a woman, regardless of her age, should look for classic shoe shapes with contemporary detailing that can work with different looks. I love a chunkier heel as it’s both fashion forward and wearable. My design
philosophy is based on fusing fashion with function. It’s so important to feel comfortable as well as confident. When I design a new style, I always imagine where it would be worn – if an occasion
does not spring to mind then I do not run the design. I wear black ballet pumps for work and at the weekend and, generally,
glamorous ankle boots in the evening; my current favourites are the Camilla blue velvets (left) from my autumn/winter collection – they look fabulous with a LBD. I love rummaging
at car boot sales and flea markets (I can spend hours looking through old bits of jewellery, books and knicknacks) and, of course, running with my dog Delilah. The Kat Maconie collection is at Buffalo, 16 Exchequer Street, Dublin 2, 01 671 2492.
I usually reserve shorts for the beach but can I wear them In the cIty?Shorts have virtually no place on the beach anymore, instead they are designed for the city. To some, shorts represent too great a fashion challenge, to others they are the perfect mix of showing a little but not too much, and less overtly sexy than a mini skirt. But, whichever camp you fall into, after last summer’s debut, they are firmly established in the summer
wardrobe. The Short List? Get in on the act with sassy prints in fluid silks (as seen at Paul & Joe, Colette Dinnegan and Vanessa Bruno). For those with long pins (in great condition) and in need of a little more drama, look to Isabel Marant who teams too-cool-for-school denim cut-offs with light summer knits and taupe suede slouchy boots. At Chanel teeny hotpant-style bouclé shorts suits are paired with chunky-heeled, sporty ankle boots. Suitable for all shapes, smart tailored shorts to the knee (we rate Stella McCartney, Emporio Armani and John Galliano for Christian Dior’s
classic beauties most; wear with a tucked-in blouse and heels) are an easy introduction, but the most wearable are from American labels DVF and DKNY; well cut, loose fits in luxurious fabrics to mid-thigh. Up the ante at night by choosing a pair in an unexpected, luxe fabric like sequins or silk and team with a tailored jacket (as seen at Elie Saab) and killer shoes. Formal shorts can be slightly voluminous so play with different lengths; stand in front of a mirror, and inch up until you find the most flattering length.
faShion wardrobe hot listthe
For stockists, www.thegloss.ie.
by aislinn coffey
You know retail bliSS is only temporary, yet you always become attached. Here to steal your heart for one weeK
only is Nadine Kinsella, owner of Frock (Wexford’s leading fashion boutique), who’s opening a seven-day pop-up shop
at the design emporium Lost Weekend, Dublin. Starting July 7, Nadine will peddle her cool faShion labelS ( from painterly
Cacharel dresses to Carin Rodebjer’s minimalist creations) as well as her well-edited vintage collection; everything is up for grabs. Lost Weekend,
25 Rockhill, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, 01 275 5818; www.lostweekend.ie.
fashion DiLEMMa
Travel in style with Ligne de Soie’s great collection
of luxury nightwear and travel accessories for girls
on the go. Great charmeuse silk eye masks and
aeroplane pillow covers as well as the luxury double-
layered silk kimono-style robes (as seen on Gossip Girl),
from the labels designer Melissa Pelz, are cut from
sumptuous silks (plain and patterned) and are
flawlessly tailored. From D25; www.lignedesoie.com
and Susan Hunter Lingerie, www.susanhunterlingerie.ie
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PROMOTION
We’re all campers now, aren’t we, now that yurts are so readily collapsible and estate boots are so roomy, now that music festivals have reading tents and foodie stalls where you can get tasters of organic spicy couscous and hand-strangled
sausage? Oh yes, we all madly rough it so long as it’s in no way actually rough.
Arriving at the festival site, finding the ideal tent-pitching point is vital. A hilltop spot will be better from a drainage point of view when the rains come, but on the other hand you do have to schlep up when you come back tired and emotional from your last gig, so do your weights and balances. Don’t spurn your temporary tenting neighbours: raise your Cork Dry Gin and tonic to them cheerily once the sun’s over the yardarm, but don’t corner them, don’t immediately ask for their spare pack of wet wipes, and don’t be overly hearty. If you irritate them they might not defend your zips later on, when someone steals through on the rummage.
Now, the cotton frock and floral wellies is a look of which, I confess, I’ve tired. I do prefer my wellies plain (yes, darlings, no matter what brand you’re advertising on your shinbone), but
I suppose, other than that, for once I don’t mind saying anything goes. The unfortunate truth is that, glamping or not, you’re likely to end up sleeping in your clobber, so just be aware of the self-throttling possibilities of those ropes of beads you brought back from Thailand, the tie-dyed scarf you conjured
into a halterneck top, and the utility belt serving handbag duty.
Gig-wise, it’s really not ok to burrow your way to the front of the eager crowd which assembled half an hour ago. If you were that passionate about seeing the band you ought to have formed an orderly queue when everyone else did. (Nor does sorry equate to excuse me.) You have a programme, haven’t you? So organise your time, which, sadly for you, is not more
precious than anyone else’s.Tucked up in your Everest-ready sleeping pod, whatever stramash is going
on near you, it’s going to feel as if it’s happening in your own tent. Ear plugs, a tranquil mind and a murmurable mantra are really all you can count on if it’s
sleep you’re after, but then if it’s sleep you’re after you may have misunderstood the musical nature of the festival beast, and ought to have donated those precious tickets to someone without a cloth ear.
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Picking your way through the minefield of manners:
This month ... Festivals
don’’T spurn your
Temporary TenTing neighbours: raise your cork
dry gin and Tonic To Them
cheerily once The sun’s
over The yardarm
Enjoy CORK DRY GIN Sensibly. Visit
What do you love about shopping for vintage? Finding a one-of-a-kind gem. What do you hate? Scouring through rails upon rails of clothing that no-one would ever dream of wearing, in order to find
said gem. Irish online vintage boutique Elsa & Gogo (named after the 1920s fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli and her daughter Gogo) has done all the hard work for you. Owner Olivia Murphy has just launched a vintage clothing section (she started by selling unusual jewellery, bags and quirky accessories) and has a “just one of each” motto. Expect maxi dresses in pretty prints and cocktail dresses with lots of embellishment like beading, bows and lace. The best bit? Everything is under d100; www.elsaandgogoboutique.ie
16 | July 2011 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
British designer Giles Deacon has come a long way: since debuting
in 2004, each collection has grown further from his original fantastical show pieces and closer to ready to
wear, all the time keeping his vision of superior craftsmanship mixed with a good dose of wit. Focusing on wild
prints and pop-culture references that range from Pac-Man to Peter Saville.
Deacon’s irreverence has become his trademark. Check out the lady-like hibiscus-print vanilla and navy
florals unhinged by cartoon eyeballs. Our favourite? The subtle but cheeky
band-aid print dress with feather-light upper layers that playfully bounced up and down as the models walked. Who stocks Deacon? Clever Kate O’Dwyer and Louise Flanagan at Kalu in Naas, who, recession or no recession, have never compromised on their original mission. “We all need beauty in our
lives,” they say. Prices start from D700 at Emporium Kalu, 16 South Main Street,
Naas, Co Kildare, 045 896 222; www.emporiumkalu.ie.
Shoe deSigner Kat Maconie loveS ... French label Sandro – when I go into one of their shops, I want to buy everything! I also love London-based label Felder Felder (by twin sisters Dani and Annette Felder). I am a big fan of Holly Fulton’s use of print, especially her art deco references: her collections have so much energy. I also just met my new favourite swimwear designer in Rio – Olga Olsson (see Shopping, page 14). If I wasn’t designing shoes I’d be living in a beach house in Rio – I am in love with the place! I think a woman, regardless of her age, should look for classic shoe shapes with contemporary detailing that can work with different looks. I love a chunkier heel as it’s both fashion forward and wearable. My design
philosophy is based on fusing fashion with function. It’s so important to feel comfortable as well as confident. When I design a new style, I always imagine where it would be worn – if an occasion
does not spring to mind then I do not run the design. I wear black ballet pumps for work and at the weekend and, generally,
glamorous ankle boots in the evening; my current favourites are the Camilla blue velvets (left) from my autumn/winter collection – they look fabulous with a LBD. I love rummaging
at car boot sales and flea markets (I can spend hours looking through old bits of jewellery, books and knicknacks) and, of course, running with my dog Delilah. The Kat Maconie collection is at Buffalo, 16 Exchequer Street, Dublin 2, 01 671 2492.
I usually reserve shorts for the beach but can I wear them In the cIty?Shorts have virtually no place on the beach anymore, instead they are designed for the city. To some, shorts represent too great a fashion challenge, to others they are the perfect mix of showing a little but not too much, and less overtly sexy than a mini skirt. But, whichever camp you fall into, after last summer’s debut, they are firmly established in the summer
wardrobe. The Short List? Get in on the act with sassy prints in fluid silks (as seen at Paul & Joe, Colette Dinnegan and Vanessa Bruno). For those with long pins (in great condition) and in need of a little more drama, look to Isabel Marant who teams too-cool-for-school denim cut-offs with light summer knits and taupe suede slouchy boots. At Chanel teeny hotpant-style bouclé shorts suits are paired with chunky-heeled, sporty ankle boots. Suitable for all shapes, smart tailored shorts to the knee (we rate Stella McCartney, Emporio Armani and John Galliano for Christian Dior’s
classic beauties most; wear with a tucked-in blouse and heels) are an easy introduction, but the most wearable are from American labels DVF and DKNY; well cut, loose fits in luxurious fabrics to mid-thigh. Up the ante at night by choosing a pair in an unexpected, luxe fabric like sequins or silk and team with a tailored jacket (as seen at Elie Saab) and killer shoes. Formal shorts can be slightly voluminous so play with different lengths; stand in front of a mirror, and inch up until you find the most flattering length.
faShion wardrobe hot listthe
For stockists, www.thegloss.ie.
by aislinn coffey
You know retail bliSS is only temporary, yet you always become attached. Here to steal your heart for one weeK
only is Nadine Kinsella, owner of Frock (Wexford’s leading fashion boutique), who’s opening a seven-day pop-up shop
at the design emporium Lost Weekend, Dublin. Starting July 7, Nadine will peddle her cool faShion labelS ( from painterly
Cacharel dresses to Carin Rodebjer’s minimalist creations) as well as her well-edited vintage collection; everything is up for grabs. Lost Weekend,
25 Rockhill, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, 01 275 5818; www.lostweekend.ie.
fashion DiLEMMa
Travel in style with Ligne de Soie’s great collection
of luxury nightwear and travel accessories for girls
on the go. Great charmeuse silk eye masks and
aeroplane pillow covers as well as the luxury double-
layered silk kimono-style robes (as seen on Gossip Girl),
from the labels designer Melissa Pelz, are cut from
sumptuous silks (plain and patterned) and are
flawlessly tailored. From D25; www.lignedesoie.com
and Susan Hunter Lingerie, www.susanhunterlingerie.ie
Ph
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summer without men
18 | July 2011 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
social life
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Hundreds of families station themselves for the summer months in Portugal and Spain, Brittas Bay and Wexford. Women and children go first, with husbands and fathers usually joining them at weekends. It’s a scenario that’s played out here for years - women escape the city and spend their time with other women and their children, doing, well, not very much,
men relish the freedom of a week in the city without wife and kids. The question is, asks kaTy mc guInneSS, does anyone enjoy it?
T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e | July 2011 | 19
At least a quarter of the seats on
the 16.30 Aer Lingus flight to
Faro on Thursday and Friday
in the summer are occupied by
men in their late 30s and early
40s wearing suits but with their
ties stuffed into their pockets.
They have no luggage; they’re first off the plane, first onto
the bus, first through passport control and first into a taxi.
You see them heading back again on Sunday night or
Monday morning.
Patricia’s husband Declan is one of those men. She
spends at least six weeks of the summer at the family’s villa in
Quinta do Lago with her children, while Declan commutes
at the weekends and comes down for the last fortnight.
“Frankly it works for both sides. I hang out with my
girlfriends, who all have places in Quinta as well. And
for Declan, well, he works so hard all year that I think it’s
good for him to have a few weeks that he doesn’t have to
come home from work exhausted and jump straight into
bedtime stories with the kids.”
For women who run a well-oiled family machine all
year long, this summer break is an opportunity to relax
the rules. “It’s very social down there, very social. People
who wouldn’t have one glass of wine at lunchtime at home
will happily down a bottle. The yummy mummies all
congregate at Izzy’s on the beach in their sarongs for early
dinner with the kids and lay into the vinho verde. The kids
play on the beach while the mummies gossip and drink.”
The partying continues when the menfolk arrive at the
weekends. There’s a barbecue circuit, with couples taking it
in turn to host. Some hire caterers, but food tends not to be
that important. The real competition is about the houses,
which are interior-decorated to the nth degree – although
many are now, discreetly or otherwise, on the market. The
Irish summer residents of Quinta do Lago don’t do relaxed
beach shack – it’s granite and marble at every turn.
“There is pressure to have the house looking fabulous,”
says Patricia. “It’s the same with clothes. Everyone does
studied casual: you wear a simple T-shirt and white linen
trousers but the top will be Marc Jacobs and the trousers,
Chloé.” When I suggest to one veteran of ten summers
that it doesn’t sound like a holiday at all, she shrugs. “We
replace one set of pressures with another, I suppose, but I
never thought of it like that.”
The men head back to Dublin after the weekend for
a rest (having fitted in 36 holes of golf ), many of them
no doubt fretting about just how far into negative equity
the dream villa in Quinta has sunk. Patricia says it has
never occurred to her to worry about the use to which her
husband might put his summer freedom, although she did
hear of one husband who rented a city centre apartment for
himself for three months to ‘cut down on commuting time’
from Rathmichael. If there is tension between couples, it’s
bubbling under the surface, unseen. Separation is a double-
edged sword: with it comes freedom for both wife and
husband but resentment can build. One woman laughs:
“You know how couples argue at home over the division
of labour? Well, it just gets transferred: Who’s having the
better time, the woman with the kids on holiday, or the
unencumbered man having a grand old time in Dublin?”
It was back in the 1970s that prosperous Dublin families
began the tradition of de-camping to the seaside for the
summer. It’s a practice that has its roots in the US, where
the women and children of a dispersed family reconvene at
the beach or lake house in summer, often with grandparents
as well. In Ireland back then, foreign holidays were still
regarded with suspicion but it was time to move on from
the farmhouse B&B – and so the enclaves grew up, in places
like Clogherhead, Brittas and Kilbegnet, within easy reach
of the city, where canny farmers realised that there was easy
money to be made by hiving off a tract of land and laying
foundations for a few dozen caravans or chalets. Many of
these original developments are still in existence and the
best of them – the ones with direct access to the beach and a
decent amount of space between mobiles – retain an amount
of cachet, in spite of recent and well-documented spats
between the farmers or their successors and the summer
residents over terms and conditions, ie money.
In Ballinacarrig, arguably the poshest caravan park in
the country, where facilities include tennis courts, a golf
course and a private beach and where, some years back, the
residents organised themselves into a members-only club,
mobile homes that used to change hands for 300 grand can
now be picked up for considerably less. Except that nobody
wants them. The service charges run to 10,000 a year and
the Johnny-come-latelies who bought in the boom are in
negative equity. As it is in Quinta, so it is in Brittas – except
that at least in Quinta the sun shines and the wine is cheap.
Those who saw their Irish mobiles and holiday houses as
somewhere to spend the odd weekend and a few weeks of
the summer as an adjunct to a sun holiday somewhere more
exotic are faced with the dispiriting prospect that they’re
now unlikely to be going anywhere else – for the next decade.
The families who originally bought into Ballinacarrig, Jack’s
Hole and Staunton’s, the very first of the Wicklow caravan
parks, are laughing though. As with everything else in this
country, it is the arrivistes – particularly the ones who have
lost jobs or had businesses go sour – who are in trouble.
Brittas has long been the August rendezvous of choice for
the great and the good – families such as the (Dermot)
Desmonds, the (Noel) Smyths, and the (Maurice) Pratts.
These days, the mobiles are used by the original owners’
children, seeking to re-capture the idyllic summers of the
1970s for their own families. Even when the mobile homes
have been replaced with chic wooden chalets, their owners
refer to them in a post-modern, ironic way as ‘vans’. During
the boom, vans were given serious make-overs, designers
hired, their brief – to channel a laidback Nanutcket style, as
far from the original linoleum/melamine interior as it was
possible to be. Ironically, some of the original attractions
of a breezy, simple, old-fashioned holiday by the sea
diasappeared about the same time, and for some, at least,
a new competitive social spirit was introduced.
As in Portugal, socialising involves a rotation of
barbecues, whatever the weather. During the week,
culinary efforts are, for the most part, non-existent – the
mothers are happy to eat whatever the children are having,
unless it’s Wednesday and Daddy is coming down for the
evening. With the Friday night influx of husbands, though,
the bar is raised. Some women I spoke to mentioned they
find the drinking, coupled with the break from the gym
and Pilates, results in a summer stone that takes them until
Christmas to shift.
Rachel doesn’t have a van of her own, but has been
lent one in Jack’s Hole on a couple of occasions – a practice
verboten under the rules of the park, as is renting. She
loves the lifestyle – being by the sea, walking the dog,
being able to throw the children out of the door and know
that they will be safe – but has her reservations. “Blow-ins
are not welcomed. I found it very unfriendly. The other
children didn’t include mine. There’s an undercurrent of
cliqueish-ness about the whole thing, like a network of the
‘best’ families that they don’t want to dilute.”
Stephanie, a mother of three boys, deliberately chose a
mobile home in Kilmuckridge for its lack of snobbishness.
“I was aware of the scene that exists in some of the fancier
parks and wanted to give that kind of thing as wide a berth as
possible. Ours is an old-fashioned park – that’s the beauty of
it. I spend a month there each summer and find it incredibly
relaxing. Jim comes down at the weekends and maybe one
night during the week. I read a book a day and play lots of
card games with the boys. The children have to make their
own entertainment, so there’s none of the ferrying around
that goes on in Dublin. And they all end up playing together
as one big group of all ages. It reminds me of the summers
that I used to have as a child, and I suppose I like the
nostalgia of that. There’s no pressure and that the biggest
decision of the day is what time we’re going to the beach.”
Another couple have a more complicated schedule
involving splitting the working week between them, and
plugging the Wednesday evening gap with Granny or a
minder. “It’s how my parents did it when we were kids,
and we’re continuing it. The kids are happy, it’s healthy,
it’s cheap. And we get one night to ourselves in town. And
the welcome each of us gets from the kids when we change
over, is really lovely.”
Another Dublin high-flier who escapes to Brittas for three
weeks with her children says she loves it for the simple fact
that there is so little to do. She doesn’t even mind if it rains.
“I curl up under the duvet with a box set and couldn’t be
happier.” So she’d trade culture, restaurants and sunshine
for a week in a mobile? “Ok, I admit, we usually take a week
in France or Italy too but Brittas gets a bad rap for being
dull and homogenous, a sort of poor man’s Hamptons. I
don’t see it like that, it’s just a simple seaside holiday to us.
If people want to dress up in the evening and drink wine,
that’s up to them. If my husband happens to be working
and I’m here on my own with the kids, it’s nice to hook up
with a pal and her children. I don’t have many of those
opportunities when I’m at work, and far from finding them
boring, I relish them. But I’ll be sitting there with sea-salty
hair and a bad tracksuit on.”
A few husbands do make the daily commute from the
mobile to work in Dublin. Nick – whose wife Sally
summers in Brittas with their three young daughters –
works in insurance. His perky, early-morning personality
makes him ideally suited to the early starts.“It only takes
about 40 minutes door to door. To be honest, once the
novelty of unlimited online poker playing wore off, I found
it lonely being on my own. Some of my friends are on a
long mid-week leash which means that a few beers in the
pub turns into a big night in Residence. I’m not sure that’s
a great idea.”
The camaraderie of women in the same boat, reduced
circumstances making other holiday options more limited,
and above all, happy children, keep these women hooked.
That, and a certain pleasure in a summer without men. n
social life
summer without men
18 | July 2011 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
social life
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Hundreds of families station themselves for the summer months in Portugal and Spain, Brittas Bay and Wexford. Women and children go first, with husbands and fathers usually joining them at weekends. It’s a scenario that’s played out here for years - women escape the city and spend their time with other women and their children, doing, well, not very much,
men relish the freedom of a week in the city without wife and kids. The question is, asks kaTy mc guInneSS, does anyone enjoy it?
irish businesswomen
LOOK THEBUSINESS
Working Life
fiLe aWay ...
A partner at Matheson Ormsby Prentice, the country’s largest law firm, Sharon DaLy makes sure to carve out thinking time ...
Vodafone, home of the smartphone, is offering one
lucky reader a chance to win a new HTC SenSaTion.
This new super-phone is exclusive to Vodafone,
and packed with the latest technology! It features
Android Gingerbread, running on a super-fast 1.3GHZ
dual core processor and packs 4GB memory, as
well as an 8-megapixel camera. You can download
and watch films or stream them wirelessly to your
enabled TV with HTC Watch, and see Facebook and
Twitter updates all in one place with Friend Stream!
Vodafone is offering one lucky reader a chance to win
a new HTC SenSaTion. To enter the competition,
email [email protected]. Include your full name,
role, company and contact telephone number and
the answer to the following question: Q: On which
network is the HTC Sensation available exclusively?
For terms and conditions, see www.thegloss.ie.
Congratulations to Geraldine Malone, International
Credit Manager at Welch Allyn Inc, winner of the
Vodafone competition in the June issue.
Look the BusinessCompetition
Describe your role? I am a partner in Matheson Ormsby
Prentice, and head of the Commercial Litigation and Dispute
Resolution Department. We advise international companies and
financial institutions doing business in and through Ireland. Our
clients include many Fortune 500, FT Global 500 and FT Euro
500 companies and we also represent some of Ireland’s largest
private, public and State-owned companies and institutions. Our
HQ is in Dublin, with offices in London, New York and Palo Alto,
Silicon Valley employing more than 600 people. Over 100 work
in the Litigation Department and currently we also have about
40 contract lawyers working for us on various cases. Career path? School in Holy Child in Killiney was followed by a BComm
at UCD. I qualified as a solicitor in 1992 having trained at MOP
from 1989-1992. My first job was in the debt collection department
before moving to the litigation department. In 1995, I was promoted
to associate solicitor, then specialised in Financial Services and
Insurance Litigation. In 2000, I was promoted to partner and
made head of the Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution
Department in 2007. The department has grown significantly since
2005 both in terms of headcount and revenues. The aspect of your work that gives you most satisfaction? I enjoy
strategically finding a route through complex legal disputes and
producing results for clients. I like to win and in order to do so,
you need to understand what your client considers to be a win.
From a business perspective, it is extremely satisfying to see the
development of the lawyers we train. Typical day? I am an
early riser, and start the day at about 5.30am on my cross trainer.
Between 6.30 and 8.30 the office is quiet and I can work without
interruption. This is key as a lot of litigation work is complex and
you need time to think, plan and draft without interruption. The
rest of the day involves client and internal meetings, plus calls and
court hearings. I try to leave the office by 7pm to collect one of my
kids from school but typically it is 8pm by the time I get home for
dinner and family time or back on the BlackBerry depending on
clients’ needs. How do you deal with stress? I try not to
work weekends to give me time to recharge the batteries and catch
up with family life. Downtime? I spend time cooking, walking
and watching the kids at various sporting activities, catching up
on what’s been happening to them on a daily basis. On holiday, we
love to ski and sail. Role models? When I was considering law
there were very few women at the top of the profession. I have huge
admiration for the late Judge Mella Carroll, the first female High
Court Judge. My father, a Senior Counsel, gave me a love of the
law. My mother, for her approach to life and boundless energy – she
trained as a ballet dancer and teaches exercise to this day.
pH
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WHAT IS ON YOUR DESK?Computer, iPhone and a photo of the family
YOUR FAVOURITE GADGET?iPad
WORKING WARDROBE?Business suits and dresses with a smart jacket. High
heeled shoes are a must and a smart bag
DO YOU BELIEVE THAT A GOOD WORKING WARDROBE IS IMPORTANT IN A
PROFESSIONAL SENSE AT WORK?It is essential. You have to look the part and it doesn’t need
to cost the earth
FAVOURITE DESIGNERS / LABELS / SHOPS?Helen McAlinden, Louise Kennedy, Elie Tahari, LK
Bennett, Phase Eight, Max Mara, Escada, Ralph Lauren, Ann Taylor, J Crew, Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik
JEWELLERY AND ACCESSORIES?Simple jewellery, but I love shoes
WHAT DO YOU WEAR TO POST-WORK EVENTS?/WHILE TRAVELLING ON
BUSINESS?A selection of cocktail dresses work for almost every
event. I also need a decent selection of black tie dresses and find most of these dresses last for years so are worth
investing in
BUSINESS THOUGHT FOR THE DAY?Never leave to tomorrow what you can achieve today
navy Blanca print
dress, d165; navy waterfall
bow-front jacket,
d165; both phase eight; navy Ailsa patent leather
shoes, d495, Jimmy Choo; Apple ipad2,
Vodafone.
“The economic climate has made the provision of legal services an
‘on demand’ business ...”
LOOK THE BUSINESS, the event for working women, held in association with Vodafone, will take place on wednesday october 19 2011. Advance queries
to 01 275 5130 or see www.thegloss.ie for more details.
20 | July 2011 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
As a little girl in Northern Ireland, Polly Devlin remembers the hatred and violence of the marching season, and how impossible a process of healing seemed at the time ...
T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e | July 2011 | 21
July in a Different Colour
When I went to school I travelled ten long miles on the bus to a convent school in
Magherafelt. Blindingly unhappy days. We waited in rain and shine at Duff ’s
Corner for the bus to pick us up and ten yards down the road another little group
of children of the same parish and the same ages huddled, waiting for the same
bus to take them to the Rainey School in the same town. We never spoke to them
nor them to us. In all those years, in a small Ulsterbus we never spoke together.
Children are powerless in situations like this. I knew in my bones that the girls and
boys going to the Rainey were getting the better education, that their future promised to be better and I still resent it.
Pain can become so layered onto a life that suffering becomes a habit. To experience a thing is not to know it or even
to have the power to remember it coherently. Some people look at the sun and see a gold coin, some look and see a host
of angels, some see – if they are as great a poet as John Donne – “a busy old unruly fool”, (and I’ll digress here to say if
you don’t know this poem, The Sun Rising, it is the most vivid expression of being in love, of sensuality, of the joys of
sex you could ever hope to read. As we see, so we are – that is a grade of human character. It is connected to the quality
of perception of the external world. So, also take a good look at the two remarkable images on this page and the next.
As signifiers of change, as representations of society, they are astounding and, as historical documents, they might
well bring tears to the eyes of anyone versed in the horrific history of Northern Ireland.
The first, (see left) was taken in the 1970s by a
photographer called Michael Ward, now alas dead. It
really is two landscapes both joined by and divided by an
invisible demon called trouble. Two women walk down
a street. At first glance they might be leaving a street
party. It’s a hot day – probably July – so their dresses
are cotton, their shoes light, their bodies vulnerable.
They’re carrying their coats over their arms in case
of rain and walk towards us engaged with each other
radiating warmth, companionship and solidarity. A
mutual exchange of emotional strength is apparent in the
way they are holding hands. These are reliable women,
women you could trust, marching to a different beat,
counterpoint to the sounds that grind behind the scenes.
Yet the women seem oblivious to the terrible cold and
menacing landscape in other half of the picture; it has
become so much part of their lives that they take it for
granted. Imagine!
On the other side in an edgy place, tense soldiers
booted and spurred, guns and cudgels at the ready are
alert for another kind of engagement, their unreliable
bodies cloaked in armour, their helmets emblems of a
violence that can erupt at any moment. The women chat
on. The street is littered with stones that have perhaps
been just been thrown at them. Is it the 12th of July, the
Orange marching day? Whatever, the whole photograph
is a metaphorical image of Northern Ireland and we know
without anyone telling us that this was Belfast and it well
nigh breaks the heart to see so visibly what the place
was like on a summer’s day not so long ago; a divided
place; women who knew where not to look. There is no
one who comes from Northern Ireland who has not, in
some way, got double vision, what Louis MacNeice spoke
of as “the split vision of the juggler”. Many Northern
Irish people live in two places at once, in a continuous
juggling act of the heart and mind. Derek Mahon, that
fine poet also from Northern Ireland, wrote about the
squinting heart, a telling description of what happens to
an artist, to anyone, from that divided province who tries
to bring things together. Which bring us to the second
image (overleaf ) and to Rita Duffy and her mural in the
Shankill Road.
In the years I was growing up in a republican area a
semblance of tranquillity pervaded in the Six Counties
and no one in power felt inclined to poke a stick into the
mess bubbling underneath. Every year, though, the mess
did bubble up, when it was stirred by the drumsticks of
the men of the Orange Order on their offensive marches
on the 12th of July. We hated with a visceral loathing these
triumphalist and bullying celebrations. I don’t think any
of us cared about the historical significance – although
the marching was held as much to rub our noses in our
defeat 300 years before as to commemorate any event;
it was more because the bands and marchers would go
through nationalist areas on purpose to stir up anger.
I love a marching band but these men in their orange
sashes – dark suits, bowler hats, symbols of respectability
– their faces hard as the hobs of hell, strutted their stuff
as though they owned the place. Which in a way they did.
polly devlin
I still can reciprocate that hatred that those men, beating
their drums in their black tattoo on those July mornings
years seemed to be beating out against us. We saw how
vengeful and unyielding they were under the skin and
there seemed to me to be no way that there could be a
process of healing. In any case, I didn’t want to be healed.
Now even for us who lived far away from Belfast
the Shankill Road was a byword for intolerance, a
place of lurid anti-popery sentiments, violent murals
and murderous graffiti such as KAT or ATAT – Kill all
Taigs, All Taigs Are Targets. I don’t know how much
things have changed but this mural is the first non-
sectarian, non-military mural for a long while to go
up in the Shankill Road and it’s done by Rita Duffy
whose name we all understand is not a name found
often on the Shankill Road, it being a Taig name. In
fact her grandmother and her four children lived near
the Shankill and were burnt out of their home as
sectarianism tightened its grip in the “pogroms” of 1920
and getting this commission was, among others for her,
a way of closing old wounds, a symbol of hope and a
making of peace. The mural was commissioned by the
Shankill Women’s Centre and funded by the Arts council
of Northern Ireland through the Re-Imaging Programme
to celebrate 100 years of International Women’s Day. And
of course in this deeply symbolic image it’s the women in
the forefront, again, taking matters in their own hands –
depicting another kind of history, dressing up, radiating
warmth and humour, bringing the community together.
Rita Duffy has always made opportunities – often
against massive philistine opposition – to nudge a little
further forward her belief in art and inspiration as vital
forces in any community but particularly in Belfast.
Robert Green Ingersoll, an American political leader,
Civil War veteran, and Presbyterian – he would have fitted
in well in Belfast – once wrote: “Art cultivates and kindles
the imagination, and quickens the conscience. It is by
imagination that we put ourselves in the place of another.
Love and pity are the children of the imagination.” It fits
Rita’s philosophy exactly.
The image depicts a fellowship of imaginative
women, many of them local to the Shankill Road or
with family connections. They researched the history of
the Shankill’s women over the last hundred years, and
especially the women’s suffrage movement in Ulster
at the beginning of the 20th century. The suffrage
movement was a hinge on which the identity of
women turned. As one participant in the mural,
Kay O’Hara, expressed it: “While we do want to
commemorate the suffrage movement, we also want
to celebrate it as an ongoing process.” This image
is Rita’s response, rich in stories and connections,
suggestions and possibilities. Unlike many murals it
is not a didactic picture. It can be read in many ways
and there is humour in it, and fantasy and of course
homage across the centuries to the most famous
mural of all, by Leonardo Da Vinci.
Rita said, “I wanted to depict the wider ripples
that continue to move the water after the suffragettes
first lobbed their brick into Ulster’s smooth pond. It
felt good to return as an artist with something creative,
clever, something wholesome, a celebration of sisterhood
for International Women’s Day – in the long run it’s the
only way forward here and elsewhere.” If all these women
can move on then I can too. Or I can try. n
22 | July 2011 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
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In this deeply symbolic image it’s the women
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24 | July 2011 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
life skills
Last week, I realised it was time
to enroll in a German class. This
epiphany happened at a yoga studio
in Berlin although I was not on the
mat at the time. I was out in reception wondering
what in hell was the correct answer to the question:
“Yadurda burda zeit?”
I tried a tentative, “Uh, nein?” but heart-sinkingly, the receptionist just looked
confused, and repeated the question. No big deal, you might think. Attending a yoga class
in a foreign country is a pretty adventurous move, so well done me for feeling the fear and
doing it anyway.
The problem is, I’ve been living in Berlin for two and a half years, a period of time in
which a person might reasonably be expected to understand the question, “Do you want
the upstairs or downstairs class?”
A few days later, I am sitting in the Kreuzberg studio of language tutor Daniel Roob,
who teaches barefoot and has the zen-like smile of a picture-book moon. He asks about
my efforts to learn German and I explain that for the first year, I thought it would happen
by osmosis.
After all, living in a country is known to be the best way to learn its language and I
had a secret weapon strapped to my calf: Leaving Certificate German. Admittedly, I hadn’t
spoken it in years but everyone assured me it would come flooding back.
This sounded good to me. I could just sit in my high-ceilinged apartment, writing pithy
journal entries, and suddenly, whoosh, a flood of lovely German would come shooting out
of the dodgy U-bend in which it had been stagnating for the past two decades.
It doesn’t work like that of course. Had I moved to a tiny village and taken a job in
a gherkin factory, I would probably have had no option but to speak German, but in
cosmopolitan Berlin, everyone was keen to practise their English.
I could have insisted on speaking German, of course, but sadly, the promised flood of
Leaving Cert German manifested as a damp trickle of statements about the kind of hobbies
not pursued since the 1970s. Berlin hipsters are a retro lot, all granny specs and pixie boots,
but even they drew the line at discussing stamp-collecting and pen-friends.
I enrolled in a month-long intensive course, placing myself in the intermediate group.
On the first morning, we discussed breakfast. Suzy from Korea liked bread. Juan from
Argentina also liked bread. At break-time, I was transferred to the advanced class, feeling
pretty good about myself. I totally knew how to say “I like muesli but sometimes a croissant
also tastes good”. How difficult could this German thing be?
In the room next-door, my new classmates were discussing health-care systems. Thiago
felt Brazil needed to up public insurance provision, while Anna feared that corruption in
Italy had exhausted the body politic. What these people were doing in a language class, I
have no idea; maybe they didn’t get invited to enough dinner parties.
I stuck it out for the month but suddenly, the amount I didn’t know had been revealed
to me, and like Wily Coyote when the cliff runs out, I found myself paddling air, speechless.
Every sentence in German requires negotiation. Complex mental maps must be drawn up.
Interesting new ways of learning languages are really catching on. Three women edge closer to native-like fluency thanks to tandem teaching, total
immersion and learning like the spies do ...
Louise eAsT on Learning german the hard way
KAThy GiLfiLLAn pLunges into a French course
I’ve gone back to school to learn French by
a full-immersion method in an Institut
in Villefranche-sur-Mer that has been
going since 1969. There is a part of me that
responds well to structure, routine and discipline so I am an ideal candidate, it seems.
We spend time in France every year and there comes a time when you really really need to
understand what is being said. Subtitles would be very useful for real life. I will be first in
line to buy the App that makes this happen. Or indeed the realisation of the “Babel fish”
which featured in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Just pop this little gadget in your ear
and you can automatically understand any language and respond in Mandarin, say. How
useful would that be? The other App I frantically want is the one that tells me the name of
the person approaching with a big smile of welcome whose name I have forgotten.
In the meantime, I sit an exam with the 60-odd other students who have enrolled
for the month’s course. The school operates all year round except for part of December
and January. Every month brings a fresh group to study. They are a very mixed bunch,
ranging in age from early twenties to late sixties. There are seven nationalities in the class
of ten to which I am assigned and there are two other Irish people in the school, one of
whom works for the Department of Foreign Affairs and may be sent to Brussels after
her course. The other Irish person studied French at college: he can write and read the
language with impressive skill but can’t speak it with the same fluency. We hear of past,
more famous, pupils like Charlene Wittstock, the South African swimmer who is the wife
Does the apple look manly? Is it stationary or on the move? What mood is the apple in?
Aside from day-to-day transactions at the supermarket or bank, I stopped trying to
speak German, and might have remained this way (a surprising number of long-term Berlin
residents speak little or no German) had not a friend of a friend suggested a tandem.
This is where two people saddle up and take turns pedalling towards fluency in each
other’s language. Birgit was much stronger at English than I was at German, so our progress
was a little lopsided, but due to her delightful habit of exclaiming, “Ah, Louise, you speak so
good!”, I began to overlook my endless mistakes and enjoy the ride.
Birgit also started me reading novels, which is how I discovered that bad literature is
great for learning a language. Elegant sentences tie me up in knots but I can skip through
clunky prose (“David ate a bowl of cereal. He always ate cereal in the mornings”) and feel as
smart as Joan Didion.
But now I am back in class, and it isn’t just yoga-gate which brought me here. I miss
being playful with language and I miss having opinions. When you’re weak in a language,
you’re a kind of Rainman, conducting a conversation by volunteering one statement after
another. Stephen Spielberg is a film director. Facebook is big.
“And how do you feel when you talk German?” Daniel Roob asks, in German. I search
for a minute and come up with the word for “frustrated”, which, rather aptly, I pronounce
something like “frustrooted”. “So let’s see if we can make it a bit more fun.”
“Spaß,” I say thoughtfully and hear a promising gurgle in that dodgy U-bend, so I say it
again, and this time, I pronounce it perfectly.
Repeat after me ...
T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e | July 2011 | 25
I end up in Intermediate 3 which is a stretch for me for whom the Subjunctive is a foreign country
next to Slovenia ...
Ismene BROWn learns the russian of spies
It’s a short leap from being steeped in
classical music and ballet to becoming
curious about Russia, a nation that
pours out books that never make it into
of Prince Albert of Monaco. The course costs between d2,500 and d3,000 euro a month
depending on the time of year you choose. Quite a few of the élèves have been sponsored
by international companies like the major banks to buff up their language skills. And there
is a diplomat working on her negotiating tactics in French whose guilty pleasure is the
board game Diplomacy which I find touching but not exactly up to Wikileaks speed. The
retirees among the students often have a romantic notion about Learning French sur la
Côte d’Azur after many years hard slog running companies or being BSDs (Big Swinging
Dicks) in a corporate clime and some of them are not having an easy time.
For adults, often more used to bossing than being bossed, the classroom experience
of learning to Toddle Talk in a foreign language can be very frustrating. Especially when
they lack the benefit of an articulate riposte. They say that’s it’s hardest for people who
work with words or literature to learn a new language after a certain age because they have
higher personal academic expectations. The 20-year-olds with the quick-fire attention
span of the Facebook Generation are more relaxed about grammar and spelling and cruise
through on sharper aural skills and better cognitive brain power. The study concentration
is intense and the hours are nine to five with homework every evening. The only language
permitted is French, even during breaks and lunchtime. There is a jokey euro fine if anyone
is overheard speaking English/Japanese/German etc.
I end up in Intermediate 3 which is a stretch for me
for whom the Subjunctive is a foreign country next to
Slovenia but with nine other victims in the class there is
somewhere to hide and frantically compose an answer
to a roving question. But I love my teacher and marvel
that she can repeat the same simple structure over and
over again until it sinks in to our confused and resisting
brains. I only saw one instance of exasperation from a teacher who told an American pupil
that her pronounciation of French hurt his ears. He was reprimanded for the remark.
Accents don’t seem to matter as long as you are understood. It seems the French like the
Irish/English way of speaking French. They love Jane Birkin and Kirsten Scott Thomas
speaking French with English lilts. I try to channel these two when I’m faced with the
torment of the laboratoire or the abattoir as it is nicknamed. I start practising French at
every opportunity, watching French TV, reading Le Figaro because although I would prefer
to read Le Monde, it’s beyond me. What depresses me is being in a shop or restaurant
and ordering in what I think is French to be answered in English. How do they know?
How do they not know! The teacher, a true diplomat, suggests it’s because they want to
practise English on me. At the end of every day I am exhausted and just want to eat and
sleep – after having done my homework, of course. I have a breakthrough in the third week
and actually have a dream in French. In between, the grammar lessons are daily bouts of
what they call Science Pratique. These are sessions in how to handle everyday situations
in France. How to answer the phone; buy something in a shop; behave in a restaurant;
pay a visit to a French person’s home for dinner; use a bus or Metro etc. These I find very
useful and am able to tell someone who calls me on the landline that they have the wrong
number. Stupid but I felt really brilliant afterwards.
It’s the end of the month and we have another exam, which turns out to be exactly the
same exam we sat on Day 1. The genius of this is that they and we can measure just how
much progress there has been in comprehension and oral ability. They especially look for
connectors, the phrases that lead to joined-up talking and real sentences instead of simple
‘la plume de ma tante’ statements. On Day 1 my oral ability was pathetic but four weeks on
I can simulate a conversation of sorts. The wise old owl who runs the school tells me that
what happens after the month is that usually for two weeks each pupil has a commitment
to practice and read. Then normal life intervenes and the study falls off. He gently insists
it needs constant attention. To that end I am having weekly conversation through the
Alliance Française.
On y va!
English. After twelve years as the Daily Telegraph dance critic, I decided I must learn Russian
in order to do research for my own book. I needed to be able to read official documents
and old Russian handwriting, and I had to be able to conduct research interviews. In other
words, my need was a thorough and rapid progress to written and spoken fluency. But how?
Evening college sessions would be too slow. Individual tutoring I couldn’t afford.
Language labs were in London, and I didn’t live in London. I was 50 and I felt I could get
on faster by myself, somehow – obviously a computer course. But part of my calculation
had to be the time/money one. For the price of ten or 20 hours’ personal tutoring I could
buy a complete course of CDs with listen-and-speak facilities, working at my own speed
potentially to advanced level. But which one?
The Rosetta Stone system immediately attracted me: it was apparently used for speed-
teaching diplomats (ie spies), NASA astronauts, oil business execs. Good – this would
not be tourist Russian. But I could also see that its methods, despite aiming at advanced
knowledge, were far from the drills and rotes that I’d had at school for Latin. Russian is a
complicated language, with its alien-looking script, but also with loads of case endings, verb
and gender differences and apparently endless adjectival variants. Get those wrong and you
won’t be understood. So ... an intuitive method based on pictures and word associations,
with grammar unexplained, a method directed at
absorbing language’s textures rather than learning its
rules – would this just be horribly frustrating? I reflected
that I speak and read reasonable French without ever
having properly studied it, and that my school classical
studies should give me a handle on Russian’s structural
formalities.
I took the plunge, bought the Rosetta spiel, and
plugged in the earphones. I was immediately hooked. Each slightly Lewis Carrollian chapter
dragged me on to the next. It was moreish. I did three or four hours a day, trying out every
variant of every chapter. The Rosetta Stone is a universal method marketed for a huge array
of languages, western and eastern, predicated on the idea that when you see something
you want to know what it is – and that the ways in which your questions are answered can
subliminally deliver you a whole bunch of linguistic rules. You look at flash cards of, say, an
elephant or a dog, with its Russian word, and the voice speaks the word. You say the word,
read it, type it, write it, and you test yourself constantly while your eye, ear, hand and brain
build up an association between picture, word and sound. As more pictures come by, the
descriptions lengthen by a few words – through a juxtaposition of photos of a child in a
playground, you deduce when she’s about to jump and when she HAS jumped, and – worse
– fallen over. You start to see how the family photo (“parents with their children”) softens
you up for the romantic anything-goes of the instrumental case.
There’s an addictive option if you have a mic on your computer or headset: a gizmo rates
your pronunciation red, yellow or green. Sceptically, I tested this feature on male and female
friends to check its response to different voices – it passed.
This isn’t about adult logic, or about learning conversational gambits. You don’t start
with “Where’s the bus station?” or “Can I have caviar with that?” This is about opening up
intuitive pathways for grammar rules to lodge in your brain and therefore give you the ease
to generate all sorts of conversations, from ordering lunch to musing about ‘Swan Lake’
or football over a vodka. The latter wins you a ton of friends in Russia, and besides, you
oughtn’t to ask the way to the bus station if you don’t know about left, right, straight on,
corners and so on.
I can’t tell whether Rosetta Stone intend the surreal visual comedy in some of the pictures,
but it sure helps. One of my favourites is the Russian road sign: “Beware kangaroo!” As you
scoff, you’ve unwittingly absorbed the important word “Beware/watch out”.
Any good language course whets your desire to learn more. To please my logical mind,
I was grateful to find in a charity shop an old Soviet grammar, groaning with declensions,
conjugations and vocab about worker factories which solidified the rules for me. After
finishing Rosetta I sped through Ruslan Ltd’s superb advanced conversation CDs, which
proved that the Rosetta Stone’s associative method had given me a much more ingrained
listening familiarity with Russian than I could have gained from conversation classes with
other British learners.
I went from zero to advanced Russian in two years – job done.
The Rosetta Stone Russian course, levels 1-3, currently costs £289 together, or £179 per level;
www.rosettastone.co.uk/learn-russian. Ruslan Ltd’s Russian books and courses;
www.ruslan.co.uk
life skills
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14 | September 2009 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
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14 | September 2009 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
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14 | September 2009 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
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T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e | July 2011 | 33
BeautyStar Buys, Luxury Lipsticks
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deep-tissue intensive facial massage; I found it both
stimulating and relaxing, as if therapist
Guoda was literally changing my face with her fingers,
focusing especially on age-revealing areas such as the
eye area and the jawline. My face felt (and looked)
different afterwards – plumped and exercised, as if it
had had a workout.
Nude is not the only Irish skincare range proving that natural products can be effective.
We’re big fans of Voya’s new Me Time anti-ageing
moisturiser (d55), a creamy skin-boosting formulation,
and Galway-based Seavite’s re-formulated
Exfoliating and Toning Gel (d16). Green Angel
may not have the most glamorous packaging, but the
hand-crafted products are luxurious: try Sunrise Body
Smoother (d24.95), a delicious blend of salt, lemon,
grapefruit and seaweed extract (harvested off the west
coast) to exfoliate and smooth skin – it’s heavenly,
not to mention fairly priced. And all three brands are
family-run and made using local seaweed.
It’s good to know that the best in skincare is
right here on our doorstep. SH.
Vedas Beauty, 19 Lower George’s Street, Dun Laoghaire,
Co Dublin, 01 214 0451, www.vedasbeauty.ie. Nude is
also at SpaceNK Dublin. Voya, www.voya.ie; Seavite,
www.seavite.ie; Green Angel, www.greenangel.com.
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Summer beauty
34 | July 2011 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
3. Mama Mio Love Your Life Lines The simple packaging
belies the science behind this light-diffusing cream:
its eleven active ingredients include bioactive
tetrapeptide (encourages production of the skin’s own
hyaluronic acid). Pressing the cream into deeper lines
does seem to make them look less pronounced. And
the lavender scent makes it a pleasure to use. Follow
with an SPF. d39. At Arnotts; stockists 01 461 0645.
beautybuffet
Gorge yourself ...
by sarah halliwell
Skin boosters
Travel and beauty don’t go well together. How are you
meant to fit suncream, let alone anything more glamorous,
into that paltry little plastic bag? A black bin liner would
be more appropriate. So we’re looking for great things
in small packages. Hoarding samples is one solution;
Kiehl’s are good for giving out trial sizes. M&s do a neat
Deluxe Travel seT (d10), with mini plastic bottles in
a transparent zip-up bag, for decanting all your favourites.
BurT’s Bees and reN both do mini versions of their
bestsellers (and you can now pick up your REN at Dublin
airport). Multi-tasking elizaBeTh arDeN eighT
hour CreaM (d21) is an essential, as ever. We’ll be
chucking in some viChy eau TherMale (d10), plus
a mini l’oCCiTaNe verBeNa eau De ToileTTe
(d19.95) to block out the smell of Cup-a-Soup on the plane.
If we were business-class types, we’d splash out on the
deluxe limited-edition TeMperley/eleMis safari cases
containing eight essentials (men’s d69, women’s d108),
from Harvey Nichols. Meanwhile, it’s back to squeezing 48
products into that plastic bag ...
The beST new FAce-SAverS, From luxe
orgAnicS To bioAcTive line-buSTerS
1. Prevage Clarity Targeted Skin Tone Corrector The
newest addition to the trustworthy Prevage range,
this high-performance serum works on dark spots and
pigmentation, and improves skin’s general appearance.
it’s concentrated, so use just a drop on key areas; and
it’s vital to follow it with an SPF of at least 30 before
sun exposure. Testers saw improvements in two weeks.
especially good for dark skin. d131.
2. Pai Chamomile & Rosehip Sensitive Skin Cream
This ultra-soothing organic (certified by the Soil
Association) lotion gives skin a little Tlc for
summer. Designed for reactive, ultra-sensitive skin,
it’s made from the purest plant extracts and is rich
in antioxidants. great range, well priced. d29.95,
from pharmacies and www.paiskincare.com.
martha lynn, milliner, on her beauty essentials“I love lIquId eyelIner: i feel naked without it. i have tried everything,
but i come back every time to l’oréal Superliner – it’s like a marker, but
really soft. i only really wear mascara (lancôme l’extrême) if going
out in the evening, as i find it hard to take off (i use baby wipes
and lancôme eye make-up remover, being extra-careful around
the eyes). i like brow-zings by beneFit, with wax to shape brows and powder to fill them in. rather
than foundation i wear bareminerals powder – i have quite dry skin but this is light, and you don’t
get that line along your jaw with powder. Plus it gives good coverage. i’ve tried every kind of
concealer, but i find l’oréal’s Touche magique gives the best coverage, under the eyes and round
the nose. i’m a really big fan of red lipstick – it dresses you up, even
if you’re in flat shoes or a hoodie: a bit of red lipstick transforms
your look. mAc do a really good vibrant cherry one called mAc red,
and i often use a red pencil, too. At the moment i’m wearing Daisy
perfume by marc Jacobs, but i change – i also like chanel’s chance
and Allure. making hats is really hard on your hands and nails: i apply
vaseline hand cream regularly as i wash my hands a million times
a day. i use nivea Soft moisturiser and, when the skin on my body
gets dry in winter, e45 cream. i’ve recently started using Kiehl’s hair
products, including heat Protective Silk Straightening cream, which i
discovered when i was living in canada. i walk a lot, and i try and drink
lots of water. And i’m careful in the sun as i’m very fair: i wear factor 50
on my face every day in the summer.” www.marthalynnmillinery.com
“ This Month I’ ll Use ...”
martha’s beauty bill
l’oréal Superliner t9.25
l’oréal Touche magique t10.94
lancôme l’extrême mascara t26
bareminerals original SPF15 powder t25
brow-zings by beneFit t33
Kiehl’s heat Protective Silk Straightening cream t17
vaseline hand cream t2.33
marc Jacobs Daisy t55
nivea Soft moisturiser t5.35
mAc red lipstick t17.50
Total: t201.37
Clockwise from left: Daisy by marc Jacobs; l'oréal Superliner; nivea Soft; benefit brow-zings.
how to do: A Natural Tan The only good tan is a fake one. But getting a golden, sunkissed look via a bottle
has its own pitfalls. Slap or spray on self-tan in a hurry and you’re guaranteed orangey
smears. The key is to exfoliate regularly; the best (and cheapest) way is with
exfoliating gloves, just a couple of euro from pharmacies. Take advice from the tanning
experts at St Tropez: "Pour the tanner in your hands and rub them together to evenly
coat each palm; then smooth on rather than rub, for an even finish." Try St Tropez
Natural Radiance Self-Tan for Face (d27.95), with an Ecocert-certified tanning
ingredient creating a subtle colour; ideal for sensitive skin. We also rate Karora
Gradual Self-Tanning Moisturiser SPF15 (d19.99), from the Irish brand launched
last year – it has a pleasant smell and gives a gradual tan – and Clarins Instant Smooth Self-Tanning
(d25), for natural colour. Our tester raved about Tantastic Instant Tan Bronzer (d17.50), launched
this spring: it’s moisturising, paraben-free and washes off easily – ideal if you’ve gone a bit overboard.
Other top-scorers with our testers include citrus-scented L’Oréal Sublime Bronze Self-Tanning Dry Mist
(d21.99) for fair skin – just spray and go – and quick-drying ModelCo One Night Tan wash-off bronze mousse
(from d12.50). For pasty leg emergencies, grab MAC Skinsheen Leg Spray (d28), or Lancôme Flash Bronzer Self-
Tanning Leg Gel (d27). www.karoracosmetics.com; www.tantastic.co.uk; ModelCo from Arnotts and Clerys.
BaTaille De Fleurs is the first eau de parfum from Galway-based Cloon Keen Atelier, created by Paris-born perfumer Stéphanie Bakouche, who has also created scents for Hermès and Guerlain. With top notes of fig, lemon and bergamot over mimosa and jasmine, it’s an original scent for summer. Stunning packaging, too. Cloon Keen Atelier, Galway and Arnotts; www.cloonkeenatelier.com. d70.
ChaNel N°19 pouDrÉ is a fresh new version of Chanel’s rather overshadowed gem N°19, created by legendary nose Jacques Polge. The quirky, daring little sister of the Chanel family, N°19 has a key note of ultra-precious iris. “If a bottle of N°19 Poudré could release all the flowers it contains, several tons of blossoms would burst from it,” says Polge. Its lingering smoky mystery is intensely beguiling. From July 15, from d78.
(uNTiTleD) l'eau Turning its purist approach to scent last year, fashion house Maison Martin Margiela blasted fresh air through cosmetics halls with (untitled). (untitled) l’eau is just as surprising, with an emphasis on citrus rather than the more complex galbanum (an aromatic resin derived from Persian plants) that dominates the original. It haunts and intrigues. Exclusively at Brown Thomas, d64.50.
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1.The ExfoliaTorREN MoRoccaN RosE otto sugaR Body Polish. We’ve tried the rest, but keep coming back to this luscious rose-scented scrub as the most effective and luxurious exfoliator. d50.Cheap thrills: BotaNics of austRalia sMoothiNg salt scRuB contains river salt for a gentle skin-slough, plus gallons of macadamia nut oil to hydrate the skin, d14.99. at pharmacies, www.auscareireland.ie
2.The faCE-SaVErcRèME dE la MER is the ultra-luxe choice for rescuing skin that’s seen too much sun. it’s currently available in a unique 100ml World oceans Day jar, for a limited time only, d290. Cheap thrills: Not the cheapest sun cream, but utterly essential for your face this summer is Phyt’s high PRotEctioN suN lotioN sPf50. Natural mineral oxides form a barrier from both UVa and UVB rays, and the lack of any chemical substances means it’s ideal for fair and sensitive skin. Vitamin E and organic oils nourish and protect skin. Smells good, works hard. d36.
3. The BoDY CrEaMWe’ve tried many body moisturisers, but find cult classic KiEhl’s cRèME dE coRPs (right) hard to beat. all profits from this limited-edition version go to the Teenage Cancer Trust. from d31. Cheap thrills: We have a soft spot for BuRt’s BEEs 24 houR Body lotioN, with its natural shea butter and oils: there’s also a sensitive skin, and a fragrance-free, version. Great value, too. d12.95.
4. The BoDY oilJo MaloNE dRy Body oils capture the freshness of two top colognes – lime Basil & Mandarin, and English Pear & freesia – in the lightest oil formulation. apply to wet skin for a maximum moisturising boost. d50 each. Cheap thrills: NatuREllE d’aRgaN suBliME RadiaNcE
glittERiNg dRy oil. a pretty, shimmering argan oil to give skin a healthy sheen. at Nelson’s Homeopathic Dispensary (01 679 0451), d19.95.
5. The BoDY SHiMMEr chaNEl chaNcE Eau fRaîchE shiMMERiNg touch is a lightly scented body gel that gives skin a ravishing summer shimmer. d45. Cheap thrills: st tRoPEz sKiN illuMiNatoR in rose gave models’ skin an iridescent gleam on Erdem’s catwalk at london fashion Week. Use on face, arms and decollétage for radiance and glow. also in Gold and Violet. d19.99, at Brown Thomas.
6. The Hair-CarEProtect hair from the sun with WElla sP suN coNcENtRatE, which has UVa and UVB filters. add a few drops to your conditioner and leave in for the day. d15.99. Cheap thrills: l’oRéal
ElvivE full REstoRE 5 60 sEcoNd saviouR. This intensive conditioning masque restores and strengthens damaged hair in record time. d7.79. also less than a tenner is Vo5 Miracle Concentrate Elixir with argan oil, an intensive new leave-in treatment to solve damage and dryness.
7. THE SCENTThe best scents don’t come cheap. The latest summer scent from ysl, sahaRiENNE, is a fresh blast of lemon, italian bergamot and mandarin, with white floral and the slightest hint of ginger. like walking through a pine forest in the white heat of the day. from d60. Cheap thrills: l'occitaNE's new PRotEctivE Body lotioN sPf15 both protects and perfumes the skin with a light, fresh citrus scent. d24.50 at l'occitane stores nationwide from July 10.
8. The TraVEl KiTNEoM uttER RElaxatioN collEctioN makes an elegant travel companion, containing the divine Tranquillity bath oil, a travel candle, luxurious body lotion and pillow mist to make any room more fragrant. d40, from Brown Thomas and Seagreen. Cheap thrills: schWaRzKoPf Bc
BoNacuRE suN PRotEct tRavEl Kit contains three 100ml bottles to sort distressed summer hair, with shampoo, conditioner and a foam after-sun treatment. d15.95.
9. The Nail VarNiSHsally haNsEN’s coMPlEtE saloN MaNicuRE varnishes combine base, top coat and nailcare treatments along with colour (36 shades). and at d8.95 each, they’re way cheaper than a manicure. Standout shades are Commander in Chic and Gray as Gray, while purple and plum shades are really hot going into next season, their nail expert Dana Caruso tells us. from selected pharmacies. Cheap thrills: Yellow nails aren’t for everyone, but if you want to give this trend a whirl, experiment with EssENcE Nail vaRNish in Sun Dancer for a bargainous d1.29. at pharmacies and Dunnes Stores.
10. The MaSCaralast year, laNcôME dominated the mascara market, with one Hypnôse Precious Cells selling worldwide every four seconds. New version hyPNôsE doll EyEs helps create a “shiny fringe” of lashes. d25.50. Cheap thrills: thE Body shoP Big & cuRvy WatERPRoof MascaRa is one of the better-priced around but has staying power, making it a fine holiday choice. d16.50.
Summer beauty
T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e | July 2011 | 35
The Great Big Beauty Summer TestWe’ve tried out all the latest summer products, from exfoliators to body creams, scents to hair-rescuers, and here’s our top 10 best essentials for summer – with budget options too.
The LipsTick EffectThe term “lipstick effect” was coined during the 1930s depression: the idea that when times are tight, people buy themselves small luxuries. That concept’s certainly back – while general retail sales dropped last year, cosmetic sales were up. When times are tough, it seems, we buy lipstick.
There’s a mountain of new colours, formulations and formats on offer for summer, but we reckon Estée lauder’s new Pure Colour Sensuous Rouge LipColour collection is the best place to start. The collection, created by Tom Pecheux, lauder’s Creative Make-up Director, features 12 shades (d25). The focus is on wearability – these shades are truly easy to wear, from year-round classic Sensuous Nude to coral pinks like Pink Seduction and plum tones like orchid Surrender. So what sets them apart? The lipsticks are surprising – they go on as smoothly and easily, yet super-concentrated pigment and key technology means the colour lasts longer than a regular lipstick. The collection is about classic, modern beauty, with a focus on glamour rather than fashion. Pecheux is adamant about ditching glitzier shades, even when brighter days might draw us towards something sparkly: “Shimmer lipsticks make me want to puke – so disgusting!” he says. We have been told.
Many of us are conservative about lipstick, and confine ourselves to the same safe colours day in, day out. for my money, it’s hard to beat a classic Chanel red (like Gabrielle). But inventive new formats are deeply alluring. lipstick houses are reinventing the humble bullet case all the time, from Guerlain’s retro-style pop-up Rouge Automatique to soft crayons and markers (easier to apply in the rear-view mirror and on the bus, for one thing). We’ve raved about Clinique’s Chubby Stick lip crayons before – pure genius. Multi-tasking is an increasing feature, too: Maybelline Superstay 24hr Lip Colour (d13.89) is a colour and gloss combo;
Smashbox Limitless Lip Stain and Colour Seal Balm (d26), in fruity colours from Guava to Berry, has a felt tip-like colour stain on one end and a balm on the other: wear together
or separately. it stays put – and makes achieving a strong red lip child’s play.
Glosses now are all about staying power. Try fresh Grenadine from the l’oréal Glam Shine Fresh 6 Hours range (d12.99). and velvety Gloss d’Armani comes in 18 high-definition colours (d32). To get true colour from a lipstick, use the make-up artists’ trick and neutralise lips with YSl Touche Éclat before applying. Pure Colour Sensuous Rouge LipColour at
Estée Lauder counters nationwide from July 4.
From left: Estée lauder sensuous Rouge lipcolour, d25; gloss d’armani, d32; l’oréal glam shine fresh
grenadine, d12.99; smashbox limitless lip stain and colour
seal Balm, d26; Maybelline superstay 24hr lip colour,
d13.89.
The next Cinema Club Screening, L’Amour Fou
THE GLOSS and mOËT & CHANDON
cinema club
THE GLOSS and Moët & Chandon continue the hugely successful Cinema Club this summer with a screening of the widely acclaimed fashion film, L’Amour Fou. This film documents the relationship between one of the greatest names in fashion history,Yves Saint Laurent, and his lover, Pierre Bergé. The public life of Yves Saint Laurent was as extravagant
as it was decadent but few are familiar with the private life of the legend. In Pierre Thoretton’s L’Amour Fou, Pierre Bergé, the man with
whom Saint Laurent shared four decades of life and love, reflects on the extraordinary history of their personal relationship. L’Amour Fou is an
unmissable film event for fans of documentary film and fashion lovers. If you and a guest would like to join us at 6pm on Thursday, July 21, at Denzille Lane Cinema, for a Moët & Chandon reception before the film, email [email protected]. Places are limited and allocated on a first-come,
first-served basis. Over -18s only.
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clockwise from above: Helen Turkington at home in Antrim. h Quirky accessories like this fun beach sign add a personal touch. h In the living room, upholstered sofas and chairs in easy-care, hardwearing fabrics are pretty and practical. The ottoman is multi-functional, providing extra seating, somewhere to rest tired feet, or a place for the morning coffee tray. h Making the most of the vista: the sea view is framed by a pair of dramatic console lamps. h A functional hall makes sense: somewhere to store coats, boots and beach paraphernalia. Top Tip: Invest in cashmere throws and electric blankets for cosy winter breaks.
T h e G l o s s m aGa Z i N e | July 2011 | 37
The use of natural materials and hardwearing but pretty soft furnishings gives interior designer Helen Turkington’s summer home, on the coast of Co Down, a breezy seaside attitude. “Beach-cottage style is all about creating a simple, clutter-free look and a relaxed atmosphere,” according to Turkington. “I took my cue from nature, pulling in elements inspired by the sea. Using plenty of white gave an airy, fresh feel.” Accented with a sea-inspired palette – soft shades of blues, navy and neutral shades like sand – helped create a look that is really easy to live with. Turkington’s tips: add interest to interior walls and ceilings with traditional clapboard or extra-wide tongue-and-groove panelling (used horizontally or vertically). Keep window treatments simple – white wide-slatted wood blinds or lightweight roman blinds look great. Sometimes it is the seemingly insignificant space or feature that provides the opportunity to reinforce the look and feel of the house. Turkington is a master at making thoroughfares functional and smart with attractive storage in hallways, book-lined corridors, and using quirky nooks to store neatly stacked logs for open fires in the evenings.
1. Beach-cottage Style
If you are lucky enough to have a summer house, you’ll know it’s often the finishing touches to the interior that make the scheme work. Whatever style you choose, the use of a predominantly light colour palette and details that draw inspiration from the surroundings are key ...
HomeGetting Away From It All
Source Book: Walls are painted in a selection of off-white matte emulsion from Colortrend by Helen Turkington, www.colortrend.ie. White console lamps, d175 each; floral upholstered Frederick armchair, d1,594 (excluding fabric); demi-lune console table, d1,200; chrome hurricane lanterns; d210 each; hall bench and matching coat rack, The White Company, to order; all at Helen turkington, 01 412 5138.P
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38 | July 2011 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
clockwIse froM Top lefT: An enormous pine kitchen table is great for casual entertaining. The owner prefers using good-quality, rattan mats to a formal tablecloth in the summer. The exposed beams throughout the house are treated with a water-based whitewash stain. h In the living room, a blue and white palette brings a certain freshness. The 1950s armchairs are covered in a mid-blue wool check (for similar, try the Sutherland wool collection from Colefax and Fowler). This summer house is a television-free zone, instead the owners use an overhead projector on a white wall to screen family movies. h A glimpse into the grey-painted library from the un-fussy hallway.
Nestled in the outskirts of a village on the east coast, this classic weatherboard-exterior seaside home has been charmingly decorated in a range of neutrals with a hint of blue, cleverly reflecting its rustic yet seaside surroundings. Many traditional country interiors, whether a substantial house like this one or a more modest cottage, make a special feature of the original structure of the building, like leaving rough-hewn beams exposed. Decorating with maritime touches, like sisal rugs, pieces of white coral and sea-scene artwork, all add to the charm. By focusing on texture and a soft colour palette, the interior is simple but elegant and the emphasis was on creating a dining and living area that could accomodate family gatherings of guests and visitors. The owners did not limit themselves to just one shade. Experimenting with different hues from soft white to dark grey using test pots of paint, graduating the tones from light to dark, the effect is much more interesting. They also introduced cushions and throws in tonal, mismatched patterned fabrics to add texture. Simple updates like refreshing wicker furniture with a fresh coat of paint each year will keep your summer home fresh.
2. Casual Country Living
Summer
Source Book: Coir, seagrass and sisal flooring, at The NaTural INTerIor, www.naturalinterior.com. Vintage pine dresser, for similar try Buckley aucTIoNeers, 01 280 5408 and Moy aNTIques, www.moyantiques.com.
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FroM Top leFT: The simple shed-like exterior. h This uncomplicated wooden structure serves as a working boathouse as well as a simple summer house. Boats are neatly stored in the rafters and hoisted up and down by a practical pulley system. h The bedroom is cleverly hidden behind a room divider. Painted bedside tables complement the bleached timber floor. The overlapping wooden wall slats are left exposed and untreated adding to the utilitarian feel. Top TIp: Try framed out-of-date nautical charts as an inexpensive alternative to original artwork.
Dream of escaping to a shed at the bottom of the garden, or even better, a simple cabin on a stretch of shore? From the rudimentary corrugated iron-clad house we spotted on the shores of Lough Hyne in West Cork to this simple wooden shack, decorated with driftwood and seaside memorabilia, almost anywhere can transformed into your own peaceful getaway. The spare, wood-clad open plan interior – including the bedroom – is filled with the owners’ collection of marine bric-a-brac and antiques collected over the years. Bleached timber floors, netted fisherman’s glass floats, American-style cotton bed comforters all add to the simple rustic style. Auction house and salvage yard finds are key to maintaining a tight budget; a countertop rescued from an old shop makes an great island for eating while a vintage set of drawers serving as a room divider, cleverly hides the bedroom from view.
3. Rustic CharmhomeSummer
Source Book: American style cotton bed comforters, Lexington, from d120, at House of fraser and arnotts. Imray nautical charts (coastal), www.imray.com or for historic maps (land-based), www.osi.ie. Specialist vintage one-off pieces of furniture, Peter
JoHnson InterIors, www.peterjohnsoninteriors.ie and the pub/hotel furniture auctions at Herman
WIlkInson, www.hermanwilkinson.ie.
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40 | July 2011 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
Remember Ernie’s? During the 1980s, it was one of the few high-end restaurants that saw out the recession. I have reason to remember it with fondness,
as it was there that I first met my about-to-be-in-laws, just before Christmas in 1987. They had taken the news – delivered by phone a month beforehand – that their precious son was engaged to a woman whom they had never met with admirable equanimity. We arrived straight from the airport in a flurry of taxis and luggage and the first thing I did was knock a glass of champagne over my future mother-in-law. (She took it in good spirit and we’ve been getting along famously ever since.) Ernie’s endured for almost another 20 years after that lunch. Then the space was home to Poulot’s, a shorter incarnation. And now it is Mulberry Garden, which sounds as if it should be a Chinese restaurant – but isn’t.
Instead, Mulberry Garden, run by Brian Lennon and Laura Peat of Ranelagh’s Eatery 120, is something rather wonderful. A purpose-built restaurant, the dining room wraps around a lovely planted courtyard with water features. There’s a Zen feel to the décor, which is restrained, the simple minimalism a backdrop that will never overpower the food. We thought it would make a great venue for a small wedding.
By restricting choice on the menu to just a couple of dishes for each course, the kitchen is able to reinvent that menu on a weekly basis, according to what is best and most seasonal. The menu is posted on the website each week. Waste is reduced and so prices can be kept down: the set dinner is d40 for three courses. In the wrong hands, this could be a recipe for dull eating. In chef John Wyer’s – he’s a veteran of L’Ecrivain – it is anything but.
Three of us opted for Terry Butterly’s Natural Smoked Haddock served with chargrilled new potato, confit free-range egg yolk and wild Howth Head leeks. This was a sublime dish, in which the elements were in perfect harmony, the runniness of the egg spilling over the other ingredients to create an incredibly delicious sauce. The only problem was the length of time
it took to get our waiter – an annoying, over-confident chap who promised more than he could deliver (literally) – to bring more of the wonderful hot fennel bread to wipe it all up. The other starter was Five Mile Town Goat’s Cheese: a pretty plateful of McNally’s Land Cress, Organic Beetroot, Pistachio Crumb and very fine Toasted Brown Bread. It was also excellent.
For mains, it was either Slow Braised Beef Cheek with Pickled and Puréed Cauliflower, Wild Garlic and Homemade Macaroni or Roast Atlantic Cod served with Wilted Romaine Lettuce, Truffled Potato Purée, Langoustine Broth, Smoked Bacon and Garden Peas. Both were fabulous dishes, the beef meltingly tender, but the cod had the edge. The intensely flavoured broth is served from a jug at the table by the chef. It was one of the best dishes any of us had ever eaten.
The only pudding was Strawberries and Basil – strawberry and hibiscus jelly, vanilla pannacotta, lemon and basil sorbet, black pepper meringue. This is not really my kind of thing – too many slimy textures – but the two pudding eaters liked it well enough. Cheeses, however, were superb. Glebe Brethan, Ardrahan, Milleen’s and Crozier Blue, served with homemade rosemary crackers and a red onion, Granny Smith apple and Lannleire Irish honey purée.
Along with Wyer, the stars of Mulberry Garden are the producers who supply the restaurant. From Jenny McNally of Rush (familiar to market-goers in Dun Laoghaire, Leopardstown and elsewhere) who supplies the organic leaves, to Mr William Peat who foraged the wild leeks on Howth Head, to the Tiernan family of Dunleer who make the wondrous Glebe Brethan cheese, they are all Irish food heroes whose efforts are celebrated here.
I can’t advise you what to order at Mulberry Garden because, by the time you read this review, the menu will have moved on with the season. I would be surprised, though, if what you get isn’t very, very good. A meal for two, with cocktails to start and a bottle of Trimbach Riesling (which I can recommend) will come to around d130
before service. n Mulberry Garden, Mulberry Lane, Donnybrook, 01 269 3300, www.mulberrygarden.ie.
A simple, innovative approach that really works is cause for celebration ... Katy Mc Guinness is impressed with a new Dublin restaurant
Garden View
For clodagh McKenna lunch in the garden means simple starters and a great salad
a summer Lunch
A few weeks ago, I was walking down Moore Street and I discovered a little treasure, The Paris Bakery, bakery on one side, café on the other. It caught my attention with the wonderful smell of freshly-baked breads wafting out on to the street ... I had planned to have a few people around for a garden lunch so in I went to buy some good bread. On the left as you walk in is a counter of French pastries and baskets of freshly-baked breads – I picked up some focaccia and a few ficelles. I couldn’t resist taking a seat and ordering one of their café eclairs – perfect pastry, creamy coffee filling, supremely restorative ... (I went back just a few days ago and ordered a half-lobster from the specials menu for d15! It was the best lobster dish I’ve had in Dublin. Chef Alan Shepherd is ex-Fallon & Byrne). I headed home to prepare my garden lunch. Cumin Chicken Salad with Avocado and a Baked Lemon Ricotta were going to take centre stage so I decided to whip up a Sicilian hummus and a smoked mackerel and lemon pâté to go with the fresh breads. For the Sicilian hummuS, put 400g drained, cooked chickpeas into a food processor with the juice of 1 lemon, 20 basil leaves, 2 cloves of garlic, 50g pine nuts, 50g almonds and 200ml olive oil – whizz until you get a smooth consistency. The mackerel and lemon pÂtÉ uses the same method: put 2 smoked mackerel fillets (Woodcock Smokery is my favourite), 150g cream cheese, 50g creme fraîche, juice of 1 lemon and lots of black pepper in a blender and blend to a smooth consistency. Serve these before the main event ...
ingredientS: (serves 4)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp mild chilli powder
4 organic chicken breasts
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 red onion, finely chopped
4 gem lettuces, separated into
leaves
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
3 Hass avocados, peeled and
thickly sliced
For tHe dressing:
250ml natural yogurt
Juice and zest of 1 lime
2 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped
salt and pepper
method:
1. Mix the oil and spices in a large
bowl, then use the mixture to coat
the chicken. Pan-fry the chicken
(without extra oil) in a large non-
stick frying pan for a few minutes
each side. toss the tomatoes into any
spiced oil left in the bowl, then add
them to the pan. Cover and cook for
5 minutes more until the chicken is
cooked and the tomatoes are warm
and starting to soften. 2. Make the
dressing by mixing the yogurt, lime
and mint in a bowl and mixing well.
toss the red onion, lettuce, coriander
and avocados in the dressing and
pile onto a large platter. 3. slice the
warm chicken and tomatoes on top
of the salad and dress.
ingredientS: (serves 10)
400g ricotta
zest and juice of 2 lemons
2 tbsps flour
4 eggs, separated
200g caster sugar
12 digestive biscuits, crushed
70g butter
method:
1. Place the ricotta in a bowl and
mix in the 4 egg yolks, followed
by the flour, lemon zest and juice
and caster sugar – mix well. 2. in a
separate bowl beat the egg whites
until stiff and fold into the ricotta
mixture. 3. Place a saucepan over a
low heat and melt the 70g butter.
once melted take off the heat
and stir in the crushed digestive
biscuits. spoon the biscuit mixture
into a 10-inch springform tin and
press down the mixture using the
back of a spoon to create a biscuit
base. 4. Pour in the lemon ricotta
cake mixture over the biscuit base.
5. Place in a pre-heated oven at
180˚C for 55 minutes. n
Spiced cumin chicken and
avocado Salad
Baked lemon ricotta cake
reStaurant
From his ever-so-stylish shop-cum-office in Dublin’s pretty suburb of Glasthule, Karl Barnes conceives some of the most beautiful outdoor spaces you’ll ever see, designing everything from townhouse gardens to rolling parkland estates. “my most challenging design at the moment is creating a new eleven-acre garden from a green field in Co Carlow,” he says. “rarely do you get the opportunity to design and oversee the construction of a garden with a one-acre lake complete with boathouse,
new woodland walks, a formal French-style stableyard and mass planting schemes (see above middle). It’s nice for once not to have to worry about having enough space.” The large planting schemes are influenced by the work of world-renowned landscape architects James van Sweden (www.ovsla.com) and Piet oudolf (www.oudolf.com). “Huge drifts of ornamental grasses and herbaceous perennials that sway in the breeze are a beautiful sight in full bloom. I was inspired by the architecture of the house: in this case, distinctively American with detailed stonework, pristine timberwork and a cedar shingle roof.” By contrast, he also loves working alongside a client (it’s been ten years so far), developing an Italianate terraced garden (see top) in Dublin, drawing inspiration from the work of Sir Edwin Lutyens (www.lutyenstrust.org.uk).
mostly, Barnes’ clients come to him overloaded with ideas and simply need them fine-tuned and developed into an appropriate design, specific to their site. “My designs tend to have a strong backbone. I focus on clean lines which I then soften with a planting scheme: I always use a muted colour palette with great emphasis on movement and I avoid funky design detail and gimmicks.”
recently, Barnes has noticed that clients are beginning to accept that everything does not need to be new or pristine, that a healthy mix of new and old works. A few distressed lanterns or table and chairs (he avoids the term rusty) or silvered teak gives a garden a lived-in feel. Even simple ideas like collecting rainwater from the gutters to water the garden are coming back: “People are back to viewing their house and garden as a home, not a commodity,” he says. “I live on the edge of Lough Furnace in Newport, Co Mayo and spend any time I can developing a small section of a bog, a very large and wet site. While I’m very keen to put my mark on it I am also very careful to ensure my input blends seamlessly with the surrounding wilderness.”
Paris is a great source of inspiration for Barnes. “I love its beautiful courtyards and squares all hidden from sight behind huge wooden doors. You can’t beat sitting in Place des Vosges on a summer’s day, people-watching. Visit again when the snow is thick on the ground and you can really see the magnificent architecture through the bare branches of the pleached lime trees. Turn a corner and you’re met with a beautiful stone water font, hundreds of years old and no graffiti!” One simple tip? “Don’t over design, know when to stop.” Formality at The Cowshed, Glasthule, Co Dublin, 01 280 8071; www.formalityonline.com.
eating outside always feels special whether your outdoor
area is a postage stamp or a rambling garden. Just add a table, pull up
a chair and you’re all set for alfresco dining. and, what better way to
welcome summer than with some spanking new dining chairs that look
as good inside as they do out? these Plastic Fantastic chairs (there are
also tables, sofas and footstools) from cool dutch label JsPR are based
on classic shapes but with a twist; each piece is coated in special, ultra
hardwearing rubber and can be customised to any colour. large chairs
suit bigger, open-air spaces with smaller, more compact pieces best for
city terraces and balconies (prices from d550). and the heavier the better
in terms of weathering our blustery summer winds as well as avoiding
having to find your furniture in your neighbours garden. www.jspr.eu.
A moveAble FeAsT
Fit For a Partya good tray saves on legwork and is essential for stress-free summer entertaining in the garden. as well as being waterproof and heat resistant, we love that these trays come with a wall-mounting hook, moving it from serving tray to wall art in a split second. they work hard and look great. What’s not to love? available at Milo Fitzgerald’s new Kilkenny-based gift store, Gorgeous. Le Boudoir Collection trays, from d49; www.gorgeousgiftsandinteriors.com.
INTELLIGENT DESIGNKarl Barnes, landscape designer, on creating great outdoor spaces
ummEr Is upoN us, and suddenly interior
decoration has moved its focus to the
great outdoors. Designed by Marine Peyre,
the fun and flexible OutBed was definitely
created with the summer party season in mind. A
set of cushions is woven seamlessly end to end and
surrounded by a peripheral rope, allowing you to
manipulate it into a comfortable seat, couch or even
bed when unfolded. Comfy. But, it doesn’t stop there.
The OutBed is also waterproof, UV and chlorine
resistant and can even float, making it the perfect
accessory for a pool party or simply somewhere
to crash out with a good book. Available in a great
selection of colours, from d500 for six pillows;
www.marinepeyre.com.
sally Bendelow, MarKs & spencer’s head
of hoMe design, says: “the hottest Buy
for the suMMer is the autograph osLo
Two-sEaTEr ouTdoor sofa (d779). it’s so
versatile, coMe autuMn it can douBle
indoors as a conservatory piece.”
lifestyleThis Glossy
T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e | July 2011 | 41
If you want to make your food taste good at any time of year, it’s worth trying
to choose a wine with flavours to enhance it – that’s pretty much accepted, even if it’s
Wednesday evening with nothing on the horizon except pizza hurriedly matched with a
bottle from the corner shop. In summer the same rule applies … only more so. The less you
feel like complicated cooking and the stronger the lure of the deli counter, the greater the
need for a cleverly chosen wine to transform simple food into a stellar treat.
It’s exactly ten years since I sweated a whole summer away writing Food and Wine: Matching
Made Simple – a small book aimed at taking both the mystery and the fear out of the sometimes
complicated flavour marriage business. It has since been translated for eight foreign editions
(including, quite bizarrely, a Russian one, and most rewardingly, a French one – a big surprise in
a land were everybody claims to understand both food and wine instinctively).
Now it’s out of print. If it weren’t, I bet I would have rewritten bits of it by this stage, having
discovered some more dazzling wine matches for certain dishes in the meantime. That very
fact underscores one of the most crucial points about the whole pairing process: it’s more about
haphazard discoveries than hard-and-fast rules.
As with many a fun pursuit, the longer you do it the better you become. It’s a matter of tasting
a dish and the wine which you think may suit it individually first, then together. Are they really
made for each other? If the answer is yes, each should seem even nicer in the other’s company
than alone. A bit like people in a perfect relationship – neither shouting the other down.
No need to be too precious about it, mind you – particularly when summer eating and
drinking are supposed to be hassle-free. It’s handy, all the same, to have a few cracking
combinations up your sleeve. Without costing a cent more than less successful duos, they’ll
brighten up even the gloomiest July evening in a flash.
WITH THAI PRAWN SALAD: McWILLIAMS MouNT PLeASANT eLIzAbeTH SeMILLoN, HuNTeR VALLey 2005/6. An astonishing bargain, this Hunter
Semillon ranked as a great Australian classic is smooth and citrussy with enough
richness to cushion chilli burn. It will keep for a few more years, turning richer
and smokier. From selected Tesco outlets, usually d19.99, on special offer at d10.
WITH TAPAS: PRADo Rey RoSADo, RIbeRA DeL DueRo 2009/10. Swish
Ribera del Duero isn’t noted for giveaway prices… but here comes a super-
affordable rosé – juicy, full-flavoured and perfect for all sorts of summer dishes.
From KRC Wine Warehouse, Dublin 6; Bin No 9, Dublin 14; Ardkeen, Waterford;
Barrys, Midleton, Co Cork; Adare Beverages, Galway, usually d10.99.
WITH bARbecueD SPARe RIbS: beLLINgHAM SHIRAz-VIogNIeR, coASTAL RegIoN 2008. The fad for adding a splash of Viognier to Syrah/Shiraz isn’t
always convincing – but the opulence of the blend works well in this satisfying
South African red, especially when teamed with spicy, chargrilled meat. Great value.
From Dunnes Stores, d9.95.
TRANSFORMATIVE TREATS FOR d10
42 | July 2011 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
MARy DoWey FINDS WINeS To TuRN DelI FooD INTo A SuMMeR FeAST
Great Delimatches
10 Splendiferous Summer Matches1. SAuVIgNoN bLANc with tomato, basil and feta salad
2. LugANA with fresh pea and summer herb risotto
3. AuSTRALIAN RIeSLINg with prawns or crab
4. uNoAkeD WHITe buRguNDy with salmon terrine
5. SouTHeRN FReNcH RoSé with salade niçoise
6. SPANISH RoSé with paella
7. bARbeRA with bresaola or beef carpaccio and rocket
8. PINoT NoIR with cold roast chicken and ham
9. TeMPRANILLo with lamb shish kebabs
10. MoScATo D’ASTI with raspberry or strawberry pavlova
k
k
wINE
Above: Cheese knives, Sagaform, about
£14.99stg for set, at Still For life, Belfast.
Left: linen napkins, from a selection, at
Bottom Drawer at Brown Thomas.
Since the arrival of
her daughter, Molly,
on the scene, Carina
McGrail’s entertaining
has taken a distinct turn
for the casual. The producer of the
SuMMERTIME FESTIVAl which runs this month at
Kildare Village, and her husband, Joe, still manage to
have friends over for lunch or supper every second or third weekend,
which is not bad going for two working parents of an 18-month old, but the
complex dishes that were a feature of the couple’s entertaining pre-Molly are a
thing of the past. “GETTING TOGEThER with friends over a plate of decent food
and a few good bottles of wine is the best way I know to relax and catch up on all
the news,” says Carina.
Carina and Joe do most of their shopping in the REd STAblES MARkET in
St Anne’s Park near their home in Raheny on Saturday mornings.“We buy our
vegetables from dENIS hEAly and like to support Irish artisan producers [some
of whom will be featured in the Good Food Ireland section of the Summertime
Festival].” The couple supplement their market purchases with mid-week
forays into the city to FAllON & byRNE for meat, ShERIdAN’S for cheese,
olives, prosciutto and sun-dried tomatoes, and the flower ladies on Grafton
Street for seasonal blooms, this month, pink peonies. Wines come from either
MOlOuGhNEy’S in Clontarf or O’bRIEN’S.
“I usually do the starter and pudding and Joe looks after the main course,”
says Carina. SuMMER FAVOuRITES – cooked on the barbecue and eaten in the
garden if the weather permits – include big platters of Mediterranean antipasti
or prawns on skewers followed by Joe’s overnight-marinated Greek leg of lamb
and an Italian sponge cake with mascarpone and summer berries, followed by a
plate of Irish farmhouse cheeses.
Neven Maguire (“amazing roast potato salad with balsamic, incredible
pear, ginger and whiskey cake”) and the Gloss maGazine’s own Clodagh
McKenna are the food writers to whom Carina turns for inspiration, while Joe’s
sister Sinead Wilde, who lives in Normandy and organises foodie holidays in
the region, provides advice and recipes via email. For details of the Summertime
Festival, see www.kildarevillage.com
pH
oT
oG
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pH
By
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BH
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By
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e
“Sorry, we’re closed,” she proudly said from behind what was starting to feel like the aptly named Flutes Bar in the almost-new T2. Well, it was 7pm, and who would possibly be looking for champagne after 7pm on the way to their holidays on Friday night of the June bank holiday weekend?
The Chocolate Lounge was the next stop – a sushi-style conveyor concept with desserts that taste of fridge on the belt, instead of sushi, and platters from the kitchen.We ordered an antipasti platter, after a warmer welcome here, but the friendly young waiter was already apologising as they’d stopped serving food at 7:30pm, he’d ask the chef and see what he could do. Antipasti doesn’t need a chef – it just needs some Fisher Price instructions and basic motor skills.
Cop-on would prevail, I hoped. It was 7.37 pm but it wasn’t happening regardless – the welcome was turned on its head when the response came from the chef, audible to all at the Chocolate Lounge, who roared “No! No! No!” Lovely. The sheepish waiter crept back to us but didn’t need to say anything beyond mouthing “Help me”.
If all else failed, a burger in Burger King would have to do. I haven’t eaten a BK in years, but that wasn’t going to change any time soon as it too closed at 7.30pm. The open kitchen of nearby Harvest looked marginally more promising: farmers’ market marketing with cold cuts, fresh fish’n’chips, lasagne, burgers and pizza – basically what amounts to our national menu and still the default setting for most hotels, bars and country cafés. We went for frittata and lasagna. Both were awful, inedible. We had to leave quickly too, as it was closing at 8pm.
T1 isn’t much better. A few weeks before, en route to Pisa with a gaggle of hungry ladies, all primed for spending their money in The Loop, we were told that the Garden Terrace, which probably does the best food in the airport, only does it till 7.40. It was 7.40.
Most of us are vulnerable when we travel – as it is often late or very early – and often tired or stressed. These restrictions and lack of real connection with food or the travelling public, at the airport, but also at our train stations and petrol stations, conspire to get us and our much needed visitors to capitulate and eat the scary sandwich, or, if you’re really unlucky, fried brown things: reheated poultry, pastry, potatoes and processed meats. Those small boxes of fat and stodge signify failure for the traveller, where each bite says, I’m badly organised, I’m a bad parent, a bad person.
There are many good things about T2 but needing to fly between 9-5 to enjoy all of it seems like we’re going backwards. It’s a real pity the people who decide when you can eat at Dublin Airport have managed to recreate the sense of organised confusion which used to prevail.
Tim magee is frustrated at the lack of dining options at Dublin Airport’s T2 but a London trip makes up for it …
MAN in A SUITCASeTrAvel
T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e | July 2011 | 43
Before I launch into London, just a note: Around this time of year the last flights to Heathrow and Gatwick are full of us heading to our airport hotel before an early long haul departure. Why do we do it? Gatwick is only 25 minutes from Brighton. Brighton in the summer is like Grazia-on-sea and it’s a much better idea to fly early the day beforehand to stay and play around the beach there than add another night of air-con and engine noise in an airport hotel. Or what about this? Heathrow is 30 quid in a cab from Bray. This pristine sleepy village has more Michelin stars than Ireland or Manchester but the real stars are the bars. Supper in the Hinds Head or Parky’s pub, The Royal Oak, and a night in the movie set that’s Red Roofs trump any airport hotel experience.
July is the best time to do a one- or two-nighter in London, as by August it’s too hot, too grumpy and empty. Pick and stick to an area and don’t spend your time on tubes, trains and cabs nor on a formal lunch and dinner. Summer dining should be sociable, irreverent fun, which London, now, does so well. Staying in Soho means you can visit good shops and still get to the sublime V&A, in a day. It’s also grazing heaven. You can pick and mix your way through the day at Hix on Brewer Street or Selfridges, Bocca di Lupo, Polpo, or if you are many, the talented
Tommi Myers’ Wahaca, before crowning the day at the king – and queen – of all pubs, The French House.
Leicester Square wouldn’t usually be my first choice as a base, as I normally opt for the knicker drawer hotel rooms of The Gore or The Rookery, but that’s too much taxi time in July. Two unlikely bedfellows have opened their doors in the last few months, which couldn’t be any closer geographically or further away from each other in style. I stayed in both on consecutive nights and they were near perfect. Fergus Henderson has opened the yacht-like St John hotel, which is as minimalist and as exceptional as his food. The VIP room-cum-hotel next door, the rock’n’roll W, still smells deliciously like a new car. With its tricked-out rooms and Jean-Georges’ food, it’s better than any of the other nearby internationals.
Soho isn’t for everyone but The Berkeley and her posh sisters probably are, and they are a little more affordable in the summer. The heavenly rooftop pool at The Berkeley hotel is an oasis that would be at home in any great European metropolis. n
a VieW from a TaBLeThe sTaff are dressed like Dexy’s Midnight Runners, the room is East Village. It’s not
precious though. Spuntino is like Bocca di Lupo’s friendlier younger brother, who’s in a
band. Most of the room is made up of the three sides of one communal dining bar with the
backing track of happy, transient diners. The crew are fast and efficient, the room is cool and
a nice escape from the West End heat and hordes. You can spend the day milling through
bijou pork and apple, spicy mackerel or beef and marrow sliders, softshell crabs with spicy
aioli, or just drop in for 20 minutes for crispy egg and soldiers and a coffee. Along with The
Wolseley, it’s the perfect departure lounge for your journey home. Spuntino, 61 Rupert Street,
London, W1. No reservations. Open 11am-midnight, Monday-Saturday; noon-11pm, Sundays.
DesTinaTion: London
Yohji Yamamoto, at the Tapestry Gallery at the v&A Museum, london.
Below: The pool at The Berkeley hotel in Knightsbridge.
When it comes to weekend breaks, there are some things Ireland does really well: spectacular scenery, romantic castles,
wonderful seafood and a sense of warmth and welcome. bringing all these elements together is something that ashford
Castle in Cong, Co Mayo has perfected over 70 years, and its owners’ experience at creating an atmosphere of old-world
relaxed luxury is apparent from the moment you drive through its imposing gates and through the rolling green parkland. on
the banks of lough Corrib, ashford’s stunnIng loCatIon is part of its magic, and guests can wander around the immaculate
gardens, take in a round of golf, fish on the lake or even partake in a bit of falconry. Inside, the grandeur continues, with dark
wood panelling, mullioned windows, chandeliers and deep sofas, beautifully furnished bedrooms and well-appointed bathrooms.
the food, on which ashford prides itself, is showcased to full effect on the seafood appreciation weekends which combine
visits to local producers with the full ashford experience. a trip to the family-run Connemara smokehouse on bunowen Pier
in ballyconneely and a boat ride to the mussel beds of killary are punctuated by scenic drives through Connemara. we were
delighted to find a table laid in white linen waiting on a windswept beach, complete with chilled rosé, and Chef serving up
steaming pots of mussels in white wine and garlic. the seafood dinner that night, where head chef stefan Matz pulled out all the
stops with a menu that included raviolo of lobster and smoked organic salmon bisque sauce, followed by seared fillet of wild
turbot and smoked oysters, was pretty damn memorable. decadence at its best, and a reminder that a weekend in Ireland can
still feel a world away. For information on Ashford Castle’s Seafood Appreciation Weekends call 094 954 6003; www.ashford.ie.
Chefland can feel like a male dominion most of the time, but the truth is that restaurant food on either side of the Atlantic has been much more influenced by the grandes dames of cooking like Alice Waters and Eugénie Brazier. Even the blight of TV chefs can be traced back to superwomen like Julia and Fanny. Things aren’t any different in Ireland. Our own Darina Allen, Theodora FitzGibbon and, most importantly, Myrtle Allen have done more good for Irish food than all of the boys put together. That’s why I stayed and dined in Ballymaloe House last month.
The house and grounds were perfect as always – essentially a Versailles for foodies – and the weather and the welcome from Róisín were warm and sunny too. The bedroom was old school, classy, bright, exactly as we’d hoped, and even the peacock outside the bedroom
door was bigging up what was to come.There was something amiss during dinner though. The young man looking
after our table seemed in over his head when we went into detail about dishes like the casseroled pork. It’s standard practice for good kitchens like Ballymaloe to let beginners cut their teeth, but that’s behind closed doors where mistakes and an
obvious lack of knowledge aren’t going to unsettle the diner. The excellently enthusiastic wine waiter fared better. When my pig came out it was completely different to what had been described to me – the dark porkish colours showed it once had been a free-range pedigree but it tasted dry and was only manageable with the accompanying sauce. Aside from the desserts – which, like the bread, were exceptional – the other courses combined world-class ingredients with perfunctory cooking. Ballymaloe House is supposed to be about the best ingredients presented simply, but taste is the most important thing on a plate and this was as if no-one was tasting the final result. The dining room had the same vibe. It was flat, little atmosphere, no music, just too reverent, barely audible diners spread across two rooms. No-one doubts the skill or passion of the people behind this institution. Darina’s books, along with Larousse, would be the only things we’d grab if the kitchen was on fire. They still grow the fairest food in the land and Myrtle Allen will forever be the mother of good food in Ireland, but we hope they start tasting things at the pass, and maybe put some music on for the pilgrims to this global institution. Ballymaloe House, Shanagarry, Co Cork, 021 465 2531.
travel
Bar EssentialsNature Valley and associated words and designs are trademarks of General Mills © 2011.
®
Surprisingly tasty
GMUK10590_Gloss_Qtr_horizontal_SANDALS_ad_277x87.indd 1 14/06/2011 13:06
the gloss Hotel Spy
We are soon going
to be hearing a
lot more about
the Victorian seaside town
of bangor in Co down.
It’s home to a cute little
boutique hotel called the
salty dog. It’s also home
to the finest cooking on
this island. we didn’t think
that derek Creagh had
the restraint in him. during
his years at the pass in the
then-starred deanes, this
big gentle man created
some of the PrettIest and tastIest food anywhere. It
never felt that it was created for you and me though – it was
created to maintain the love of a tyre company’s guidebook,
and it certainly wasn’t simple. we didn’t think that he could
do simple, and neither did the judges of the great british
Menu when they kept slapping his talented hands for straying
from the brief. he seemed like a one trick pony, albeit with a
sensational trick of creating delicious but complicated food.
now that the best restaurateur in northern Ireland has
parted company with his best chef his goals are probably the
same: he needs the warmth from the star. but Creagh’s route is
different now, constrained by recession, footfall and a kitchen
the size of a car he has been forced to ratchet back the science
and the tech and replace it with something you can’t buy, nor
emulate – a dIVIne Palate. derek was always worth the
detour, but the mind-blowing tastes and sIMPlICIty that
is on show at the salty dog means he’s now worth the trip
alone. drop everything and book before this dog has his day.
The Salty Dog Bistro and Cafe, 10-12 Seacliff Road, Bangor, Co
Down, 048 9127 0696; www.thesaltydog.com
travel
a foodIe weekend ...
Strap
T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e | September 2009 | 15T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e | July 2011 | 45
Play to your strengths, follow your heart and seek and lend help: friendship,
shared passions and karma are key to three new creative ventures ...
This Glossy Life
Film Fatale, a bi-monthly film event is really a fabulous party centred around the sceening of a classic film, chosen for its fun, fashion, glamour and Hollywood-
nostalgia quotient, according to Anna Taylor and Fernande Parente, whose brainchild it is. Cinema lovers dress up and flock to The Sugar Club for an experience akin to those in the golden era of Hollywood – all fabulous soundtrack, live performances, costumes and cocktails. This style of vintage re-creation is a trend that’s popular all over the world and, with Taylor’s job as programme manager for the Screen Cinema (and her MA in film from Queen’s) and Parente’s one-woman company This Way Up Productions running special events for the Screen Directors Guild, these women are well-placed to make it work here. They really get how atmosphere plays a part in the enjoyment of seeing a movie. “It’s about more than going to the
cinema, it’s about turning a movie into a night-long experience,” says Taylor. “The film sets the theme but it’s just one element.” Guests are inspired to dress up in the style of the decade. “It was like stepping back in time,” says Rio de Janeiro-born Parente of their recent Casablanca event. “Everything mirrored the 1940s style of the movie – the war-time fashion, the DJ playing the tunes of the time, the piano player and singer’s performances true to the style of the period.” As movie downloads and laptops seem ubiquitous, both women are passionately determined to celebrate cinema-going in general. Film Fatale presents Roman Holiday on August 6 at The Sugar Club, Dublin – get on your Vespa and book tickets now, D15; www.tickets.ie
Femmes Fatales
PoRTRAITS by Conor Horgan ASSISTED by Brid ní LuasaigH
MAkE-UP by searon MCgrattan
www.searonMCgrattan.CoM
Anna wears the Jitterbug dress;
Fernanda wears the Capone dress; both
LuCy in disguise (by Lily Allen and
Sarah Owen) at Brown Thomas Dublin.
this glossy life
46 | July 2011 | T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e
Stumbling over a bag of cash in the street is one way to get your business started. That’s what happened to Ruth Ní Loinsigh, owner of Om Diva, a treasure trove of vintage on Drury Street in Dublin. “There was a thousand euro in it, in coins. I reported it, of course, but when it wasn’t claimed, I was allowed
keep it.” The money meant Ní Loinsigh could make her first buying trip for her vintage stall in the George’s Street Arcade. As the vintage trend gathered momentum, business grew and she moved into a shop on Drury Sreet; now she has the lease for the whole building. On the ground floor and in the basement of number 27 is Om Diva: vintage dresses, coats, shoes and accessories as well as pieces sourced by Ní Loinsigh on her buying trips to India and the Far East. Up the stairs to her newest venture, Atelier 27, two floors of small individual studios, rentable for just d80 a week, above which sits yet another studio, dedicated to Ní Loinsigh’s legendary, laidback Sip ‘n’ Stitch evening sewing classes, a bright, beautiful space overlooking the rooftops of Castle Market. “Do I believe in karma? Yes I do,” says Ní Loinsigh, “that money started me off, now I feel compelled to help young fashion designers get a start.” So this impulse became a business venture, but one steeped in Ní Loinsigh’s sunny attitude to getting on with things. Anyone who meets Ní Loinsigh talks about how she sort of radiates kindness. She even installed a kitchen (bright turquoise walls, black and white tiled floors, and proper cutlery, china and cafetiéres) so the young tenant designers could give clients a coffee and save on buying lunch in town. “It’s so hard getting a foothold – I hope that being in a communal space, but with a quiet space to design, is useful to them.” The clothes (and jewellery) of the designers will be displayed in a room dedicated to them and they will benefit from the footfall generated by Om Diva below. We photograph Ní Loinsigh the day after her launch. Her two small daughters, Willow and Rosie, potter up and down the stairs. The sun is streaming through the studio windows. She is happy. “The place was heaving, we ran out of sangria, it was wonderful.” Atelier 27, 27 Drury Street, Dublin 2, 01 679 1211.
KarmicPrinciples
Amy Woulfe Flanagan, 26, a graduate of NCAD, is installed on the
third floor: “I love the location, that the rent is affordable, and I love Ruth’s enthusiasm.”
This year (Turkish-born but Wicklow-based) Umit Kutluk, ace student of The Grafton Academy stole, literally, all the shows. Kutluk is the 2011
winner of three intercollege competitions; DCU Young Designer of the Year, DIT Designer of the Year, UCD Designer of the Year, as well as the Gillette
Venus Dress of your Dreams competition. Kutluk is renowned for his attention to detail and use of luxurious, good quality fabrics. “Having this space at Atelier
27 is such a great opportunity,” says Kutluk. “I’m displaying sample sizes, one offs, but the collection is available to order to size and specification.”
T h e G l o s s M AGA Z I N e | July 2011 | 47
this glossy life
Imagine an acting class where your classmates are a company director, a stand-up comedian, an accountant and a lawyer. Given a script to study, the process of
character development begins. One student, a woman, is asked by tutor Hope Brown, to shout. She can’t. “She literally has never been able to show anger, kept it all inside. So we begin a process ... by the end of the course, she can shout.” Actor, director and founder of the Agni Acting Studio on Dublin’s Pearse Street, Hope Brown teaches acting to non-professionals, in three-hour weekly sessions, over eight weeks. “People come for all sorts of reasons and at all ages: because they’ve always wanted to act but were too shy; because they have to perform in their role at work; to overcome a fear.” San Diego-born Brown knows stagefright firsthand. “I had finished acting school in Chicago. I was signed to a big agency. I had been cast in some Hollywood movies. But increasingly I was freezing at auditions.” Brown moved to Ireland 13 years ago and, with Deirdre O’Connell at The Focus Theatre, he went back to basics, stripping away all that he had learned, and started over. “ I learned to act again. I stopped trying so hard I suppose, got in touch with my own emotions. It was about honesty, really.” The experience made him a better actor, and he decided to use his experience to make a business of helping others to act. “Acting in front of others is a terrifying experience. I’m not a therapist but we dig deep for each role, and in that process we uncover all sorts of things, with a positive outcome.”
Being in Ireland and more recently, starting a business, has required a very different attitude. “I canned my agressive American approach,” he smiles, “I became more gounded, and I listened more.” Brown believes in giving and asking for help. “My business has grown organically: I’ve traded services – acting classes for website design, for instance. I network, I’m open. As I say to clients who are in roles where they need to think on their feet, accept the curveball that’s thrown at you, don’t reject it – if you do, the energy hits the floor and dissipates.” www.agniactingstudio.com
Acting Up
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over it and are desperately casting around for the next
awesome holiday experience. Connie has the answer
and is cleverly packaging gritty get-down-and-dirty,
live-the-real-Ireland, economic horror vacations.
She is already working on the holiday website,
which shows gloomy pictures of truly awful abandoned
housing estates in depressing bogs clinging to the
outskirts of dead towns, putting particular emphasis
on the lack of running water, sinking structures and
bleak landscapes plagued with feral wildlife. She knows
this will have an immediate appeal to the adventurous
German types who are always looking for ways to get
closer to nature. She will draw up a list of all the local
town attractions to further entice them, emphasising
customary dining in the chippers and the Chinese and
Indian takeaways, and of course, visits to the forsaken
pubs. She should throw in some sporting activities like
‘spot the native working’ or the even more elusive ‘spot the
native spending’! It will be like the Wild West pioneering
days of long ago, they will LOVE it!
She is confident they can charge a fortune for these
holidays. The benefits will be fabulous, the cash will roll
in, but more importantly, Connie is certain these tourist
trailblazers will run screaming back to their own countries
beseeching their governments to charge no bloody interest
on our loans. They will clamour to their stern leaders to
write off our debt and just give us the damn money. They
will have such an overwhelming fear that the Irish condition
might spread to their shores that they will do everything in
their powers to avoid this happening. Deceptively simple
Connie solution to the current emergency!
While others stand by and wring their hands, enterprising Connie has found a use for the zombie estate. Honora
Quinn is impressed
A VIEW FROM THE JEEP
Connie has a very busy month ahead
and it looks as if she must once
again answer Dame Enda’s call and
therefore postpone her Wexford
posturisings until August. She is
just back from Quinta, where she
had a very successful holiday even if her usual watering
holes were somewhat devoid of the omnipresent wall-
to-wall SoCoDu native. Naturally, she and her little
darlings managed to outshine all the competition and
even Ruairi the Ruinator wasn’t too embarrassing in
his absolute element simply drowning in golf and
Sagres lager. Molly and Fionn are beginning to show
promise at the dismal game and about time too,
after several years of intensive coaching. They will now
absolutely sail into their Dublin club of choice, and while
these institutions are hardly the epicentre of glamour
and certainly Connie herself would never be caught dead
among the Lemon Pringles, golf club membership cards
are just another one of those many Goldcoast tribal badges
that one’s offspring must have in their Prada wallets,
alongside the pre-loaded credit cards.
Connie will now pack them all off to Wexford with her
new and fabulous staff in loco parentis. Yes staff, plural!
Connie has hired a Greek couple to assist her in managing
the family homes and taking care of all the domestic details,
including the children and Ruairi. The woman is a highly
experienced paediatrician and he is a brilliant engineer, and
they are so delighted to work for Connie’s tax-free pittance
as they can support a whole village of former Athens
civil servants back home. Domestics sorted, its back to
She Does She Doesn’tUnderstand all the controversy about that famous duet with
Gainsbourg. “I don’t know what all the fuss was about.
The English just didn’t understand it. I’m still not sure they
know what it means” l Like to look like anyone else.
“I always hang things on my bags because I don’t
like them looking like anyone else’s.” Birkin was the
inspiration for the most desired and sought-after bag,
the Hermès Birkin l Ignore the news. She is known
as an activist, taking part in protests to try to make a
difference. "I think it's revolting that we care more about
money than about the suffering of those who make us
rich” l Feel comfortable being described as a style icon.
“I think it’s really about wearing exactly what you like
and not really caring what other people think” l Mind
working. "I realised I was working because it was very lonely
not to." She has been living alone for the past 19 years l Mind the
crowd being close when performing. “I remember sitting on
the edge of the stage – these Japanese girls kept touching me”
English-born actress and singer, Jane Birkin, is most famously known as Serge Gainsbourg’s muse. She has contributed time to humanitarian projects and has been awarded the the British OBE and the French Ordre national du Mérite. She
has been living in France since the 1960s and this month she stars in a new French comedy, Si Tu Meurs, Je Te Tue
work for Connie, who is quite ecstatic that her whimsical
tourism idea has gained official approval and she is to head
the quango set up to oversee the implementation of this
project. Her idea is to lure European tourists, particularly
German and French ones, to lesser known areas of Ireland.
Connie has noticed that ‘glamping’ has become almost as
mainstream as Marbella. Real trend-seekers are already so
This month: Jane Birkin
Have three daughters, one from each of her marriages,
to John Barry, singer Serge Gainsbourg and Jacques
Doillon l Acknowledge the impact of her career on her
children now. "We didn't realise at the time it might
be difficult for the children with their parents being
on the radio” [singing 'Je t'aime moi non plus’, their
famously breathy love song] l Believe it’s people
who make any country welcoming. She moved to Paris
in the 1960s with her daughter, after separating from
her first husband, John Barry l Love to read Dickens.
“It makes me chuckle to myself. He has taken me to
another world” l Realise that others are less fortunate.
“When I met women in Sarajevo who’d lost their children
crossing the road trying to find water, I stopped thinking
about my problems” l Feel at home every time she hears the
bells of Big Ben l Admit that the shocking things she did were to
please the men in her life. “I always did what they wanted – I was
scared of losing them” l Like to smile.“It takes ten years off”
48 | July 2011 | T H E G l o S S M AGA Z I N E
over and out
Anyone looking for new ideas for the design of their kitchen and living space, anyone who wants to furnish their own, consciously-designed surroundings with timelessly beautiful objects, high-quality materials and purpose-built technology in internationally recognized quality, needs the support of like-minded people, people of similar tastes, connoisseurs and skilled individuals. Please talk to us – the specialists in the new kitchen architecture from bulthaup.
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