Mulberry kats

CHeck out the Mulberry kitties. These lovely lions are on show in the Mulberry store. Vogue.com posted them and I think they are well cute!

insanity

I'm not giving out. but this is a Chloe gold key chain. For £112. For that you could get about 3 versions of the above Topshop jacket. but I know it's Chloe and designer and all that. but is this not a slightly mad thing to buy? charge that much for? make in the first place?

love my bones

I hate that things get taken backwards.....but this is the only t-shirt that will do when your sick. a baggy 'love my bones' t-shirt. it's sooooo comfy! it's from topshop months ago!

Bring Your Own Bling night in SPY.

We do HEART the vintage here at Penny Dreadful HQ. (the newsroom)

And what better way to celebrate all things vintage then getting involved with some excellent vintage fun?

For those who already know Lucy's Lounge in Temple Bar, great. For those who do not. your missing out. the woman has a great selection of fur coats and tea sets for next to nothing. Seriously amazing bargains. I am personally in LOVE with the floral vintage tea sets. One must be purchased for the flat immediately. 

ANYWAY ,

there will be a show.

On Thursday the 15th of April in SPY. come for the fashion show at 7 stay for the all night clubbing mayhem that is on after.

The show will be showcasing some of the best pieces advailable at Lucy's and the make-up trickery of Myself and Aiden Corcoran and my own Evin! So fantasy Miss Penny make-up all round!

There will also be a mini vintage stall as well for people to get their hands on some amazing vintage pieces on the night, so, bring some bucks and prepare to get stuck in!

do dress up as there are some serious prizes for the best dressed among us....

........Hurrah!

The night has a vintage 90's free from desire, my love has got no money, calling Mr Vain, type feel to it and is totally free. 

So what are you waiting for?

and as always, we encourage total madness and people to come and say hello to Miss Penny. If you do, I promise you, we'll be nice to you, take your picture and post it. 

vampire bites

Delfina Delettrez is some one I would be keeping a good eye on. This is the vampire bracelet. It's odd, considering I hate all this vampire bollocks going on right now....but i kinda like this. it's one of those, 'talking pieces'. Something to start conversations off. but it's like $2,000 + right now. Would you believe that this lady is involved with Fendi. A brand I don't really care too much about as I think it's a bit stuffy?

Provided by website hit counters website.

DREADFUL DIARIES

The Dreadful Diaries

So I am getting another train today. The 4th one in about a week. sigh. So I decided I can't fight city hall from the country and am returning to Dublin.  For like 2 days. The minute I step off the train I have shit to do. Cleaning out my locker, going to the sample sale in town and cleaning my house. I had an epic battle with a bin before i left which must be filtered out.....I also have to take home all my stuff from said locker.

Which includes my massively brilliant collection of hoodies. Like my I heart NY one and my Nirvana hoody.

But first with god's speed I will get to Dublin....

Three random photos

There is nothing else that pleases me more then wearing my RUN DMC cropped sweater in the mornings. It's from Tee and Cake and pleases me immensely, Incase your wondering what I would wear it with. I have it over a long black vest with skinny blue jeans. Yeah....
I had my hair all flicked out saturday as I got bored with straightened locks. I May have ruined this look by being seriously ill. but, I thought it was fun while it lasted. In the background you can see my look wall where I posted every single make-up look I've ever worked on. It's fun. really it is....
The jumper is from topshop and the eyemake-up is from Benefit cosmetics

Nokia Young Designers awards

(Runner - up - Niamh Rafferty from Griffith College with her piece 'Encased')
(runner up - Matthew Karp from Limerick senior college with 'Butterfly effect'

(The three designs on the three assets models)

Ah, what a time of the year. Time for all those late nights, coffee breaks, cigarette burns, pin cushion accidents and hysterical teary laughter moments to all account for something. I am talking about, the Nokia Young Designers awards.

This year I was invited along to see a selection of the creations made by some of the art colleges of Irelands finest students. Although Miss Penny had rather a large blast from the past instead with a lot of familiar faces from LSAD turning up! Representatives from the major colleges such as Limerick school of art and design , National college of art and design, Griffith college, Limerick senior college and Grafton academy.

The collections were all placed on maniquins while the mood boards and sketchbooks loitered upstairs waiting to be viewed. I watched the photocall where designs from Clarissa Hinz and Jialing Zhao were on the backs of some of Assets most indemand models (one did note the VERY familiar face of one model….tee hee hee. Less said about that the better) It was at this point I noticed a very familiar face, Debbie Walker, one of the judges. As this site seems to be rather a love – in for Project Catwalk stars (see previous posts about Wayne and Una Healy) I watched Debbie on one of the series. She now works as a senior buyer for the website asos.com (see the below posts about asos.com black collection) and looked comfortable in a lovely pair of skinny jeans. So once the students returned to the building I could get down to the commencing of interviews and the picking of my picks of the show….

(winning design - Emmy Slattery from NCAD with 'Knotted')

It wasn’t hard to pick our top 5 designers. I examined from every angle, including color, catwalk trends, materials used, cut and execution of the garment. Every last detail including details used, stiching and even what zips where!

So here goes,

NO 1 – Jialing Zhao and ‘Fashion Area 51’.

Zhao based her collection on a study of crop circles and interconnectivity. She was interested in shape and using alternative materials to sculpt her garment. She had an amazing piece of plastic which had been made to look like metal adorning the side of the piece. Although when I asked her who her inspiration was, she said Vivianne WestWood, one cannot help but think of Versace’s latest collection. Spring colors and metal bodices. This design and her use of alternative materials helped me to decide that her piece was my top pick of the day. Jialing Zhao is in her final year in Griffith College.

NO 2 :  My second pick was a designer who I didn’t manage to get a chance to talk to.

Averil Blakely and ‘ Medusa.’

I chose this piece as I loved the tie dye effect running down the center of the dramatic maxi gown. There is something really beautiful about a well executed maxi dress. The intense purple of the maxi dress contrasted sharpely against the gold bolero which sat on the shoulders of the manniquin. Adorned with a knitted piece on one shoulder.  Blakely is from NCAD.

NO 3 : Julia Doherty. ‘Pixelate.’

I had no time to speak to this designer although her piece was one of my top picks for the same reason as Zhao’s. The use of unusal material. Doherty tapped into the trend for graphic prints by adding squared almost quilted effect pieces of metal to the dress.  I did spot the designer (who is actually stunning with cropped red hair and amazing dress sense) cleaning the metal pieces with a baby wipe complaining it attracted dust a lot!  Julia Doherty is from NCAD

NO 4 : Aine Kilbridge and ‘ Modern Romance.’

I had almost dismissed this piece until I stopped for a closer look. I have a tendence to lean towards a more aggressive fashion piece (that’s putting it midly as readers of the blog will note) and to dimiss the gentle ladylike ones. But a closer inspection of this piece revealed a really interesting mix of fabrics. The designer had chosen a wonderful lavender feather to construct the skirt (Which I had dismissed as ‘a bit too Topshop until I got closer) I realised she had woven in pieces of wool to make them have the same effect as the feathery bits on the skirt. Brilliant! It was then that I noticed the metallic waist belt and the corset and the black sheer panel. If I had to pick a celebrity to wear this I would have chosen Nicola Roberts from Girls Aloud. With a sheer tights and a platform shoe. Which is the reason I selected this piece. Because I could already see someone wearing it. Oh and did I mention it was on trend as it was was assemytrical as well? Oh and just to add that Kilbridge is studying in Grafton academy.

NO 5  Ina Marie Igoe 

I stopped for a chat with the designer as having met her before I have always found her to be a lovely person. She was more then happy to have a quick chat about her design. Inspired by OVI she researched interconnectivity and architecture working them into her piece using variious elements.  We loved the red ruffles on the front of the A line dress. Our quick catch up revealed that the designer had taken some time to live in Paris (the smell of green tinged envy off me was incredible) and I had to ask had the Parisian way of dressing affected her personal style (BTW the designer was rocking an incredible fur trimmed cape and 40’s style vintage hat, oh and long leather gloves. Possibilty one of the best outfits of the day)

She confirmed that Paris had been an eye opening expierience that had changed her approach to fabric and design. Changing to more contemporary feeling pieces.

She is in her last year at Limerick school of Art and Design.

I decided to let the designers carry on and feeling we had enough material for this blog and subsiquent article off I trotted on my platform fringed ankle boots.  Smiling to myself after spotting the coffee area of the show filled with designers. The colleges sitting together. NCAD to NCAD and LSAD TO LSAD.

Unfortunatly this is the point where I mention the fabulous night that was in it and the smell of champagne and success for one designer.

But alas, Having a prior commitment at five that night which another designer I was taken ill (seriously. it was not funny in the slightest) and missed the night. I had to walk to my apartment after fainting at the collection launch (yes, with the print outs in my hand) on the phone to my mother incase I collasped on the way. Not fun. Making it there in one piece I had to do a ring around this morning and apologise to the people who I missed!

Anyway, Thank you to the girls from Elevate PR who helped me with access, interviews and were generally lovely lovely people. All the designers who stopped to give me their time and to the judges for letting me interview them!

 Whazzz on next ?

Next time on the event section of this page : We are checking out the collections at Dublin Africa FASHION week. Stay Tuned kids..

We are also pleased to announce that we are going to be meet designer Alice Temperley in the next few weeks! scream! so will be getting all the gossip for you there!

how could you do this to me Cork?

Here I am with my leather gloves. Posied for some massive sexy vintage finds in my secret vintage treasure chest I dove into the English market with fashion murder on my mind....To come up empty. Heartbroken I peered into the soaped up windows of my fave fashion cave. Gone. Positively 8th street. you will be missed.

the rest of the outfit is constructed as follows :

the hat = vintage find in camden in London for thirty quids

the black dress = old topshop dress bought years ago when i worked for them. I layered a black vest under as it is very backless. the event (an imelda may concert) didn't call for backless glamour

the white necklace = freedom jewelry from london. it goes the whole way down my front

black leather gloves = postively 8th street. vintage. for a fiver

pink lipstick = MAC saint germain

black eyeliner = Rimmel liquid eyeliner.

It was next to impossible to feel in any way connected with my beloved Cork. As it pissed rain, my fave shop was closed, the new vintage place was too far away to walk, my coffee got cold quickly in the rain, the new topshop was shite and the village-y place it's in too non descript. I was miserable.

Thank god for some of the traditional 'cork' things to do. Like wandering around the Gate Cinema waiting for my dad to come and pick me up. I felt all of 15 again. eyeing up the massive sweet display with the wide eyes of junkie eyeing his next fix.....

my elderflower addiction.....the end of it.

I've been taken for a mug. I recently despaired of my diet coke drinking habit. I have about 6-8 cans a day. on a good day. I prefer it to coffee. I need to get my fix. A lot. Surprisingly I have returned from the dentist where I have just been told I have good teeth. but meh, what can you do?

Anyway, I recently switched to drinking elderflower fizzy drinks from Whole Earth. Which were surprisingly good. I was pleasantly pleased. Until I read the can. 115 calories in the whole can and the can is mainly sugar and water. refined sugar. concentrated sugar.

No wonder I have been slugging away and finding it the perfect pick me up on my 15 min break!!!

it's full of sugar!

So thats it. back to Diet Coke, its cheaper, worse for the enviroment, has less sugar and apparently, does not stain my teeth. (thank you Mr Dentist, Sir)

sample sale

alright ladies.
the ulitmate is here.
the big one
the one you can't ignore.
how does 95 per cent off, stella mac, roberto cravalli, miu miu and a whole host of other sexy surprises grab you?
the sale is on saturday at the very top of powerscourt, South William street, Dublin 2 from 10 -6 pm. first come, first served.
there is no sunday re-run for anyone who missed out.
come for the cupcakes
stay for the champagne....

this sale is being organised by the lovely ladies at Covet.

christ handbag.

it's the oddest but best-est thing. I have become addicted to this bag. The above is a testimony to its wonder by WWD mag. But below is the real thing.
Considering my screensaver is currently a pair of shoes with crucifixes on them. I must have this for my collection. My collection of things that upset my catholic mother and go very well with my outfits for various things. http://www.our-lordandsaviour.com/press.html. there is information and a picture of the clutch here. it is good.

wow. I have gone very very gothic over the past few days....

...it's making me think of that line from that Pixies song....where is my mind?

Happy birthday welllllll in advance,

When you google Pictures of Kate Moss looking ropey on a night out. you find many to use in a post where you rip the piss. When you google the Naomi. You find lovely shots. Why is that? Well, it blows my piss taking out of the water so here :
Now, let the piss ripping commence. She's been in this business a long time. And I could crack every joke about throwing phones, community service and what not. but I once worked with a man, who despite being the worlds biggest gee-bag ever, said, 'When Naomi walked into a room, everyone turned around to look.' which I presume was about her 'presence' when she 'walked' and not because people in the area of the world this guy was from (ahem cork ahem) would be saying.

'Jesus, there's Naomi Campbell, doesn't she look awful ropey. lets not take any pictures incase someone uses them on a blog later in life. But jaysus lads, lets have a good old stare instead.'

then someone in this fantasy conversation which happened 9 years ago asks,

'Whats a blog?'

Apparently, her fella is organising some multi million bash in May when her birthday is in France during Cannes. I just know I'd forget to post in May about it, so I said I'd do it now. Save me feeling embarrassed when I run into her in my local Dunnes while popping in to get a pint of milk and the morning paper. You could see it happening couldn't you....

the mighty boosh for a fil-um.

Here at Miss Penny we are huge fans of the Booooooosh. the mighty boosh at that. so we can leave you with the rumour that, the film is being written. as we speak. right now.
I think the film could be interesting.
The boosh seems to attract a, how do i put this, rather art college following. because finally, after so many years. a tv comedy was written in the sort of crazy language and sense of humour we operate in.
finally.
so seeing that on the big screen may or may not work.
Mr Felding had this to say :

"Hopefully, I like the road movies with Bing and Bob, hopefully we could just do lots - that would be great if we could do that."

He added: "There's a couple of ideas for films, there's one we've got quite far into, and then there's one that's sort of quite a good idea that we're just working out now.

"And then there's one that's like a musical, like a Rocky Horror type thing, and then there's an album as well, so lots hopefully coming, it's just we need to do some writing.

"It took us two years to write the first series and now we have about six months to write a film, but it'll be alright."

good lord. please not a musicial. I like that they have their songs and what not, but constantly? all the time. god no.

AND NO CELEBRITIES!
i wont be amused if i see the shaggy head of Pixie Geldoff or the beehived bonce of Winehouse creeping into the titles. seriously, I know your all mates. but cut the shit. This goes for you Mr Holland and your getting your friends to appear in every advertising campaign in London.
and can I add?
as a side note, where is Winehouse? my magazine is getting lonely without her. HEAT have almost gone broke! they are reduced to mocking Jordan constantly, which everyone knows is too easy....

asos.com the black collection

asos.com black collection - which actually isn't only in black - is going from strength to strength. I haven't done a post before now as it's been a slow growth for me. Basically I saw a few items in magazines, on shoots and on people. Everytime I saw it. i stopped and stared. In wonder. so I chose my fave two pieces from the collection which is hard to find on the website. so it's the above mac, for it's burberry feel in the twisted seems and the candy colors. and the trophy jacket below with a sharp shoulder. simply because, i love a dramatic shoulder and a cropped jacket. it suits me and my black wardrobe very well.

look book

Flo without her machine (man, that joke is getting old) but. this is here because I simply adore her jacket. nude and vintage. The oversized mens don't-mind-me-i-am-just-robbing-your-jacket jacket look works really well with the mens style hat and scarf and shirt combo. in fact this is men's tailoring by numbers. complete with brogs. oh and look which IT bag of the month is whoring it's self off her arm? thats right. the ALEXA. man, Mulberry must have had some budget sending this yoke off to every alternative-ly dressed madam on the scene right now. Much like Alexa herself, that thing is hanging off everything trying to look cool.

saucy secrets

saucy secret :

Which main high street brand is re-thinking it's move into a new venture recently? Apparently it cost major bucks to the brand to move in and it swooped after a council presented a lavish spectrum of high street store names which were already signed up.
But three months in and the shine is wearing off.
The brand has made the mistake of thinking outside the capital it doesn't have to be fashion forward and has poured no money into the ventures outside Dublin. As a result they are getting pretty stale.....
.........rumour has it. that after 3 months, the brand is thinking about firing the hiring they did and moving back out.....
because the other shops in the new venture are doing well....very well....and this is like the surprisingly ugly sister next to one particular shop. who we heard, don't hold back when it comes to visual merchandisers.....

good luck twisted sister

marko mitanovski

I love that buzz of finding a new designer. So when a message from one of my regular readers popped up suggesting I try this designer marko mitanovski. I fell right in love with the collection. And the sick evil twisted-ness of it. Based on Lady Macbeth, the collection is in high demand right now. Lady Gaga has been wearing pieces of it. The collection debuted at London fashion week to a salivating fash pash press and stylists mass. It's been touring the world on some of the most fashionable backs ever since. (it's also been in Serbia, at their fashion week)


swoon. the image of this does not do it justice. it's textural folds and oversized-ness reminds me of those cosy Giles scarves I wanted a few seasons back. I would love this.
Not sure if the model can see. but who gives a shit?

Am full on in love with the leggings. try a cheap alternative. well, a cheaper alternative. try goth stores and markets, sex shops to find something identical. Georges arcade might have something in Dublin.....





the creativity and the fun factor on this, gives it the wow factor. the designer is exploring fabrics and accessories in a wonderful way. I have also noted the trend for the back to nature eyebrow. Topshop unique were showing the unibrow and the unkept animal brow in their show for A/W as well. hmmmm.....

"I was inspired by elements of Renaissance costume, which I experimented with. I exaggerated and transpired collars in several ways by pleating Eco leather, to honour the silhouette of the costume - the collection is not an integral vision of Elizabethan costume, but its replica of the basic theme." - marko mitanovski on his collection at London Fashion Week

uggly

I just heard an UGGly rumour.
The the makers of UGGs and Jimmy Choo are uniting for a capsule collection. shudder.
Ladies,
there are few things in the fashion world I will not try, but Uggs is on that list. here is the list (so you can see the horror I associate them with)
1 - ugg boots
( because they are horrible. they fit badly. our weather is not that bad - no really, it's not. Your feet end up moving to one side in this horrible saggy thing. they come in shit colors)
2 - the peblum
( because one skirt is not enough? because they look horrible. This is the bad side of the 50's reused in the 80's reused today. NO excuse)
3 - Clogs
( I know Chanel is all up in this right now, Miu Miu are also doing 'em. but I can't. i'm serious. I remember my mom wearing shoes like this back in the 90's and I hated 'em then and I hate 'em now.)
4 - checkered shirts
( I can't do it. This is a personal thing. They look well awful on me. I just look terrible in them)

topshop make-up

the new line of make-up for topshop is nearly ready peeps. Hold out! it will be basics and festival bits and bobs as well. launch 4 collections a year.

c-c-c-changes.....turn and face the change...c-c-changes....

oooh, scandal. or possibly scandal, we don't know yet.

but, apparently there is a whole lotta shaking going on at vogue headquarters this month :

Apparently Andre Leon Talley  has been stripped of his Editor at large title at vogue and given the title : contributing editor. ouch.

also sources say it's change time for Grace Coddington and Hamish bowles too. interesting. considering Grace did such a great job on the september issue (or maybe thats why)

and what of Miss Wintour?

aha, we shall have to hold out and see what's going down.....

the dreadful diaries

The Dreadful Diaries :

So I am having one of those mornings. You know the one where you wonder why you left the safety of your own house.

Wandered in last night to a fashion bombsite (had had 5 mins to pack prior to travelling so no wonder the house was in a mess) and realised that in my frenzy to get off the bus and into my house i had acquired a sprained wrist. Which doesn't help when you are trying to pack up your stuff and get all your bits together.

Nice.

I had selected my outfit the night before : high waisted military style pants, black vest, black boyfriend blazer and black ankle boots with high heels and a bit of a fringe. I add a ring and some massive earrings to finish off the look. I could barely hold my make-up brushes in my hand it was killing me.

So this morning I ducked into topshop to get out of the rain on stephens green ,  on my way in to check my make-up and fix a few smudges ahead of the powerscourt 'morning'. I was already not feeling the best. It had been raining coupled with my fever I had streaks running down my face and a nasty case of the shakes.

So, on to powerscourt. I officially can't say much until tommorow but had a quick look around the collections and interviewed a few designers about their collections. Which was nice. I even managed to find a piece I want to use in a photoshoot as it's very Versace. So it was nice to meet the girls from Elevate PR as well, I've been in contact with them a lot over this morning!

trying to write while shaking from three coffees, orange juice and no sleep and no food. in fact i still haven't eaten. I'm not making some sort of statement but, I am sick so the thought is turning my stomach. I tried to think about food and my stomach is churning. urgh. I hate being sick.

I literally interviewed one girl where my hand was shaking so much I could barely write. Also the wrist I sprained is the one I write with. excellent. 

so tonight looks like it could be even more interesting. Have the Nokia Young Designers announcement at 6:30pm. But have to go and do a meet and greet at 6. Slink off into the sunset for 7. God almighty. I am so luck the events are next door to one another.

I better be prepared and in flats for the occasion. as i may have to run!

But first, I'd better go eat something. 

then head home and pack for my visit to Cork city tommorow.

fashion inspiration

trying to decide what to wear tonight. I have looked and looked and looked everywhere in every nook and cranny from every fashion tranny and can't find a stitch. SOOOOOO unfair. So I have decided to dig out the top 3 inspirations running around my head at the mo. And as usual they are :

Paula Yates. The original geldoff hell raiser. she is amazing. I love her mad colored blonde hair and Savage floral dress sense. She rocked. And has passed the fashion torch to pixie (the only Geldoff - bar Mr Bob. Old man geldoff worth caring about)
Tahita Bulmer from New Young Pony Club. I have to say, I seen her in the flesh and she is every bit as 80's- tastic as you can imagine. she was the first person to rock the shaved head look as well. short on one side and long on the other. I have to admit I don't like her new blonde locks. Thought it was better dark but you wont find another lady with a bigger collection of amazing 80's vintage (esp. jumpsuits) anywhere....
Paloma Faith : I love this lady. She gets a bad press from, well, the press about her wacky off the wall fashion choices but i think she's great. she has an amazing vintage quirky style to her. She always looks like she is having fun with what she is wearing, never forced which I think Lady GaGa can look sometimes. She looks like she fell head first into a dressing up box and walked out in what fell onto her. Which actually works really well for her.

Alexander McQueens last project revealed

it has been revealed today that Lee McQueen's last project before he died was to be an underwear collection. The collection which was due for release on the 3rd of June was incorporate beach wear, lounge wear and swimwear. but ladies, don't get too excited. the range is for men.

Boxers and Briefs in his famous skull prints. the range is going to be priced at 35 pounds sterling for a pair of boxers and 350 for a silk PJ set. There will also be a pair of red skull boxers developed for AIDS charities. The line has not been confirmed yet for Brown Thomas. but one can  imagine, they's gonna be all up in that.

Well, they do already stock his collections and footwear. Whats one more line????

hell, I might invest myself!!! 

so, ladies and gents, if your fellas been a good boy (or has a birthday) this could be perfect for him!

more images as we get them. but I imagine coming from the mind of McQueen, this could be interesting.......