So I took myself and my housemate along for a little nose at what Dublin had to offer for this much talked about and MUCH publicised event. Seriously, even my boyfriend knew about it and he doesn't know much about much.
I was unsure about what sort of 'events' would be happening and wondered what would differentiate it from a regular instore event. Ultimately, I decided that not much did. There was a bit of a buzz along Dublin's shopping mecca of Grafton Street, however it was hard to tell if that was because Dublin Fashion Festival started on the same day.
Our first port of call was to BT2. For those non-Irish readers amongst you (hi guys!), Brown Thomas is Ireland's foremost high-end fashion department store. It's where the celebs go shopping when they're in town and stock pretty much every designer you could name off the top of your head. BT2 is it's younger, hipper sister, stocking labels such as Maje, Twenty8Twelve and boasting a denim bar with the best bumlifters this side of VB's own wardrobe.
We were greeted at the door of BT2 by some lovely young men holding trays of cocktails...for free! Delish. Also doing the rounds were miniature Starbucks frappucinno's and mini cakes. Already onto a winner here. A DJ booth was being set up in amongst the jeans and an Instagram photo corner with rails of clothes and a pamper parlour were taking pride of place near the tills. We bypassed these to find out what was going on upstairs upon hearing voices over a microphone.
A mini fashion show with stylist Courtney Smith was in full swing and featured some of the best brands available in BT2.
Some of my favourite looks included:
Dress - MSGM @ BT2
Dress - Maje @ BT2
Geisha inspired playsuit - Twenty8Twelve @ BT2
Seeing these pieces just made me lament for my credit card so we quickly hot-trotted our way back downstairs. Upon arrival to the denim bar we were asked if we wanted to take part in an Instagram event where you got styled by one of BT2's lovely stylists and had your photo taken by streetstyle blogger Stephen Moloney of Stitches, Fabric and Soul. I declined out of nervousness, but I pushed my housemate into doing it and she looked great!
We guzzled the rest of our cocktails and made our way to the bigger Brown Thomas store down the street, expecting more of the same. Unfortunately we felt a little let down. There was a Fashion Cafe outstide on the street where you could sit and chat the night away with your friends, luckily it was a dry evening, a rare event in Ireland these days. At the door you were greeted by faux-Karl Lagerfeld and faux-Anna Wintour, a touch tacky, I personally felt.
Inside there were competitions for a night in a hotel and a suitcase filled with skincare goodies. For entertainment there were drag queen & cabaret shows, as well as catwalks and plenty of styling, skincare & beauty advice should you want it. However, most counters required a payment so it really seemed little more than a busy late night shopping night. After a grumpy phonecall from my boyfriend and with a light wallet I decided to call it a night. My housemate stayed on for a while and did get a free magnetic nail polish demonstration and free manicure from Nails Inc. - not too shabby, I guess!
All in all, it was a fun way to waste an hour or two. BT2 nailed it with their instore event and I felt it was miles apart from the supposed main event down the way in Brown Thomas. For anyone that travelled any distance especially for it, I would feel a bit sorry for them that it may have been built up to be more than it was, but then again maybe others expected it to be an event where splashing the cash was required? I just can't help but feel a little let down when I look at the amazing events that were held in London & New York. Where was our Leighton Meester singing with an acoustic guitar, hmm? Oh well, I guess there's always next year.
Did you go along to any of the events? I'd love to hear people's thoughts and those of anyone that went to events in other cities - please comment below.
Have a good weekend ya'll.
