Fashion is a funny thing, any man will tell you,
writes Brian Byrne. It's flighty, and can all too easily upset the domestic balance.
When those 'does it make ...?' or 'which do you prefer?' questions are asked by a significant other, men can't win whether they say yes or no to the first. And 'whatever you're comfortable in yourself' to the second is a potential trigger for a return of the ice age.
Now it's even more complicated, with the growing interest in 'vintage' fashion items. An unthinking 'I remember my mother wearing that' can be seismic, and rock a relationship to its foundation.
But for the women themselves, vintage can bulletproof a party or a function, as there's very little chance of two of them turning up wearing the same outfit. Geraldine Golden, whose 'popup' Vintage Touch Fashion shop in Fallons yesterday offered local women a chance to browse through eras from the late 1800s to the 1960s or so, is building on that.
"I always had an interest in vintage clothing and accessories," the west of Ireland native but a two decades Naas resident says. "Some years ago I opened a small shop in Naas, to make a business out of it." Well, it wasn't exactly the best time to start a business, particularly in a Naas hard hit by recession and shopping areas competition, but she kept with it until earlier this year. Then
went online, and popup. And it's working well. Largely because there's class in the right classic, and her customers value it.
"Like this two-piece suit from the 40s," she pointed out in her latest temporary emporium in Fallons. "It's in perfect condition, and will look really well on the right woman." She moved across to a table with patent leather handbags, beautifully kept even though they probably had their first owners in the 50s. "Look at the purse built into the centre, easy to find your money instead of digging for a wallet." And the sexy night out dress from the 30s, colourful and cheeky. "There won't be two of them at the same party."
Geraldine sources her stock from vintage fairs around the country. It's an exercise where you have to know what's what, and what might sell. They're often also excursions where she's looking out for items for a particular client, who might have gone on line to see what kind of stuff is out there and then orders something specific that might not be in her inventory.
"There's a lot of interest in doing a theme party these days, so I often get queries for that. I had a stand at the Hollywood Fair recently, and many of the people going there dressed up in period clothes, which I provided and accessorised, and they remember me from there."
Her weekly popup is in Lawlors Hotel in Naas, and the response from her outing to Fallons seems positive enough that she might add it to her list of regular venues. "It's a really lovely location, and we'll see how it works out."
But men can still be stumped as to how to answer those 'does it?' or 'which do you prefer?' questions. Retreating to places like Fallons
used to be an option ...
