Dirty Fabulous Christmas Gift Guide!

We've picked out some of our favourite and unique pieces to help make someones Christmas extra special! We have hundreds of gift ideas in store priced from €25 and up. If you spot the perfect gift but can't make it into the store then we're happy to ship, just give us a call on 01 6111842!

1. 1960's Red Silk Velvet Hat €95

2. 1950's Bakelite Ivory Floral Clip-On Earrings €55

3. 1960's Gold Metallic Bag €95

4. Rose Gold Tone Crystal Pendent Drop Necklace €65

5. 1950's Gloves €45 Each

6. 1930's French Beaded Purse with Belt Loop €65

 7. Petite Vintage Gold Toned Zebra €75

I WANNA BE AT THIS PARTY!!!

 

We're swooning over these photos, the colours are so rich and beautiful. Our original vintage green and pink dresses really pop! 

The shoot by Carrot Inc. for Bellinter House highlights what a fab party venue it makes. It's grown up, laid back glamour at it's absolute best. 

I really need to start thinking about my next milestone birthday...

Dresses: Dirty Fabulous

Photography: @odryphotography

Make-up: @noeleenmua

All The Colour And All The Fun At Bellinter House!

Ooh this shoot is giving us all kinds of romantic feels!

It was produced by Carrot Inc. for Bellinter House to showcase this gorgeous venue. You don't even have to imagine how wonderful your wedding photos would look, just see above! 

All of the dresses are from Dirty Fabulous and we think the colours and styles look sublime in the glamourous, country house setting. 

The brides ruffled, 1950's, tea length dress is one my personal faves!

Photography: @odryphotography

Make-up: @noeleenmua

Flowers: @kildarecutflowers

Real Bride - Ciara in Cool Victoriana in The City!

WOW!!!!! 

These photos of our bride Ciara and her hubby Rowen absolutely blew us away!

It was so difficult to choose just a few to post, they were all amazing. Photographer, Caroline of Wild Things Wed has captured this beautiful and stylish pair at some pretty fab locations throughout Dublin. The pop of colour in many (including the brides hair) brings such a sense of fun.

The photography style of Wild Things Wed is right up our street. A little bit edgy, a little bit fun and a whole lot of cool.

Ciara's dress was a vintage, Victoriana style dress from the 1970's. We're absolutely crazy about her cute boots!

Congratulations to Ciara and Rowen on their recent wedding!

Sibling Successes: Cara Magazine Oct/Nov 2018

Written by Thom Breathnach

Photography by Johnny Savage

Say "YAY" to the Dress with Dirty Fabulous!

This is an extra special blog post, as it was written by one of gorgeous customers, Muireann Ní Chíobháin. For anyone who wants to break from the norm and do their own thing on their wedding day, this ones for you! 
Sit back, relax and read on.....

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As a woman in my 30’s, I think I know myself, but also my style. In general I think of clothes as an expression of who I am, what I like, and how I feel about the world. I’m more Iris Apfel than Alexa Chung, but I’m proud of that, or at least I was until doubts crept in when it came to choosing a wedding dress. 

When you get engaged, or at least in my experience, most people, with the best of intentions, assume you’ll wear white. It’s the done thing, the tradition, the thing people have dreamed of, the most elegant choice - or is it?

White became a popular choice after the marriage of Queen Victoria to Albert of Saxe-Coburg in 1840, when Victoria wore a white gown trimmed with lace. The Queen became a trendsetter and the white wedding gown tradition was born. For some people, white,champagne or ivory can give you a transformative feeling of elegance and romance that is perfect for your wedding day, but for me, it just made my skin turn a particularly strange tone which only vats of fake tan would have solved.
I remember watching the Wizard of Oz as a very young child and whinging that it was in black and white, unlike the colourful cartoons I loved. I was urged to wait for something magical to happen and sure enough my jaw dropped as the screen saturated with colour and the land of OZ came to life! The contrast was huge and the transition spectacular. I was glued to Dorothy’s ruby slippers sparkling along the yellow brick road. It reminded me of the power of colour and I think my love for colour came from there. Getting married in yellow
or red (which is the most popular bridal gown colour in China) or any other colour is nothing new. For centuries, brides who were interested in fashion have chosen bridal gowns in different colours. 
The question was, was I brave enough?

Toying with the idea of wearing a coloured bridal gown, I trawled the Internet looking for people I could be inspired by. Always tagged under, ‘unconventional bride’ (which is a daunting a label to give yourself), I found Gwen Stefani, Poppy Delevigne, but finally Elizabeth Taylor, a style icon I could connect with. As we all know, Elizabeth Taylor got married quite a few times, but each time she did it in an elegant bridal style, in many colours, even in white on occasion, but always in her own unique and memorable way. I poured over photos of her gowns and veils and read her ideas behind the design of them all. All of them reflected who she was at that time in her life. She was telling her story and expressing herself in her bridal choices. The marriages may not have worked out, but her fashion decisions were flawless.

I knew I wanted to wear something from another era, something handmade, something with a story. I think clothes can help tell a story about ourselves, and some clothes are part of a long story that crosses decades of occasions, events and celebrations. This is why I love vintage. My vintage dress journey began and ended in Dirty Fabulous where I was guided by the expert knowledge and warm advice of the vintage bridal expert Caroline. I went alone and opened my mind to the possibility of wearing a wedding dress that wasn’t white. It was
the best decision I've ever made. The small boutique is filled with beautiful wedding and occasion dresses spanning over a hundred years, each with their own little personality.

Caroline, their curator, is there to help you find just the right one for you, be it white, champagne, cream, red or blue. Choosing to buy my dress in Dirty fabulous and choosing to shop alone under the capable guidance of a vintage expert, gave me the freedom to try things I might never have tried if I had had an audience that day. It’s hard to listen to yourself when you are trying to meet loved one’s expectations of a bridal look. I tried on golds, greens, pastels and reds and it felt liberating and exciting. Caroline was honest when colours or styles didn’t suit and offered suggestions of how a given dress could be altered to suit my shape. When I tried on my dress, I twirled on the spot and exclaimed ‘Yay!’. It felt fun and it felt very me. Caroline put me in touch with vintage alterations expert Violetta in Fitz Alterations on Drury street, who customised the dress with skill and flair. I like to call her the dress whisperer. She reinforced seams, added boning and underskirts and gave the dress new life.

Meanwhile, back at Dirty Fabulous HQ, Caroline was painstakingly turning a Vera
Wang veil I had been gifted, into two layer-able veils, dyed to match the dress and adorning them with fabric daisies to match my bouquet.

Going above and beyond is second nature to the sisterhood that runs Dirty Fabulous. They are passionate about clothing and style and Caroline was always there to help me bat away the doubts I had when people (meaning well of course) said ‘Are you sure you won’t regret not wearing white?’, ‘Will your fiancé be disappointed on the day?’. If you are thinking of wearing an ‘unconventional’ wedding dress, my advice is to go alone to try on dresses. Let yourself explore options and choose one like-minded soul to give you a second opinion once
you’ve found a dress that speaks to you. Once you’ve had the alterations done to have it fit you, you can then invite your nearest over to have some bubbles and try it on. I told a select few people including my now husband that I would be wearing my favourite colour on our wedding day. His reaction was the clincher. He said he couldn’t wait to see it and that he couldn’t picture me in anything else.

So I took the leap, followed the yellow brick road and sailed down the Liffey on my wedding day with the biggest smile on my face.

My dress and veil truly made me feel like the most wonderful version of myself on my wedding day, thanks to the vintage sisterhood of Dirty Fabulous. My dress was my cup of tea. I didn’t just say yes to a dress, I said YAY and I guarantee that’s all anyone can dream of for their wedding day.

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Thank you so much to Muireann for taking the time to write such a fabulous piece!

We've had brides get married in pink, blue, navy, red, green, and even black! Every shade you could possibly think of! Nothing makes us happier than when a bride is confident in her own decisions and wears something just for herself. When you're happy wearing something you love you'll shine from within and that's all people will notice...not what colour it is!

Kathy and Caroline

xxxx

Gillian Bell Illustration: Capturing your Fashion Moment!

How do you pick a present that will endure? We all want to give a gift that our best gal will treasure, but with so much choice it can be hard to know where to start.

Gillian contacted us recently and offered to illustrate a couple of our vintage dresses and we jumped at the chance. We adore art in all it’s many guises and fashion illustration is up there. Our life in vintage fashion has meant that we’ve spent a lot of time researching fashion history and have come across some of the most wonderful illustrations of dresses from the past.

Gillian’s drawings are truly beautiful and would make such a thoughtful gift for a bride, debs or even for yourself!

Fashion illustration has the ability to bring a dress to life. It has a wonderful way of showing how something might look when worn and can give a real sense of movement. We adored Gillian's interpretation of our 1950's, Priscilla of Boston, lace and tulle wedding gown.

Next up, was one of the most incredible evening dresses we have in store. A 1950's, Emma Domb, fiery red, satin evening gown with sequin flames. This ones a showstopper and Gillian's illustration highlights all it's glamorous details!  

Gillians Instagram page has many examples of her work from debutantes, brides and well known faces including the lovely Rebecca Rose who like us, hails from Monaghan and we've had the pleasure of meeting. Her outfit for the Dublin Horse Show was gorgeous and made a stunning illustration!

Gillian's work is priced from €155 (A5) to €195 (A4) for completely original, hand-drawn and framed works.