Summer is a time for making plans, going out exploring and finding new and interesting things to do to fill up those long days. The Lost Fashion History of Dublin Tours offer a unique perspective of our city that's perfect for anyone interested in fashion, history or the buildings we pass by every day.
I for one have passed many buildings with interesting frontage and wondered what business began there. Your guide on the tours will be Ruth Griffin of Rua Ruth a fashion writer, stylist and historian extraordinaire.
This lady has an abundance of knowledge that will keep you entertained and wanting to know more!
Ruth Griffin
The fashion history tours take place one Saturday a month until October and each tour covers a specific area with it's own rich history of sales merchants, tailors and boutiques of past.
Dirty Fabulous will even be featured on the Grafton Street tour on July 9th and we can't wait to find out what Ruth has discovered about our own Victorian building and it's previous occupants.
Here's a little breakdown of each tour and I think you'll agree they are all amazingly interesting.
O'Connell Street Tour Saturday 2nd of July:
Ruth will guide you around Dublin's original promenade. This tour looks back at the street's days of splendour from the fashion worn in its 18th century houses to the style to be found in the great Victorian department stores of the time. It also looks at the dramatic events and the strikingly clad revolutionary women who stormed the GPO in 1916 and into the 20th century when O'Connell Street became the place to be seen and snapped in the chicest looks of the day at the stylish cinemas, hotels and ballrooms.
Grafton Street Ladies Tour Saturday 9th of July:
The tour is a trip down Dublin's most renowned and beautiful fashion street. Learn more about the most iconic fashion destinations in this area such as Brown Thomas and Switzers. You'll even be taking a trip into Dirty Fabulous to hear more on the creative seamstresses, tailors and furriers in the area from the Victorian era to the 1960's. End your tour in the surroundings of beautiful vintage clothing from a bygone time.
The Liberties Tour Saturday 23rd of July:
The Liberties was the thriving textile district of Dublin from the late 1600s onwards and over the years there has been every kind of textile production in this quarter from silk and linen weavers, leather tanners, cloth dyers and poplin manufacturers. This tour will take a stroll through this fascinating area with a look at where and how textiles were produced in the area from Tailors' Hall, Francis Street, Weaver's Street and Newmarket Square to The National College of Art and Design on Thomas Street where fashion and textiles continues to develop in the city today. This tour will finish at Teeling's Distillery who originally had a distillery in Marrowbone Lane and are also part of the historic fabric of the area.
Grafton Street Gentleman's Tour Saturday 13th of August:
The lost tours hasn't forgotten about our dapper gentlemen. They are welcome on all tours but this one is specifically for them.
Grafton
Street has been where Dublin gents have cut a dash in the sharpest
tailoring of the day. Whether a man was looking for a master tailor in
Brown Thomas, a new hat at one of the excellent hat-makers on Grafton
Street in the Victorian era, a stylish coiffure or a packet of cigars in
the many shops which were dotted along the street or indeed a motoring
waterproof from Crotty's. This tour reveals where an impeccably dressed
man shopped over the centuries in Dublin and takes in some of its oldest
and finest Gentlemen establishments. You are welcome to finish this
tour with a whiskey on the rocks in Farrier & Draper as only a
well-dressed chap would expect.
South William Street Tour Saturday 27th if August:
Without doubt one of our favourite area's and it still raises the bar in terms of creativity. Follow in the footsteps of Dublin's makers, manufacturers, milliners, furriers and dressmakers. South William Street was the original garment district of Dublin where fashion sold on the beautiful boulevard of Grafton Street was designed and made. This tour brings you on a fashion journey through the makers and merchants who peopled the street from the 19th right up until now. The grand fashion finale of this tour will be at Om Diva and 2nd Space in The Central Dairy which is home to the newest Irish designers, makers and milliners who people the Creative Quarter today. You are welcome to finish this tour with a drink in Farrier & Draper which was formerly the fashion warehouse Ferrier Pollock.
Merrion Street Tour Saturday 1st of October:
Merrion Square has been a centre for couture in Dublin for centuries.
Whether it was 18th century Lords and Ladies promenading in Parisian
silks in their private gardens, the 19th century's bohemians in velvet
smoking jackets who gathered at Lady Wilde's salon at Number 1 or the
twentieth century styles icons; from Jacqueline Kennedy to the
Rockefellers who were dressed in the chicest looks from Sybil Connolly
at Number 71. Step back in time, rediscover the square's glorious past,
and see the studios of couturiers and milliners who are the present day
fashion residents.
Tickets are available from www.ruaruth.com and are only €12; absolutely fantastic value! If we weren't open every Saturday we'd be booking our spots on every single tour. At the moment we'll have to make do with seeing you on the Grafton Street tour in Dirty Fabulous and Caroline is super excited to be attending the Merrion Street tour.
Grab a couple of your gal pals, take a tour through our incredible city and learn about it's rich fashion history. Then head of for lunch in one of Dublin's many chic spots to chat over all the hidden secrets you've uncovered. What could be a more perfect way to spend a Saturday!
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