All this month Brown Thomas have been running The Masters of Fashion & Beauty throughout the country in all their stores.  There have been various events with well known characters from the world of fashion and beauty taking part in Fashion Fix Thursdays and Fridays and Style Saturdays.  We’ve also seen a series of master classes from International designers and celebrity make-up artists, meaning we, ‘joe public’, can get invaluable advice from the experts, straight from the catwalks.

There are many events running straight through from Thursday – Sunday but, we’ve cherry picked the best events running nationwide:

Brown Thomas, Limerick

‘Style Saturday’ will actually be running on Sunday this weekend with local celebrity Celia Holman Lee presenting a Style Workshop featuring Max Mara.  Head to Level 1 at 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm if you fancy picking up so fashion tips from Celia herself.

Brown Thomas, Cork

Model and TV3 presenter, Glenda Gilson, will be hosting a ‘We Love Shoes’ event showing her must have foot candy for this season.  Glenda will be on Level 1 in the Shoerooms at 12.30pm, 1.30pm, 2.30pm, 3.30pm and 4.30pm.

Brown Thomas, Dublin

One of our favourite Irish stylists, Cathy O’Connor, will be hosting ‘Style Sunday’ fashion workshops on this seasons contemporary and denim trends.  Cathy is so approachable and a great stylist for anyone looking for help putting this seasons trends into action.  You’ll find her on Level 2 at 2pm, 3pm, 4pm and 5pm.

Brown Thomas, Galway

TG4′s Blathnaid Ni Dhonnchadha is presenting a series of fashion workshops along the same theme as Cathy O’Connor’s, including denim and up to the minute trends.  These workshops will run on Level 2 at 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm.

Now, there’s no excuse to hang about all mismatched and bored this weekend.

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If you’re at a loose end this evening or hanging around town after work then this may be of interest to you.  Designer Pauric Sweeney will be launching his new handbag collection (drool…) exclusive to BT’s Dublin this evening.

The bags are described as ‘edgy and modern but with a classical twist’.  If you fancy a gander he’ll be there from 5pm to 7.30pm, Brown Thomas Dublin at The Accessories Hall on the ground floor.

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Brown Thomas Dublin hosted an event last night in the Designer Rooms on Level 1, to celebrate the launch of the celebrated U.S. designer Michael Kors’ gorgeous MICHAEL Michael Kors ready to wear, accessories and shoes collections.  Yes, it’s a little late to let you all know about it now – my apologies!

As an attempt to redeem myself here’s a snippet of the delights that were on display last night… starting with this camel coloured trench with a bare hint of military at €375.

… moving on to every woman’s best friend, the designer handbag …. purrrr… We’re totally loving the first tall option which would work so well with this seasons hot nail colour of navy blue, now to making them both mine!  Not forgetting the classic next to it which will see you through many seasons to come so a worth while investment at €395.

Even if it’s only window shopping pop along for some wardrobe envy, you won’t be disappointed.

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Brown Thomas Dublin announced yesterday the exclusive arrival of Helmut Lang womenswear for Autumn Winter 2010.

The creative directors of Helmut Lang, Nicole and Michael Colovos commented :

“This season we were looking at images of architect Santiago Calatrava’s work and were intrigued by his modern structures that he made which evolved out of something more classic. The elements that we were drawn to were the different textures created by the modern and classical worlds. We used textured wools, furs, blistered looking leather, silks crepes and mixed them together with cleaner fabrics to create dimension. We explored volume within structure by adding darts and seams to control the volume and the drape of the fabrics. Prints were made from looking at industrial textures and nature, and exploring the contrast between them. Colors were inspired by old mining factories where there is a heightened sense of the intermingling of industrial and natural elements.”

In short the clothes were given rough treatment to create that almost decaying look.  That coupled with the great tailoring means we are giving this collection the thumbs up.  Left – right; Helmut Lang Jersey Insert jacket €525, Knit Sleeve coat €850, Helmut Lang jacket €880 and stunning Lang dress €650.

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If you are aged between 30-45 you should be full of excitement as FWM have created their Autumn/Winter collection with you in mind!  The designers know that your time is precious balancing work, family and life in general so have tried to come up with a collection that that will give you ‘effortless glamour’.  They also know that this age group are experienced enough to expect quality, luxury and durability from their wardrobe – here here.

If they are true to their word this label could be your NBF!   With varying price points there’s something to suit all pockets.  Prices as follows: Jackets €131 – €275, Leather Jacket €479, Sheepskin Jacket €599, Dresses €107 – €479, Trousers €119 – €143, Skirts €107 – €203, Tee shirts €47 – €119, Shirts €95 – €119, Knitwear €95 – €239, Coats €299 – €355.

Left -Right: Flower Print Silk Linen Lifestyle €179, Harbin Linen Tweed €190, Photo flower print €179, Oriental Flower Print €190 and the Wild Rose Print €107.

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Tomorrow is the last day to view  the “masterpiece” paintings by children from St Enda’s National School in Whitefriar Street.  The children enjoyed a class trip to Brown Thomas a couple of weeks ago to see their creations up for the nation to view and vote on (on Level 2 until tomorrow, 14th June).  Some of the thirty four five and six year olds can be seen proudly showing off their work outside BT’s.

Go along and you can vote for your favourite painting. The winning picture will be stylized into an adult t-shirt by EDUN and sold in Brown Thomas this November. EDUN is an ethical fashion label launched by Ali Hewson and Bono. All proceeds from the sale of the t-shirts will go to St Enda’s. Feel good factor with this one, sorry for not informing you sooner!

On the subject of EDUN, their new Spring Summer Collection, is exclusively available at Brown Thomas Dublin and they have partnered with Made Africa to produce a series of unique Kenya Kids Tees that bring to life hand drawings made by children from the Bidii School in Kibera, Kenya which is one of the largest slums in Africa. The Bidii School was started as a single classroom for 120 children, run by volunteer teachers. With Made Africa’s support, the school has doubled in size and helped provide hot meals, vaccinations as well as school supplies and financial assistance. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the sales of these tees will go back to the Bidii School.

EDUN is a socially conscious fashion brand, which was launched in 2005 by Ali Hewson and Bono and was founded on the premise of trade for aid as a means to create jobs and alleviate poverty. EDUN’s mission is to help build trade with Africa by supporting community-based projects. Fantastic work carried out by Ali, one we here at wow.ie champion.

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Brown Thomas Dublin is hosting its first Tailor Made Thursday workshop in the store this evening.  You’ll get advice from the experts on dressing for work during the Summer months and how to adapt the look if you are attending events or parties after work!  On hand stylist Michelle Curtain will present perfect pieces for your Summer workwear wardrobe.

Featuring looks that are stylish and sophisticated yet still appropriate for work (how so!), Michelle will showcase pieces from DKNY, Theory, Tory Burch and Elie Tahari, alongside the hottest shoes and accessories.  Beware you don’t overspend as a result of being plied with champagne!

Workshops will be held this evening on Level 2 at 5.30pm, 6.30pm and 7.30pm – enjoy

Images left to right, DKNY Jacket €625, DKNY Jumpsuit €260, Tory Burch Dress €655

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HOW FANTASTIC ARE THESE SHOES???  We are having palpitations of excitement at every glance!  As the release went “Shoe aficionados have been perusing them on the Vogue and Style.com websites for months and they have graced the pages of many glossy fashion magazines around the world”.

As we mentioned on twitter yesterday, the gorgeous Sarah Morrissey modeled these beauties in Brown Thomas‘ Shoe Rooms yesterday afternoon.  Fear not if you missed out, these Alice in Wonderland inspired shoes, or works of art as they have been described here, will be on display this Saturday afternoon, March 27th, between 12 – 4pm.  Not only that but the godly creator himself, Nicholas Kirkwood will be on hand to meet us shoe crazy folk of Ireland and get many a pat on the back no doubt – go easy ladies!  His Spring Summer 2010 collection will also be showcased, isn’t there always something behind great designers hanging out?  I wonder if his celebrity fans such as SJP, Kirsten Dunst, Sienna Miller, Beyonce, Kylie Minogue, Cheryl Cole and too many more to fit in have to ‘view a collection’ every time they meet with designers!

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Over the weekend I had the exciting priviledge of assisting Catherine Condell on the model train (at BT’s). Catherine is one of my favourite Irish stylists so it was a huge thrill to get to meet her!  The model train is a weekly fashion show held on a Saturday in Brown Thomas.  The models are booked to wear one particular designer each week and parade the stores four levels in the choosen garments.  It runs twice a day with three outfit changes and looks really stunning and gives you a great idea of how to work the range.  The ‘line up’ looks like a fashionable version of crime watch!

Seven models were booked on Saturday including well known models Sarah Morrissey, Sarah Mc Govern and Yomiko in the line up.  This week it was Donna Karan‘s designs that were being showcased.  The highlight out of all the pieces for me was a wrap top called a ‘cozy’.  The cozy can be worn twelve different ways, comes in an assortment of colours and ranges in price from €195 to €495 – depending on whether you want a cashmere one!  Although wearing it twelve different ways you’ll definitely get value for money with this piece.  Here we have a picture of the lovely Sarah Morrissey being demonstrated on by a DKNY assistant.  The top is amazing as it can change from halter to strapless to butterfly effect.  You name it!

This week we also had male models on the model train (it’s usually just the girlies!) who were showcasing Spring/Summer creations from Paul Smith and Prada.  The boys wore a mixture of suits, Summer wear and accessories (yay!).

Between the seven girls and four boys it really is a fun and eye catching way to make the clothes come to life.  The train normally finishes up around 3.30.  As if the eye candy wasn’t enough you can also enjoy sipping champagne whilst enjoying clothing demonstrations – what a lovely way to spend a Saturday!

Donna Karan pictured on the homepage.

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