Om Diva: cutest boutique in Dublin?

With June around the corner, it's almost time to mark the 9th month of my fast fashion detox. Not that I'm really keeping count any more. At this stage, choosing vintage over high street fashion is just how I shop; it doesn't feel like a challenge.

It's become such a non-story in my life that I haven't really felt the need to blog about it... Sorry about that!  I've bought a few vintage pieces here and there but didn't feel like it was anything worth posting about. 

Recently however I visited Om Diva near the George’s Street Arcade. Although it had been recommended to me when I started the detox, it had fallen off my vintage radar. Passing the shop recently though, the lovely big Yes Equality sticker in the window caught my eye and I remembered that they had a basement full of vintage fashion. 

With contemporary fashion upstairs and vintage downstairs, Om Diva is probably the prettiest little boutique in Dublin. Pink stairs lead down to the vintage basement which is decorated with fairy lights and jewelled hangers.

Something I've noticed since shopping exclusively vintage and second hand is that lots of vintage styles do not suit my body type at all (boooo!). Having a narrow waist and shoulders but wide hips, means that most of the 'straight up and down' styles trendy in vintage shops right now just do not work for me. So when I found myself browsing rails and rails of pretty, waisted dresses in Om Diva, I knew it would be difficult for me to walk away empty handed. 

I picked up three pieces: two jumpers and my new favourite dress. This dress might not look so exciting in the photos but I LOVE it. The fit is just perfect for me. I love the full, lined skirt, the long sleeves and the fittest waist. It's so comfortable and flattering. The dress cost €55 and the jumpers were about €30 each. 

If I wasn't delighted enough to pick up some nice new vintage bits the owner of the shop made my day by gifting me a pair of Dior style earrings. How cool are these? Just need an excuse to wear them now.

Whether you're into vintage or not, do pop in to Om Diva the next time your passing. Local shops like this deserve our business and I know you'll find something you love there! Check out there website: http://www.omdivaboutique.com/ 

Thanks for reading!

X

PS With only 3 months to go until I complete my challenge to live without fast fashion for a year, I'm starting to think about what kind of  brands I will support once the challenge is over. If you have any recommendations for ethical fashion brands, please let me know! Get in touch on twitter @marylquinn.

Recycle your style with Siopaella

I've noticed that since I started this challenge almost 6 months ago (that's right, almost halfway there!) that I've had two different types of shopping experiences when buying second hand. One is all about trying to find basic items to fill gaps in my wardrobe like a simple black top to go with a skirt I already own or leggings for the gym. Typically to find these pieces I look in charity shops. The other experience is more a little more exciting - it's about buying for fun. In this scenario, I find myself in one of the many cute vintage shops scattered across Dublin.

Recently, I discovered something that fits somewhere in between the two - Siopaella. Siopaella (meaning Ella's shop) is a place I had visited before starting this challenge without realising it sold second hand goods. Based in Dublin’s Temple Bar, the shop is divided across 3 locations. Each shop caters for a different demographic; men, women and designer brands.  

I love these cute bags!

The great thing about Siopaella is that it combines the kind of second hand high street fashion that you hope to find at a charity shop (but at much better quality than many charity shops) and the fun, boutique vibe of a vintage store. The staff at Siopaella are great too; really friendly and very helpful.

So, how does it works? I asked the cashier about this the last time I was visiting and she explained that Siopaella allows people to sell, consign or swap clothes. According to their website:

By consigning to Siopaella, you, as the consignor, receive 40% to 80% of the final sales price, depending on the item’s resale value, and we keep your items for up to 3 months *. As a guideline, you will receive 40% of the final selling price of most high street and vintage items and up to 80% on couture and high-end designer pieces such as Chanel, Cartier and Hermes.

I haven't consigned anything to Siopaella myself. Usually if I'm doing a wardrobe clearout I donate my clothes to the nearest charity shop but if you have high quality pieces or designer items and would like to make a few bucks then maybe Siopaella is for you.

I have purchased from Siopaella though! Although the designer shop stocks some really great brands (Chanel handbags anyone?!) big names aren't really my thing. Instead I headed to the women's fashion branch around the corner, where I picked up this silky hoodie (above). Originally from Bershka (you'll find a lot of high street brands here) I thought this hoodie was a lot of fun and something a bit different. I can't remember the price anymore (sorry!) but I did remember thinking it was more expensive than charity shops. Siopaella is a for-profit business after all and considering the high quality of the clothes there, I was happy enough!

Couldn't say no to this print!

Considering the recent close of Shotsy, I think it’s more important than ever to support sustainable shops like this. I totally recommend checking it out the next time you're in town. As they say themselves, by shopping with Siopaella you can “Recycle your style today, and smile knowing that you’re doing your part for the environment – and your wallet!” 

Saying Goodbye to Shotsy

Dublin is about to lose one of its best vintage spots - Shotsy is closing down. 

Shotsy, for those of you unfamiliar, is a brilliant little vintage shop in Dublin's Temple Bar. It's one of the first shops I checked out when I started this challenge and I instantly fell in love with the small shop with big personality.  I wrote in an earlier blog post about my first visit to Shotsy where the owners gave me some really helpful advice when I told them about my fast fashion detox. Since then, I've been keeping up to date with the shop through instragram and pop in whenever I'm passing by. 

You can imagine my disappointment then when last week Shotsy posted not about new pieces but about a closing down sale! Wanting to support the shop while I still could, last Saturday I headed down to check out the sale. There was a great buzz in the shop with lots of shoppers in to pick up some vintage bargains while they still could. I tried on lots of lovely items and came away with 3 pieces. 

I bought two shirts and an amazing 1960s dress (pictured above). Shotsy's prices are always reasonable but the sale prices are serious bargains. If I remember correctly, the shirts were less than €10 each and the dress was reduced from €35 to €20.  I think the shirts will be great for work once the weather gets warmer and I can't wait to wear this dress on a nice Summer's day. 

At the moment the shop is still open but it's only a matter of time until the stock clears. Keep an eye on Shotsy's Facebook and Instagram for updates on what's happening and items still available. I thought of share some of Shotsy's recent snaps with you to give an idea what's available in the closing down sale. 

I LOVE these party dresses

I think the close of Shotsy is a reminder that we need to make the effort to support small, independent business, especially those going against the grain and promoting vintage. I wish I had supported Shotsy more when I had the chance. Wishing the Shotsy ladies all the best in their next venture!

Mary x

Four months without fast fashion - time for a new challenge?

Happy New Year!!

I mentioned in my last blog post that I've found the challenge to stop buying fast fashion much easier than I expected. I thought I'd write a little more about that and share with you an additional challenge I've decided to take on...more about that later!

To recap - I decided last September to stop buying fast fashion for a year and instead only buy second hand or vintage clothes. I had lots of reasons to ditch fast fashion. If anyone doubted the human cost of fashion, the collapse of Rana Plaza in Bangladesh in 2013 was a horrific reminder. I remember looking at photos of the protests that followed after the collapse and seeing a picture of women holding placards that read “No one should die for fashion”.

I remember just feeling so sad that these women needed to spell that out. It's shocking to me that we as consumers are willing to support companies that force people to work in such dangerous conditions. Maybe giving up fast fashion altogether isn't for everyone, but I encourage any readers to lobby their favourite brands to do better to protect their workers. The Clean Clothes Campaign does a lot of great work in this area. Check them out: http://www.cleanclothes.org/

Another reason I felt the need to step away from fast fashion was due to the environmental impact. I think many of us are unaware of how harmful our passion for fashion is for the world around us. From the highly pollutive process of textile production to the endless amount of garments filling up our landfills (in the UK almost 10,000 garments were dumped into landfill every five minutes) the reality is that fast fashion is not good for our planet. 

With these issues in mind, I decided it was time for a fast fashion detox. It wasn't so easy at first; I had concerns that I had bitten off more than I could chew, but within weeks of taking on this challenge I realised it wasn't such a big deal after all. Below I've shared some of my key learnings and tips so far.

Take stock of what you already own:

Soon after taking on this challenge I moved in with my boyfriend. There's nothing like packing up and moving to a new (shared!) space to make you realise how much you own. I recommend emptying out all your drawers and wardrobe and sorting through what you have already. As you re-fill hopefully you'll be pleasantly reminded of some items you haven't worn for a while. A re-discovery is almost as good as a new purchase! If you find anything you don't love anymore, I know Oxfam would be glad to have it.

Take a breaking from watching haul videos:

This one might not be applicable to all but it worked for me. I love YouTube. From exercise tips to make up tutorials, it's a great source of entertainment and information. I'm a big fan of fashion and beauty bloggers. Rather than relying on traditional advertising, I much prefer hearing what an actual person thinks of a product before I go out and buy it too. Of course what I didn't want to admit to myself was that this is advertising too. Whether a post is sponsored or not, watching someone share their latest finds from H&M or topshop often encouraged me to go out and have a look for myself - not any more!

Give your local charity or vintage shops a chance:

Although I'd frequented charity and vintage shops before taking on this challenge, because I wasn’t restricted to them if I didn't find something I liked I'd often head to the nearest high street shop instead for a quick fashion fix. I'll admit it; vintage shops aren't as convenient as regular stores. You don't always see something you like and even if you do it might not be in your size. But convenience isn't all it's cracked up to be. How often have you bought something 'just because' and never worn it or forgot you even bought it in the first place? Vintage shopping requires a little more effort and patience but when you find something you love it's a real treat.

At the four months marker of this challenge, I'm glad to report that going on a fast fashion detox is easier than it might seem. So easy in fact that I've decided to take up an additional challenge - #Veganuary.

Veganuary aims to reduce the suffering of animals by inspiring and supporting people across the globe to go vegan for the month of January  (www.veganuary.com)

I've been a vegetarian for the past 10 years but surprisingly find the idea of going vegan for a full month a little daunting. I'll report back at the end of the month to let you know how it goes! 

Mary xx

Oxfam George's St vintage haul

Dear readers, apologies for the radio silence. I promise it's not that I've fallen off the wagon and gone back to my old ways. I'm happy to report that it's quite the contrary; I've found this challenge much easier than I expected. Until this week, I hadn't bought any clothes, old or new, since I attended the vintage kilo sale a few months ago. I'll write a post on how I'm coping without fast fashion another time.

Today I want to share with you some lovely pieces I picked up in Oxfam's George's St. shop. Now, I feel that I should mention that I work for Oxfam.  This is not an advertisement; I don't work in the retail section and wasn't asked by anyone to feature the shop. I shop there of my own free will, I promise!

In recent years, Dublin has since a boom in charity shops. Oxfam has 51 shops across the country and the George's St. shop is probably one of my favourites. They have a lovely vintage section which I've been a fan of long before I started this blog.

I popped in for a look earlier this week and came away with 3 pieces. Outfit number 1 consists of a long, vintage skirt and a navy turtle neck t-shirt. The skirt was the first item to catch my eye. I'm a big fan of high-waisted and love the fit.

Apparently this skirt came with a matching top which had already been sold earlier in the week. I don't think I would have worn both together anyway, so didn't mind that they had been separated. As you can see in the photo, the hem has become slightly undone at the bottom which I can easily remedy so that's not a problem for me. At €7.50 for the top and €6.50 for the skirt, I think this outfit was a total bargain.

I'm not sure how to describe outfit number 2. I feel like a newsreader from the 80's in this dress, but I love it! It's also from Oxfam's vintage collection and at €12.50 I couldn't say no.

I'm really happy with these purchases and think I'll wear outfit number 1 for Christmas Day. I'd love to know of other charity shops in Dublin with a good vintage selection, so if you have any suggestions please let me know in the comments or tweet me @MaryLQuinn.

Mary x

P.S Happy Christmas to you all!

Vintage Fashion and Décor Fair

Earlier today I popped down to the Vintage Fashion and Décor Fair at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire. There was an entrance fee of €7 for this event. I didn’t mind paying this (there were discounts if you had flyers) but I know this bothered some girls I overheard as I left the hotel.

Stalls at the fair included a mix of vintage jewellery, clothes and accessories with some retro crafts thrown in too. Unlike the mayhem of last week’s kilo sale, the Fair had a much more relaxed, friendly atmosphere and was perfect for browsing and chatting to friendly stall-holders. Even though I arrived at least an hour into the event, there were still plenty of things on display and no sense that I had missed the good stuff.

I made a few purchases at the Fair but they are all presents so I’m afraid they will remain top secret! I've shared a few photos of the Fair below. Looking forward to the next one already!

How cute are those teddies?!

Lot's of lovely vintage dresses for sale

The view from above!

Loved these little hand-made brooches.  

Aren't these girls beautiful?

Umm... too recent to be vintage?? #TeamNorris

Loved these Opal earrings. Out of my price range though!

Mary xx

My first vintage kilo sale!

Today I attended my first vintage kilo sale – an experience to say the least! For those of you who are also new to the kilo sale phenomenon, the concept is pretty simple; items are not priced individually, instead you pay for the items based on their total weight. The cost is €20 per kilo so the price is dependent on how much/little you buy.

When Anne Marie told me about this sale I was excited to attend as I'm a big fan of the Folkster shop in Temple Bar. I was also looking forward to hopefully buying something for the first time since I've started this challenge!

When we arrived at the venue early this afternoon, I was surprised to see that although the shop had only been open for 15 minutes it was already jam packed full of eager shoppers. Most of the clothes seemed to have already been taken from the rails as people carried huge loads of garments around in big ikea bags or draped across their arms. We soon realised that people would take as much as they could carry, bring it to a quieter part of the room to sort through, and then leave what they didn’t want behind. With that, myself and Anne Marie found ourselves lurking around other shoppers until they had gone through their stash ready to riffle through their leftovers when they were finished – not my favourite way to shop! Agility, speed and a feisty attitude seem to be the best combination for tackling a sale like this. Nonetheless I managed to come away with one purchase – an oversized Aran jumper.

Although I’m happy with my purchase, I think I'll pass on shopping like this in the future. The chaos, competition and reaaaaaaaaaally long queues are just not for me. I haven't given up on vintage shopping though! I have a family event coming up in a few weeks and am hoping to pop into Shotsy in Temple Bar to try out a few of their lovely, sparkly dresses. Will report back if I make any purchases!

Mary x  

No Regrets!!

So it's been almost 3 weeks since I made the decision to stop buying fast fashion. I must admit there have already been several moments  of panic/regret where I worried that I've set myself up for too much of a challenge. I've noticed myself lusting after everything from trendy jumpers to gym pants and feeling sorry for myself that I can't have them. I've find myself worrying "what if I get invited to a wedding?!". Then I remember that these are ridiculous concerns and people in the world have real problems. I also remind myself that lovely things are still accessible, I just need to re-adjust my shopping routine.

Today I decided to prove to myself that shopping second-hand doesn't mean giving up on buying nice things. On the recommendation of my good pal Anne Marie I decided to check out Om Diva. Close to one of my favourite teenage haunting sites, George's Arcade, this is a shop I've passed many times but never stopped to have a look inside. I'm glad I did. The vintage part of the shop is downstairs and it's so cute I had to take a picture:

I tried on a few dresses here; they were lovely but just not the right fit for me. I will be back!

While I was in town, I also decided to check out Shotsy in Temple Bar. My visit here reassured me that my concerns were unfounded. Firstly, Shotsy has some seriously beautiful dresses so weddings / Christmas parties are covered. Secondly, I had a lovely chat with the ladies behind Shotsy about ethical fashion and buying second-hand. Not only did they make some brilliant suggestions for books I should check out but they also made me feel that this challenge is totally do-able. I'm hoping to make a visit to Shotsy again either tomorrow or next week and will take pictures the next time so keep an eye out for that!

Mary x