You shall go to the Ball...

These were taken for this year's Trinity Ball Guide. Hannah and I wanted something more realistic than the typical fairy-tale style shoot that the Ball itself rarely, if at all, is. So, we shot it around town in the early morning hours with everyone looking a little worse for wear. Clothes are from Costume on Castle Market, and shoes are from Buffalo on Exchequer Street.

Stephen

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Topman Design // FW 2012...

...following on from the wonder of their SS '12 collection (shop it here, while you still can), the TMD team have brought us to a darker world, far removed from this season's paisley prints on splendorous silks. Things have taken a much broodier and sober turn, with my first thought being 'a poor man's Jil Sander?'. No. Instead, this collection stands firmly on its own two feet, and is just as covetable. There's a welcome range of outerwear for just one collection, and a really playful amount of texture. Despite these variances, it's still really cohesive as a collection. Everything comes together to work well as a single unit, I guess is what I mean. The styling is pitch perfect, and the dishevelment of the boys is just the right amount, given the severity of the clothes.

Stephen

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I'm pointing the gun towards my own best friend...

...or, when lyrics become post titles.

Hey, ethereality.

Stephen
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The other side of the lens...

...I'm not one for shopping online, believe it or not. I am a terribly proportioned person and very much in between sizes from most brands. I'm really fussy about the fit, too, so the possibility of having to exert the energy it takes to return things makes me nauseous. Cue my discovery of perviously uncharted luxury e-tailing waters, and I think I may have met my match. FarFetch takes the best-of-the-best of independent + international luxury retailers onboard its site, giving them a place to flaunt their wares. There's something sort of benevolent about it all - supporting the little guy, so to speak. Organisation is slick, via 'Luxe', 'Lab', and 'Contemporary' headings, which is really novel. Then, everything is typically sub-divided into women's and mens designer coats, shoes, accessories, and everything in between. Sort of in the same way as anywhere else you've pined over that enormous fur Margiela headdress, et al, in the dead of night. You know the way. Just me?

Anyway, I snapped up this Acne tee (I kind of consider the graphics from that collection a bit iconic, so as the seasons wore on and my chances ran fewer of ever getting my mitts on one, I was pleased as punch to be lucky enough to swipe this one), and these Swear shoes with a fluoro sole, just in case tiny little aeroplanes ever need help landing in between my feet or something.

Stephen

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Surprise, surprise...

...I didn't know Dublin daywear extended to include heels + jumpsuits. Fantastic Friday.

Stephen

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Have you seen this bear?...

...clad in vintage LV monograms and causing terror on Dawson Street.

Stephen

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Head over Cuban heels...

...for that one piece that considers black, a shirt, a dress, a smock, a lab coat-esque fastening, a Peter Pan collar, and dropped shoulders, all depending on which way you look. Multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, multi-enthusing. Sold.

Stephen

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Pack a punch...

...dazzling colour aside, look at the neckline and proportions of that sweater. I'm arm-candy obsessed as well. Who wouldn't want the gold-plated skeleton of a tiny human being as a bracelet?

P.S. This girl was outside Om Diva on Drury Street. Three floors of everything vintage, independent, and kitsch. Worth seeing to believe.

Stephen

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The perfect proportion...

...of Pocahontas potential in this outfit, whilst still pertaining to city wearability. Springtime trends dictate an exposure of midriff. What say you to this proposition?

Really feeling the letter 'P' today, it seems.

Stephen

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How do you feel?...

P.S. The occasional blurry photograph. My speciality.

Stephenx

It's a foul Friday out there...

...so I've added this outfit to my list of prescribed mood-enhancers. Just look at it go - snakeskin shoes, perfect Preen trousers got for some ridiculous non-price at a sample sale, and nails on an acid trip. Weather? Do your worst.


Stephenx

Collars, we got 'em...

...a whole two of them. Why settle with just the one? Try it with three, or four, or five and show me the results. Now, go forth and multiply!

Stephen

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A perfect transitional get-together...

...going on here. The absence of a 'dedicated' coat or piece of outerwear makes me forget the lingering chill, if for only a second, and the brighter warmth-maximising accessories help me think of the more clement and temperate meteorological patterns on the horizon. Those gloves are just perfect, and that bag is a whole world beyond covetable. I would probably be a better student altogether if it was my school bag.

Stephen

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Reality check...

...when I previewed this shot to a friend he was convinced it was Paris - the light, the architecture in the background, even her style is pretty damn chic in a collegiate sort of way. You could totally imagine her slinking around the Sorbonne, right? Non. Dublin sure knows how to crack out the gems when it wants to.

P.S. Note aesthetically minimal and functionally maximal cold-weather layering technique in the black textured bike shorts over black tights.

Stephen

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Stylist by day, DJ by night...

...and vampire by both, it seems.

There are few people I know with such an unquenchable thirst for black, and who are able to do so much under the constraints of the non-colour. Lisa is definitely one of them. She can take it in so many directions, from whimsically floaty and sheer feminine, to a more structured traditional male silhouette (look at those lapels!) as above. Texture is taken to a new height - by Dublin standards at least - with the appearance of these PVC trousers, nabbed if I'm not mistaken, from the Miss Fantasia sale.

I have sort of traced and crushed on her style for a long while, seeing her around town and on nights out, so it was really great to finally snap her. And in such lovely morning light too.

See where she gleams inspiration, examine her influences, and peep her tip-top styling work here. And for the record, I really do think that 2012 is going to be her year.

Stephen
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The Observer...

...printed a piece in today's paper re: street-style photographers and bloggers. It was inspired by the ongoing argument about whether or not people pay more attention to what is being worn outside, say, Somerset House, in comparison to what is being showcased within its walls. What do you think? I was chuffed that they got in touch with me, and never in a million years did I think they would know this blog existed. What's above is screen-grabbed from their website, and you can see the rest of the feature online here, although there's more comprehensive questions and answers in the print edition. Thanks to Patrick Bolger for taking the photo.

P.S. While I'm here, I also want to give a most sincere thank you to everybody who takes a moment to read this blog and look at the photos. It's pretty humbling, and always surprises me that people actually, well, do.

P.P.S. This also serves as a handy 'Other side of the lens' post, which hasn't seen the light of day in far too long. If you're interested, I'm wearing vintage leather and shorts, Topshop jeans, Louboutin shoes, and a Givenchy tee.

Stephen
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That Friday feeling...

...a girl in heels around campus. A girl in those heels around campus.

You can't imagine the glee with which I am filled. Not one single bother on her either, manoeuvring around the cobblestones. With the foot-level adornment via those fantastic fancy felines, you wouldn't think any other sort of statement would need to even be considered. Enter those blinding galaxy-print leggings causing seizures all across town and the evening-bag-as-a-day-bag thing and this girl is an unstoppable force in a welcome respite from the typical. Sweet.

Stephen

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Prada Spring/Summer 2012

...or Spring/Summer 2011?

A tale of two videos, one season, from that wonderful Milanese house. So far the jury is fairly out for me, but I am edging towards this season's. Which do you prefer? Judge based on the video and the collection!

Stephen

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