MY STYLE:Royalty, religion and the Edwardian and Victorian eras inspire these elegant, sideways dressers, who look on jeans and conforming with current trends in horror. They tell CAROL RYANabout such delights as wearing a ball gown to Tesco
David McDermott
Walking down the street in his early 19th-century clothing, artist David McDermott gets a lot of attention. People react with momentary disbelief, and even po-faced businessmen recognise he is rare.
McDermott has spent his life experimenting with the past. In the 1980s he travelled the streets of Manhattan in a horse and carriage. He doesn’t fly, has lived in a house without electricity and has thrown legendary parties where guests wouldn’t dare turn up in modern clothes.
“I love the period before the stock-market crash in 1929. That was a special world. Every individual has control of the way they dress, so for me, by wearing the clothes of the 1920s, I could be the 1920s.”
He has a low opinion of modern fashion. “Modernism has ruined our world – the standard of dress is so low.”
He watches people in the street and observes their clothing.
“I mark everyone on an ABCDF grading system. I would mark a boring businessman a D, but if he didn’t have his tie on he would be an F.
“People are generally dressing in the contemporary low standard that is everywhere in the world. It has to do with conformism: most people want to be part of a group for the sake of their own confidence.”
Bella A Go Go
You know the clothes in every woman’s wardrobe that are saved for special occasions but never actually get worn? Bella A Go Go, one of Ireland’s top burlesque performers, has no such sartorial boundaries. “Go to Tesco in your ball gown,” she says with a throaty laugh. “Enjoy your clothes, make the most of your body and where you are going.”
She looks like she has been catapulted in from an altogether sultrier planet. “I love expressive clothes and anything that looks rich and opulent. I wear something in my hair every day: maybe a sequined beret, fresh flowers, or a scarf.”
Her look has Indian, Middle Eastern and Victorian influences with a dose of burlesque showgirl thrown in. She says people react to her clothes because they are different from the “jeans and jacket uniform” that most Irish people wear. “People do shout abuse like ‘Mary Poppins’ or ‘Alice in Wonderland’. They mean it as an insult but I think, Oh thank you very much, you have made my day! But I don’t rely on people’s reactions. If you are starting to dress a bit differently you need to be immune to other people’s opinions. It is a great freedom when you don’t care – not in an arrogant way – but when you are just happy to be yourself without worrying about what other people think of you.”
James Kavanagh
It is hard not to admire James Kavanagh because he is having such craic with his clothes. “My wardrobe is a dressing-up box, and every day is an opportunity to dress as someone new. Today my look is futuristic Catholic priest.”
He cites religion and royalty as major inspirations. “I love the way the Pope dresses, he has a lot of style.”
He unashamedly admits enjoying the attention his clothes attract. “In a way I love the attention, even if it is negative. The day I walk down the street and no one shouts at me is the day I have blended in. So I might have to try something more extreme if that happens.”
What is his most outrageous outfit to date? “That would probably be my ‘box’. A friend in the National College of Art Design had a project to make an outdoor object wearable, so she made a bus shelter which makes you look like a box. I wore it on the bus and fell over in my platform shoes. There was a bunch of lads down the back of the bus laughing their heads off. Yes, that’s probably the craziest outfit I have ever worn.
“Clothes are like armour to me. If I’m in an angry mood, I wear a big red choir cape, put on classical music and stomp down Clanbrassil Street.”
Lady Lavinia Ravenswood
Lady Lavinia Rosewood wears head-to-toe 1930s glamour. Her passion for vintage began at the age of 14 when she bought a Victorian wedding dress, dyed it black and wore it on Christmas Day. “I dreamt of owning a horse and carriage and one day getting married in black lace . . . which I did! I wanted to know: who wore this dress before? I liked that element of mystery.”
This is not a woman who slobs around the house in pyjamas – she doesn’t even own a pair of jeans – so what does she wear on her downtime? She holds up a 1930s house gown, all delicate lace and gauze. “I wear it on weekends. I love the feeling of wearing something with a train and billowing sleeves. Whatever happened to women having style and grace? If you want the girl next door, go next door!”
She brings out two perfume bottles, a delicate vintage one from 1804 and a clunky modern mass-produced bottle, to illustrate how much craftsmanship has been lost. “I can’t understand why people accept such mediocre quality now.”
In the 1900s, people got most things tailor-made: gloves, hats, dresses, shoes and perfume. I wish we could go back to that time when people were more individual and took time to create something perfect.”
Barnabas C Sheridan
He has a “regular” office job, but after 5pm German-born Barnabas C Sheridan’s life takes on an interesting twist. He has a passion for the past and painstakingly restores Edwardian and Victorian garments. “I have seven dress dummies and a room full of old clothes. I call it my museum, and everyone is in awe of it.”
Growing up in the decade that fashion forgot, he was unimpressed by the loose-fitting, polyester offerings of the 1970s and was far more taken with the clothes he saw in old movies. “I could see that everything was made to fit perfectly and I wanted to dress like that.”
When we meet he is wearing a beautifully cut three-piece 1930s suit, cufflinks, a pocket watch and chain. Even his body language is from another era.
“I like the restriction of old clothes. For example, a gentleman wasn’t supposed to lift his arms, so the sleeve cut of an old shirt is much smaller. When clothes are made to your measurements, you don’t slouch and you walk much straighter.”
David McDermott inspired him to take the plunge and dress differently. “I was painfully shy for the first 30 years of my life. I always wanted to dress like this but never dared. But then I was minding David’s house for a week, and everything in his home was turn of the century. That was when I knew that I had to do it myself, and I threw out all my jeans.”
What does he think of how people dress today? “Lazy. I do think that people have become lazy and it can’t take them more than 10 seconds to dress.
“Appearance was much more important in the past. It is important how you greet the world and the more you ‘dress’, the more respect you show.”
Garech Browne
The owner of Luggala estate in Wicklow, Garech Browne is one of the best-dressed men in Ireland. He has a fantastic collection of tweed three-piece suits and sports a ponytail and a trademark wispy beard, a perfect blend of aristocracy and individuality.
“I do enjoy clothes. Waistcoats are great fun. My mother used to take me around all the couturiers in Paris in the 1950s, so I have been looking at clothes all my life.”
He has his clothes tailor-made. “You get what you want and it fits properly. I think that, by and large, people are dressing rather boringly. Everybody is like a sheep. Everyone dresses in jeans. Why don’t they do something a little different?”
He says his outfits are commented upon more when he is abroad. “I find less reaction in Ireland than anywhere else in the world. I don’t dress for attention, but I do get stopped in the street in London – maybe they just like to see somebody smartly dressed for a change. And sometimes it is very young people who approach – it is not just old codgers like me.”
