Quirky gifts:You never know what to expect when you visit the Guinness Gallery in Foxrock. It could be a fun pair of diamante dice earrings for €15 or an amazing piece of glass for several thousand like the Bob Crook vase shown at the recent Venice Biennale.
Owner Elizabeth Guinness is an authority on studio glass, but her eye informs everything she chooses for this delightfully eccentric shop, be it clothes, clocks, paintings, jewellery or accessories. On a recent visit I spotted some beautiful stationery (made to order with raised typeface), an amazing computer printed corsage by Machfelt Van Hoolinger from Holland for €65, Italian fan-shaped handbags in ruched leather by Sonia Guzzo for €285, a cat-shaped brooch for €30, and some quirky cufflinks by Sonia Spencer for special birthdays with self-explanatory slogans such as Nifty 50, Flirty 30 or Life Begins at 40 for €28 a pair. A great place for gifts of any kind given the forthcoming season.
Plus appeal:Style Plus is a new boutique in Celbridge, Co Kildare offering clothes for the plus sizes from 16 up with a line-up of brands from the US and Europe, many familiar such as Anna Scholz (above) and Elena Miro, among others. The shop majors on coats and jackets with a particularly good military style velvet from Miro at €245, for instance, as well as a selection of feminine tops and evening wear. It's a weekend boutique, only open on Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 6pm or by appointment, but owner Aimee Casey has also launched an online shopping site. For further information, visit www.styleplus or call 1890-301616.
Throwing shapes:Indigo & Cloth is the name of a new basement boutique in South William Street with a line-up of labels and jeans to impress the most demanding denim cognoscenti. There is little that owner Garrett Pitcher who is passionate about jeans doesn't know about the fabric, from rare Japanese washes to US labels that he has managed to securely exclusively for his shop. Deceptively spacious, the shop has a number of cool brands from Denmark and Sweden that include beautifully made dresses and knits in offbeat shapes and cuts. Guys can check out the suits, the funky T-shirts and gingham shirts. Indigo & Cloth is 27 South William Street, Dublin.
Making his mark:"We won't do bondage - it's not our customer - but we can have a beautiful black leather jacket. We want to give every woman a stylish product. A key thing at the moment is the little 1940s blouse in silk - it means any woman can wear flared trousers or jeans with it or make a statement with a pencil skirt. We don't slavishly follow trends - we want to produce very wearable stylish clothes inspired by the catwalk." So said Neil Hendy, head of womenswear design at Marks & Spencers, on a recent visit to Dublin. The Welshman from the Rhonnda Valley is making his mark: there's a new Autograph shoe range already in store and in Grafton Street, a small new range of special items such as cashmere shrugs, jewelled tunics and evening dresses, called Autograph Exclusive. M&S's first "green" store has just opened in Bournemouth and Hendy was keen to promise that Autograph is going to get "bigger and better".
