These models could slither down the catwalk if they wanted to. They're wrapped in snake-, leopard- and lizard-skins. There's a spider-web skirt, too. (Of course, it's all faux. Very faux.) This is the look for autumn, you see. The fashion show at Dakota on Dublin's South William Street is rich in lime reptile skirts and beige snake tops. Sarah Bargus and Corina Grant, two of the models, love the 1970s rock-chick look.
The lizard trousers and the chocolate serpent trousers are all part of the "dynasty glam or rock chic" look, according to Annmarie Flood, fashion director with A/ Wear. She's trawling the world - Hong Kong, Toyko, New York, Paris, Florence and Barcelona, all year round for "the look". "I'm out of the country four months each year," says the woman from Athy, Co Kildare, "to make sure we have the key look and at an affordable price". Paul Kelly, managing director of Brown Thomas, remembers this very look in the late 1970s. He wonders about the cyclical nature of fashion. It's a philosophical, metaphysical moment at the fashion show. "Are we reinventing the past or are we inventing the future?" he asks.
Further up the street the next day, marriage is uppermost in the minds of many at a different sort of fash bash. At Oakes on South William Street, fans come to celebrate the opening of the new Georgian premises of the design team of Niall Tyrrell and Donald Brennan and to check out their new autumn/winter collection.
Dorothy Kilroy from Rathfarnham is all set for the up-coming wedding of her son, Jason Kilroy, to Geraldine Cluskey next Saturday. She'll be wearing a
devore velvet number in silver and heather colours from Oakes. Her mother, Olive Vaughan, reveals that she will be wearing a royal blue suit. Next in the door is Ellen MacNally, from MacNally Optician's on the Green who is delighted with her lilac dress, which she wore to her sister Sheila's wedding in Dublin last week. It was "a roaring success". The bridal party arrives in time for the champagne reception. Sheila (nee MacNally) and her husband, Dr Weng Lee, who are off to Kuala Lumpur for three weeks shortly on their honeymoon, come in with her parents, Carolyn and Donal MacNally, along with her sister Niamh MacNally and her student friend, Paolo Scarlatti from Roma. At this very wedding last week, they recount, Jane Newman, that raging beauty from Schull in west Cork, caught the bouquet.
"The look for the season is sharp and fitted, and long silhouettes in jewel colours," says Galway man Niall Tyrrell. With this in mind, Maeve Robinson from Glenageary in Co Wicklow is looking for something for Christmas. Also browsing is Angela Oman with her baby daughter Michelle Oman who, at seven months, hasn't quite focused in on the dresses yet.