We’re approaching November with an eye to slowing down, embracing quiet luxury, going for a hike or seeing a show and enjoying the Best Shops in our home towns…
There’s more than meets the eye when it comes to Quiet Luxury, the fashion “movement” of 2023. Less a trend than a subculture (which began among those very rich with an aversion to outward displays of ostentation) it has been adopted by the woman who has developed a personal style that comes from her own confidence, a look that seems to take very little for her to pull together, with pieces that aren’t good for just one season, but are simple, timeless and high quality. Quiet Luxury is linked to the broader conversation about sustainability in fashion and a move away from fast fashion to more considered consumption. One good coat you wear on repeat, one handbag you love, one pair of boots.
We’re approaching November with an eye to slowing down, identifying a couple of good books to read, a show to see, a hike to do. We’re also planning to spend time in our own cities, towns and villages, where, armed with THE GLOSS x theshopkeepers.com Best Shops Ireland 2023 list (find it here) – we are celebrating the clever retailers who add joy to our locales. Speaking of clever retailers, Simone Rocha’s menswear, as worn by actors Paul Mescal, Patrick Gibson and Douglas Booth, is launching exclusively at Nikki Creedon’s exceptional Havana boutique, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, this month. Rocha’s unstoppable star is on the rise, an inspiration to the talented young Irish designers who follow in her wake.
THIS MONTH WE’RE…
FEELING: Quietly luxurious in Lucy Downes’ Sphere One knitwear; www.sphereone.ie.
ENJOYING our (print) newspaper with a coffee. Analogue old school ways feel good this month.
SLIPPING INTO: Somewhere more comfortable. Pen and Player, at 3-4 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2; www.penandplayer.ie.
REWATCHING: Fleabag on the big screen, showing at local cinemas on November 4. Note future screenings in your diary – David Hare’s Skylight, starring Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan, and the acclaimed Vanya next February, starring our own Andrew Scott.
GOING FOR A HIKE: With Rozanna Purcell’s book, The Hike Life, (€18.99) out now. Follow Rozanna up hill and down dale all over Ireland. She has helpfully provided the very best coffee stops at which to to recharge and refuel.
GOING TO THE CIRCUS: At the excellent Waterford Winterval (from November 17, where the Gerbola Christmas Circus is setting up in a heated big top tent. A second show, A Narnia Christmas, will feature aerial displays, fire breathing and more, as the story of Narnia unfolds.
TAKING PART: In Dublin Book Festival November 9-12. Find the programme at www. dublinbookfestival.com. Check out Dublin Gallery Weekend too, November 25-26, with 40 contemporary art galleries taking part. See Callum Innes (above) at the Kerlin Gallery, Dublin 2.
WE’RE LOVING: Coat collaborations! We adore this pretty puffer coat! Malmaison-print Milhaud coat, Regatta X Christian Lacroix, €202.95, at Regatta, Ilac Shopping Centre, Henry Street, Dublin 1; www.regatta.com.
BRINGING IN: Biker boots! Storm Babet was the last straw. With climate-connected flooding on the rise (literally) the taller your boots, the better. Zahra leather biker books by Marco Moreo, €359.90; www.marcomoreo.com.
PUSHING OUT: Mad platforms! Bambi-legs are out and silly shoes shelved, for now. Ballet flats are back, but don’t wear them all day, every day. Alternate with heels to give your back a break. So sensible!