“Consider your heart, kept in a state of warm perfusion, alive and beating and bathed in nutrients, rushing towards a waiting recipient” …
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Pain and pleasure. Perhaps it’s the month that’s in it, named after the Roman purification festival Febbrua, ushering in four weeks of cleansing. A good call, considering February was once the last of ancient Rome’s ten-month calendar, still marking the end of the northern hemisphere’s doleful winter. And where there is a need for ritual cleansing, one can reasonably assume there has been wanton sinning. Throw in the parallel universe of Valentine’s Day and its decidedly unromantic origins (Saint Valentine’s secret support of forbidden Christian marriages during the wartime rule of Emperor Claudius II led to his imprisonment, torture and bloody execution), at odds with elaborately staged marriage proposals, overpriced red roses and unrequited love and suddenly, we’re grateful February is the rarest month of the year.
Vulnerable in a dangerous world, we’re feeling the wild divergence of February’s mixed messages. Key to unlocking the exquisite pleasures and pain of what it means to be alive is yielding to a state of tenderness, a softness we modern women both crave and balk at. Take Halina Reijn’s smouldering film Babygirl with Nicole Kidman, an erotic thriller which premiered to rave reviews at the Venice Film Festival, all mocha mousse and soft power dressing, from Max Mara’s Olea camel hair coat and Valentino Garavani’s Moon hobo bag to nude pointed-toe pumps and knotted-at-the-neck silk scarf, until Kidman’s polished stealth wealth silhouette is stripped away by a much younger intern. There is inherent danger in yielding, in submission, in allowing ourselves to be seen and deeply known, to arch and then to roll over onto our backs, showing our soft underbellies to an other, to a lover. Our tender hearts, the mysterious depths of desire, of sex, feels at odds with the prudent advice doled out by American civil rights attorney Sherrilyn Ifill: “We must protect our core.” Must we? And if we don’t? What then?
“Talk to me like the rain and let me listen.” Tennessee Williams
We are making mental lists this month, coded diary entries we keep to our own private Idaho selves. Not your quotidian To Do lists, these. No, we’re talking top ten in the 2025 Longing, Desire and Obsession categories; the heart wants what it wants. Consider yours, kept in a state of warm perfusion, alive and beating and bathed in nutrients, rushing towards a waiting recipient, worthy of the gift or not. Another recent release pulsing with carnal desire is Luca Guadagnino’s Queer (with Daniel Craig) based on William Burroughs’ unfinished memoir: “I want to talk to you. Without speaking.”
Walk with us on a pilgrimage from Dame Street to the Grand Canal, where the street has too many names. There’s The George, famed LGBTQ nightclub on South Great Georges Street (named after George, the patron saint of lepers, and the church erected in his name in 1181). Pop into Aungier Street’s Lidl for a croissant and a glimpse at the remains of an 11thcentury Viking house, an archaeological site visible through the glass floor skirting the middle aisle, chock-full of pruck you didn’t know you needed. Head for Whitefriar Street Church (56 Aungier Street) housing the Shrine to St Valentine; swipe right if you’re feeling lucky in love. Before your meetup at Camden Street’s 17th-century landmark The Bleeding Horse (a pint’s the best cure for the “staggers”), stop into TN Nails on 29 Wexford Street, walk-ins welcome; pick a colour, as long as it’s blood red. @susanzelouf
1. I’M SWOONING over this handwoven dress in luxe silk, wool and cotton, custom made in Ostuni, Italy by www.marinaeerrie.com. Destination: Puglia!
2. I’M FANTASISING my own Babygirl story, à la Nicole Kidman’s midlife erotic awakening film.
3. I’M BLUSHING petal pink in Westman Atelier Baby Cheeks Blush Stick, at Brown Thomas.
4. I’M GOING walkies in a Dublinmade 9ct-gold dog pendant from www.momuse.ie. Shop the range in store at Powerscourt Centre, Dublin 2.
5. I’M EARRING voices whispering sweet nothings in Bottega Veneta silver and pink Baroque pearls at www.mytheresa.com.
6. I’M BONNET-ING up in Miu Miu’s wool and cashmere beanie, in grey or camel. www.miumiu.com.
7. I’M CHANNELLING Medusa in a Versace bow-detail gold-finish headband. www.zalando.ie.
8. I’M GATHERING wildflowers in a Lela Rose Pre-Fall 2025 frock. Follow @lelarose.
9. I’M LISTENING to George Michael’s Older on repeat.
10. I’M TOTING a Prada crinkled leather tote bag in baby pink. Join www.reversible.com for deals.
11. I’M SHOPPING Dublin Airport’s The Loop and saving ¤54 on Tom Ford’s new rose-on-rose, white pepper and musk Rose Exposed Eau de Parfum.
12. I’M WINKING at strangers in MAC Connect Colour Eye Shadow Palette in Rose Lens. www.boots.ie.
13. I’M PIROUETTING in Ferragamo Zina leather-trimmed glitter ballet flats, to order from www.giglio.com
14. I’M TENDERING my resignation from wearing the same old, same old; colour me Chloé! Silk mousseline ruffled cape tunic at www.mytheresa.com.
15. I’M REVEALING my tender core in Erdem Pre-Fall 2025. www.erdem.com.
